Learn how AI agents are reshaping enterprise decision-making, AI governance, and brand creativity. Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer at WPP & CEO of Satalia/Conscium, explains how AI agents, decision intelligence, and his concept of “brand brains” (AI systems designed to create brand-specific, production-grade content) are changing how organizations operate. He shares why companies don’t have data problems but decision-making problems, and how AI can augment human creativity at scale.
Key Moments:
<ul>
 <li>From Academic AI Research to Enterprise AI Systems (01:50): Daniel traces his 25-year journey in AI, from studying intelligence and consciousness at UCL to building real-world systems inside global enterprises. He explains how curiosity about what it means to be human ultimately shaped his approach to building practical, responsible AI at scale.</li>
 <li>AI Agents and Risk: Why AI Needs Governance (05:50): Daniel introduces a defining metaphor, describing AI agents as intoxicated graduates—confident, fast, and often wrong. He uses this framing to explain why unchecked agent deployment is risky and why governance, testing, and supervision are essential as organizations scale AI.</li>
 <li>What Most Organizations Get Wrong About AI Testing: (14:00): Daniel breaks down the difference between testing for knowledge versus testing for real capability. He argues that most companies stop at surface-level validation, creating a false sense of safety and trust.</li>
 <li>How AI Changes Business Decision-Making (24:45): Daniel challenges the traditional analytics mindset, arguing that dashboards and insights rarely lead to better decisions. He explains why AI should be designed to make decisions directly and why humans are fundamentally bounded when dealing with complex optimization problems.</li>
 <li>Brand Brains and the Future of Creative Differentiation (30:25): Daniel introduces the concept of “brand brains,” explaining why generic generative AI content won’t create competitive advantage. He shows how agentic systems can produce brand-specific, production-grade content that actually differentiates businesses.</li>
</ul>
Key Quotes:
<ul>
 <li>“ There are many things that our brains do that are different to large language models that I think will inspire us to create much more energy-efficient machines.” -  Daniel Hulme </li>
 <li> “Giving human beings better insights doesn't typically lead to better decisions… So working backwards from the problem to the data historically, for me, has been a success.” - Daniel Hulme </li>
 <li> “The reality is that those agents will go wrong… So there's going to be much more emphasis over the next year or so on governance [and] on making sure that they are capable of doing that job.” - Daniel Hulme </li>
</ul>
Mentions
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://satalia.com/what-we-do/ai-marketing/" rel="noopener noreferrer">WPP’s AI “brains”</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.wpp.com/en-us/wpp-iq/2025/07/will-ai-ever-be-better-than-humans-at-predicting-what-humans-want-2" rel="noopener noreferrer">Will AI ever be better than humans at predicting what humans want? | WPP</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Spring-Journey-Source-Consciousness/dp/0393542017" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness by Mark Solms</a></li>
</ul>
Guest Bio 
Dr. Daniel Hulme is a globally recognised expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and investor in emerging technologies. He's the CEO of Satalia, an award-winning AI company that was acquired by the world's largest marketing company in 2021, WPP, where he is now the Chief AI Officer. Daniel has been recognised as one of the world's leading keynote speakers as well as one of the top ten Chief AI Officers globally. Amongst his many technology investments, Daniel is also Founder and CEO of the World's first commercial research organisation to understand Machine Consciousness, Conscium.
With over 25 years academic experience with AI, Daniel received his Masters and Doctorate in AI at UCL. He was previously Director of UCL’s Applied AI Masters Programme, where he is now UCL’s Computer Science Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Daniel is also an Impact Board Member of St Andrew’s University Computer Science department and the University of Sussex Informatics department, focused on using AI to solve business and social problems.
Hear more from Cindi Howson <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/">here</a>. Sponsored by <a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/">ThoughtSpot</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Learn how AI agents are reshaping enterprise decision-making, AI governance, and brand creativity. Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer at WPP &amp; CEO of Satalia/Conscium, explains how AI agents, decision intelligence, and his concept of “brand brains” (AI systems designed to create brand-specific, production-grade content) are changing how organizations operate. He shares why companies don’t have data problems but decision-making problems, and how AI can augment human creativity at scale.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Moments:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From Academic AI Research to Enterprise AI Systems (01:50): &lt;/strong&gt;Daniel traces his 25-year journey in AI, from studying intelligence and consciousness at UCL to building real-world systems inside global enterprises. He explains how curiosity about what it means to be human ultimately shaped his approach to building practical, responsible AI at scale.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AI Agents and Risk: Why AI Needs Governance (05:50):&lt;/strong&gt; Daniel introduces a defining metaphor, describing AI agents as intoxicated graduates—confident, fast, and often wrong. He uses this framing to explain why unchecked agent deployment is risky and why governance, testing, and supervision are essential as organizations scale AI.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What Most Organizations Get Wrong About AI Testing: (14:00): &lt;/strong&gt;Daniel breaks down the difference between testing for knowledge versus testing for real capability. He argues that most companies stop at surface-level validation, creating a false sense of safety and trust.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How AI Changes Business Decision-Making (24:45): &lt;/strong&gt;Daniel challenges the traditional analytics mindset, arguing that dashboards and insights rarely lead to better decisions. He explains why AI should be designed to make decisions directly and why humans are fundamentally bounded when dealing with complex optimization problems.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Brand Brains and the Future of Creative Differentiation (30:25): &lt;/strong&gt;Daniel introduces the concept of “brand brains,” explaining why generic generative AI content won’t create competitive advantage. He shows how agentic systems can produce brand-specific, production-grade content that actually differentiates businesses.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Quotes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ There are many things that our brains do that are different to large language models that I think will inspire us to create much more energy-efficient machines.” -  Daniel Hulme &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt; “Giving human beings better insights doesn't typically lead to better decisions… So working backwards from the problem to the data historically, for me, has been a success.” - Daniel Hulme &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt; “The reality is that those agents will go wrong… So there's going to be much more emphasis over the next year or so on governance [and] on making sure that they are capable of doing that job.” - Daniel Hulme &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Mentions&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://satalia.com/what-we-do/ai-marketing/" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;WPP’s AI “brains”&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.wpp.com/en-us/wpp-iq/2025/07/will-ai-ever-be-better-than-humans-at-predicting-what-humans-want-2" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;Will AI ever be better than humans at predicting what humans want? | WPP&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Spring-Journey-Source-Consciousness/dp/0393542017" rel="noopener noreferrer"&gt;The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness by Mark Solms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guest Bio &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Dr. Daniel Hulme is a globally recognised expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and investor in emerging technologies. He's the CEO of Satalia, an award-winning AI company that was acquired by the world's largest marketing company in 2021, WPP, where he is now the Chief AI Officer. Daniel has been recognised as one of the world's leading keynote speakers as well as one of the top ten Chief AI Officers globally. Amongst his many technology investments, Daniel is also Founder and CEO of the World's first commercial research organisation to understand Machine Consciousness, Conscium.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;With over 25 years academic experience with AI, Daniel received his Masters and Doctorate in AI at UCL. He was previously Director of UCL’s Applied AI Masters Programme, where he is now UCL’s Computer Science Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Daniel is also an Impact Board Member of St Andrew’s University Computer Science department and the University of Sussex Informatics department, focused on using AI to solve business and social problems.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hear more from Cindi Howson &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Sponsored by &lt;a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/"&gt;ThoughtSpot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Learn how AI agents are reshaping enterprise decision-making, AI governance, and brand creativity. Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer at WPP & CEO of Satalia/Conscium, explains how AI agents, decision intelligence, and his concept of “brand brains” (AI systems designed to create brand-specific, production-grade content) are changing how organizations operate. He shares why companies don’t have data problems but decision-making problems, and how AI can augment human creativity at scale.

How AI Augments Human Creativity at Scale: The WPP Blueprint

Discover how Nasdaq uses data platforms at a massive scale to power markets and prepare for AI. Angie Ruan, Nasdaq’s CTO of Capital Access Platforms, explains how large-scale data systems support market integrity, transparency, and decision-making across public and private markets. She defines what it really means to be AI-ready, how leaders should modernize data platforms, and how market fundamentals help separate real AI value from hype.Key Moments:<ul><li>Why Nasdaq Is More Than a Stock Exchange (06:10): Angie reframes Nasdaq as a global technology company rather than a traditional exchange, explaining how data, platforms, and engineering underpin trust, resilience, and transparency across public and private markets.</li><li>The Scale of Market Data Powering the Global Financial System (11:15): Angie breaks down the massive scale of Nasdaq’s data ecosystem, including hundreds of billions of market messages per day and platforms supporting more than $90 trillion in assets. She explains how data quality and reliability are foundational to market integrity and decision-making.</li><li>Building a Unified Data Intelligence Platform at Nasdaq (16:35): Angie explains how Nasdaq approaches data architecture, governance, and platform design to create a unified data intelligence layer. She shares why access control, operational efficiency, and data trust matter more than raw data volume when enabling analytics and AI at scale.</li><li>The AI-Ready Playbook for Data and AI Leaders (19:20): Drawing on her experience across startups and large enterprises, Angie outlines a practical framework for data and AI transformation. She emphasizes cloud adoption, breaking down silos, listening to business needs, and treating platform modernization as both a technical and organizational challenge.</li><li>Is AI a Bubble? Using Market Data to Separate Hype from Reality (31:00): Angie applies a data-driven lens to the AI bubble debate, examining earnings growth, margins, return on equity, and capital investment. She explains why current financial indicators suggest today’s AI moment differs fundamentally from past technology bubbles.</li></ul>Key Quotes:<ul><li>“ The foundation of any data strategy is actually cloud… If you don't put the data or the actual system in the cloud, it's much harder in terms of services and platform, let alone AI.” - Angie Ruan</li><li>“Data is great, but the more important [thing]... is how we put it all together.” - Angie Ruan</li><li>“ The world is going to change so fast… Being curious [and] continuing to learn, it is so important.” - Angie Ruan</li></ul>Mentions<ul><li><a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/private-stock-market-growth-bb71bde1?st=nj9x28&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">Inside the Invitation-Only Stock Market for the Wealthy</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/evestment">Nasdaq eVestment: The Institutional Intelligence Platform Powering $90T+ in Decisions</a></li></ul>Guest Bio Angie Ruan is the Chief Technology Officer, Capital Access Platforms at Nasdaq. An award-winning industry leader, Ms. Ruan holds four technical patents and has been instrumental in driving digital transformation across many industries, including enterprise application, e-commerce, payment, and capital markets. She most recently served as Vice President of Engineering at Chime before returning to Nasdaq where she was the Senior Vice President of Global Technology, responsible for overseeing the development of Key Market Technology Products and Corporate Platforms. Prior to joining Nasdaq, Ms. Ruan served as the Global Group Technology Vice President of consumer experiences and platform for American Express, where she was responsible for the digital transformation of American Express web and mobile technology. Before then, she was the Unit CIO for U.S. Consumer and U.S. Small Business, and was also Head of Engineering for Global PayPal Retail and Merchant product lines. As well, she held various executive engineering leadership roles at eBay including building the eBay messaging system, creating the eBay mobile platform, and transforming the DevOps organization.Recognized as one of Silicon Valley's Women of Influence, Ms. Ruan holds an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and studied undergraduate in Computer Science at Tsinghua University of China.
Hear more from Cindi Howson <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/">here</a>. Sponsored by <a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/">ThoughtSpot</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Discover how Nasdaq uses data platforms at a massive scale to power markets and prepare for AI. Angie Ruan, Nasdaq’s CTO of Capital Access Platforms, explains how large-scale data systems support market integrity, transparency, and decision-making across public and private markets. She defines what it really means to be AI-ready, how leaders should modernize data platforms, and how market fundamentals help separate real AI value from hype.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key Moments:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why Nasdaq Is More Than a Stock Exchange (06:10):&lt;/strong&gt; Angie reframes Nasdaq as a global technology company rather than a traditional exchange, explaining how data, platforms, and engineering underpin trust, resilience, and transparency across public and private markets.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Scale of Market Data Powering the Global Financial System (11:15):&lt;/strong&gt; Angie breaks down the massive scale of Nasdaq’s data ecosystem, including hundreds of billions of market messages per day and platforms supporting more than $90 trillion in assets. She explains how data quality and reliability are foundational to market integrity and decision-making.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Building a Unified Data Intelligence Platform at Nasdaq (16:35):&lt;/strong&gt; Angie explains how Nasdaq approaches data architecture, governance, and platform design to create a unified data intelligence layer. She shares why access control, operational efficiency, and data trust matter more than raw data volume when enabling analytics and AI at scale.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The AI-Ready Playbook for Data and AI Leaders (19:20): &lt;/strong&gt;Drawing on her experience across startups and large enterprises, Angie outlines a practical framework for data and AI transformation. She emphasizes cloud adoption, breaking down silos, listening to business needs, and treating platform modernization as both a technical and organizational challenge.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is AI a Bubble? Using Market Data to Separate Hype from Reality (31:00): &lt;/strong&gt;Angie applies a data-driven lens to the AI bubble debate, examining earnings growth, margins, return on equity, and capital investment. She explains why current financial indicators suggest today’s AI moment differs fundamentally from past technology bubbles.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key Quotes:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ The foundation of any data strategy is actually cloud… If you don't put the data or the actual system in the cloud, it's much harder in terms of services and platform, let alone AI.” - Angie Ruan&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“Data is great, but the more important [thing]... is how we put it all together.” - Angie Ruan&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ The world is going to change so fast… Being curious [and] continuing to learn, it is so important.” - Angie Ruan&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mentions&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/private-stock-market-growth-bb71bde1?st=nj9x28&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink"&gt;Inside the Invitation-Only Stock Market for the Wealthy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/evestment"&gt;Nasdaq eVestment: The Institutional Intelligence Platform Powering $90T+ in Decisions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Guest Bio &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Angie Ruan is the Chief Technology Officer, Capital Access Platforms at Nasdaq. An award-winning industry leader, Ms. Ruan holds four technical patents and has been instrumental in driving digital transformation across many industries, including enterprise application, e-commerce, payment, and capital markets. She most recently served as Vice President of Engineering at Chime before returning to Nasdaq where she was the Senior Vice President of Global Technology, responsible for overseeing the development of Key Market Technology Products and Corporate Platforms. Prior to joining Nasdaq, Ms. Ruan served as the Global Group Technology Vice President of consumer experiences and platform for American Express, where she was responsible for the digital transformation of American Express web and mobile technology. Before then, she was the Unit CIO for U.S. Consumer and U.S. Small Business, and was also Head of Engineering for Global PayPal Retail and Merchant product lines. As well, she held various executive engineering leadership roles at eBay including building the eBay messaging system, creating the eBay mobile platform, and transforming the DevOps organization.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Recognized as one of Silicon Valley's Women of Influence, Ms. Ruan holds an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and studied undergraduate in Computer Science at Tsinghua University of China.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hear more from Cindi Howson &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Sponsored by &lt;a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/"&gt;ThoughtSpot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Discover how Nasdaq uses data platforms at a massive scale to power markets and prepare for AI. Angie Ruan, Nasdaq’s CTO of Capital Access Platforms, explains how large-scale data systems support market integrity, transparency, and decision-making across public and private markets. She defines what it really means to be AI-ready, how leaders should modernize data platforms, and how market fundamentals help separate real AI value from hype.

How Nasdaq Architected a $90 Trillion Data Ecosystem

Discover why the future of AI at work is more human than you think. Vinay Gidwaney, Chief Product Officer at OneDigital, shares how treating AI agents as talent rather than technology is changing AI adoption at work. He explains people-first change management, managing AI coworkers, building trust in human AI teams, and why real transformation depends on equity, access, and better decision-making.Key Moments:<ul><li>AI as a Coworker (01:45): Vinay introduces “Ben,” an AI benefits consultant at OneDigital, to illustrate a fundamentally different way of thinking about AI at work. Instead of positioning AI as automation or replacement, he explains how AI coworkers are designed to augment human expertise and support better decision-making.</li><li>Hiring, Training, and Managing AI Like Employees (04:20): Vinay walks through OneDigital’s intern-to-apprentice model for AI, including job descriptions, cultural fit, human managers, and ongoing supervision. He shows how applying HR rigor to AI builds trust, accountability, and clarity while helping employees see AI as part of the team, not a threat.</li><li>Why AI Projects Fail: The Misguided Focus on Tools over Talent (10:45): Vinay argues that AI fails when treated like a traditional IT rollout. He emphasizes that AI adoption is fundamentally a people and change-management challenge, calling on HR leaders to lead the shift in how humans and AI work together.</li><li>Recognizing the Limits and Risks of AI Automation (23:10): Vinay explains why fully autonomous AI agents often fall short in knowledge-based organizations. He cautions leaders to be skeptical of automation-first promises and introduces a more realistic model centered on cognition, human oversight, and thoughtful ROI evaluation.</li><li>The Future of Work in an AI World (38:10):  Vinay reflects on his career and argues that software alone is no longer a defensible moat. He emphasizes speed, insight, services, and human judgment as the true sources of lasting value.</li></ul>Key Quotes:<ul><li>“ If you treat AI like any other technology that you've adopted in your company. It's not going to work out as well as you'd like… It's not a technology thing, it's a people thing.” - Vinay Gidwaney</li><li>“ AI is a great way to spread human talent in your organization because they mirror what your humans are doing.” - Vinay Gidwaney</li><li>“AI is talent and you have to treat AI in the same way that you treat the talent within your organization.” - Vinay Gidwaney</li></ul>Mentions<ul><li><a href="https://www.planadviser.com/exclusives/how-to-train-your-ai-coworker/">How to Train Your AI ‘Coworker’</a></li><li><a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/data-trends/artificial-intelligence/ai-agent-types">What are AI agent types? How to choose one for your data</a></li><li><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/reconfiguring-work-change-management-in-the-age-of-gen-ai">Reconfiguring work: Change management in the age of gen AI</a></li></ul>Guest Bio Vinay Gidwaney is the Chief Product Officer at OneDigital, a national insurance, employee benefits, HR, and financial services company serving 100,000 employers and 10 million families, with over $1B in revenue. He is responsible for defining and executing the technology and AI strategy as the company reinvents the insurance and wealth management industries with innovative products.Previously, Vinay led the technology strategy for CIC Health during one of the largest COVID-19 public health campaigns in U.S. history. Collaborating with public partners, he helped set up award-winning vaccination efforts at iconic locations such as Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park, and at numerous community sites, administering 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccinations in less than seven months.A 2002 winner of the prestigious MIT Technology Review Magazine Top 100 Innovators Under 35 award, Vinay is a proud father to Leela, Niam, Kayvion and Samay.
Hear more from Cindi Howson <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/">here</a>. Sponsored by <a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/">ThoughtSpot</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Discover why the future of AI at work is more human than you think. Vinay Gidwaney, Chief Product Officer at OneDigital, shares how treating AI agents as talent rather than technology is changing AI adoption at work. He explains people-first change management, managing AI coworkers, building trust in human AI teams, and why real transformation depends on equity, access, and better decision-making.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key Moments:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;AI as a Coworker (01:45): Vinay introduces “Ben,” an AI benefits consultant at OneDigital, to illustrate a fundamentally different way of thinking about AI at work. Instead of positioning AI as automation or replacement, he explains how AI coworkers are designed to augment human expertise and support better decision-making.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hiring, Training, and Managing AI Like Employees (04:20): Vinay walks through OneDigital’s intern-to-apprentice model for AI, including job descriptions, cultural fit, human managers, and ongoing supervision. He shows how applying HR rigor to AI builds trust, accountability, and clarity while helping employees see AI as part of the team, not a threat.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why AI Projects Fail: The Misguided Focus on Tools over Talent (10:45): Vinay argues that AI fails when treated like a traditional IT rollout. He emphasizes that AI adoption is fundamentally a people and change-management challenge, calling on HR leaders to lead the shift in how humans and AI work together.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Recognizing the Limits and Risks of AI Automation (23:10): Vinay explains why fully autonomous AI agents often fall short in knowledge-based organizations. He cautions leaders to be skeptical of automation-first promises and introduces a more realistic model centered on cognition, human oversight, and thoughtful ROI evaluation.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Future of Work in an AI World (38:10):  Vinay reflects on his career and argues that software alone is no longer a defensible moat. He emphasizes speed, insight, services, and human judgment as the true sources of lasting value.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key Quotes:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ If you treat AI like any other technology that you've adopted in your company. It's not going to work out as well as you'd like… It's not a technology thing, it's a people thing.” - Vinay Gidwaney&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ AI is a great way to spread human talent in your organization because they mirror what your humans are doing.” - Vinay Gidwaney&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“AI is talent and you have to treat AI in the same way that you treat the talent within your organization.” - Vinay Gidwaney&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mentions&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.planadviser.com/exclusives/how-to-train-your-ai-coworker/"&gt;How to Train Your AI ‘Coworker’&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/data-trends/artificial-intelligence/ai-agent-types"&gt;What are AI agent types? How to choose one for your data&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/reconfiguring-work-change-management-in-the-age-of-gen-ai"&gt;Reconfiguring work: Change management in the age of gen AI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Guest Bio &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vinay Gidwaney is the Chief Product Officer at OneDigital, a national insurance, employee benefits, HR, and financial services company serving 100,000 employers and 10 million families, with over $1B in revenue. He is responsible for defining and executing the technology and AI strategy as the company reinvents the insurance and wealth management industries with innovative products.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Previously, Vinay led the technology strategy for CIC Health during one of the largest COVID-19 public health campaigns in U.S. history. Collaborating with public partners, he helped set up award-winning vaccination efforts at iconic locations such as Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park, and at numerous community sites, administering 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccinations in less than seven months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A 2002 winner of the prestigious MIT Technology Review Magazine Top 100 Innovators Under 35 award, Vinay is a proud father to Leela, Niam, Kayvion and Samay.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hear more from Cindi Howson &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Sponsored by &lt;a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/"&gt;ThoughtSpot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Discover why the future of AI at work is more human than you think. Vinay Gidwaney, Chief Product Officer at OneDigital, shares how treating AI agents as talent rather than technology is changing AI adoption at work. He explains people-first change management, managing AI coworkers, building trust in human AI teams, and why real transformation depends on equity, access, and better decision-making.

How OneDigital Is Reframing AI Agents as Coworkers

In this season premiere of The Data Chief podcast, host Cindi Howson sits down with three industry leaders to unpack what’s next for AI, and the concrete moves data and AI leaders need to make in 2026—many of which are detailed in ThoughtSpot’s<a href="https://go.thoughtspot.com/ebook-ai-data-trends-2026.html"> Top Data & AI Trends of 2026 ebook.</a>Get ready for a deep dive into:<ul><li>Agentic AI goes mainstream with Paul Baier, CEO and Co-Founder of GAI Insights</li><li>AI-ready data and the rise of the AI manager with Jennifer Belissent, Principal Data Strategist at Snowflake</li><li>Scaling agents with trust and control with Rory Blundell, CEO of Gravitee</li></ul>Consider this your field guide to navigating AI in 2026.Key Moments:<ul><li>Agentic AI Goes Mainstream with Paul Baier, GAI Insights (1:50): Paul Baier, CEO and Co-Founder of GAI Insights, explains why enterprises that already have GenAI in production are pulling decisively ahead, how agentic AI is reshaping enterprise operating models, and why leadership alignment and AI literacy will determine winners in 2026.</li><li>AI-Ready Data and the Rise of the AI Manager, Jennifer Belissent, Snowflake (19:16): Dr. Jennifer Belissent, Principal Data Strategist at Snowflake, breaks down why data quality, transparency, and governance remain the foundation of AI success, and why the next critical enterprise skill is learning how to manage AI agents as part of the workforce.</li><li>Scaling Agents with Trust and Control with Rory Blundell, Gravitee (35:11): Rory Blundell, CEO of Gravitee, shares how the agentic era is redefining API integration, why most enterprises are stuck at early AI maturity stages, and how agent management and security frameworks will unlock real action in 2026.</li></ul>Key Quotes:<ul><li>“Yo u have to treat AI as a capability and not an IT project.” - Paul Baier</li><li>“ Transparency as a requirement is not slowing down adoption. It's actually accelerating it.” - Jennifer Belissent</li><li>“My prediction is that companies that adopt robust security frameworks in 2026 will be the companies that accelerate fastest.” - Rory Blundell </li></ul>Mentions<ul><li><a href="https://gaiinsights.com/cbg-llms">GAI Insights’ Corporate Buyers Guide to Enterprise Intelligence Applications</a></li><li><a href="https://hbr.org/data-visuals/2023/09/the-wins-framework">Harvard Business Review: GAI Insights’ WINS Framework</a></li><li><a href="https://www.gravitee.io/the-ai-readiness-curve">Gravitee’s AI Readiness Curve</a></li><li><a href="https://go.thoughtspot.com/ebook-ai-data-trends-2026.html">ThoughtSpot’s Top Data & AI Trends of 2026 ebook</a></li></ul>Guest Bios Paul BaierMr. Baier is the CEO and principal analyst at GAI Insights. Mr Baier co-authored 4 articles about enterprise GenAI that were featured in Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. He was appointed an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School and is a Forbes contributor. He is a seasoned software entrepreneur with two decades of experience and multiple exits. Related to AI, he was VP of Product at First Fuel Software, an enterprise AI company for 5 years. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a BA from Kenyon College.Jennifer BelissentAs Principal Data Strategist, Jennifer advises Snowflake customers on data and AI strategy and best practices in building world-class organizations. Previously, she spent over a decade as a Forrester Analyst, and has held management positions in tech sales and marketing, designed urban policy programs, taught secondary school math as a Peace Corps volunteer, and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and a B.A. in econometrics from the University of Virginia.Rory BlundellRory Blundell is the CEO of Gravitee. He joined the company in March 2020, first as Chief Revenue Officer, before becoming CEO in September 2020. Prior to Gravitee, Blundell led SnapLogic's EMEA expansion from a technical sales perspective, overseeing significant growth in EMEA revenues over three years. Prior to SnapLogic, he was the CEO and founder of Velinko, a UK software and consultancy company for the legal and accounting sectors.
Hear more from Cindi Howson <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/">here</a>. Sponsored by <a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/">ThoughtSpot</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;In this season premiere of The Data Chief podcast, host Cindi Howson sits down with three industry leaders to unpack what’s next for AI, and the concrete moves data and AI leaders need to make in 2026—many of which are detailed in ThoughtSpot’s&lt;a href="https://go.thoughtspot.com/ebook-ai-data-trends-2026.html"&gt; Top Data &amp; AI Trends of 2026 ebook.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get ready for a deep dive into:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Agentic AI goes mainstream with Paul Baier, CEO and Co-Founder of GAI Insights&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;AI-ready data and the rise of the AI manager with Jennifer Belissent, Principal Data Strategist at Snowflake&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Scaling agents with trust and control with Rory Blundell, CEO of Gravitee&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider this your field guide to navigating AI in 2026.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Moments:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Agentic AI Goes Mainstream with Paul Baier, GAI Insights (1:50): Paul Baier, CEO and Co-Founder of GAI Insights, explains why enterprises that already have GenAI in production are pulling decisively ahead, how agentic AI is reshaping enterprise operating models, and why leadership alignment and AI literacy will determine winners in 2026.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;AI-Ready Data and the Rise of the AI Manager, Jennifer Belissent, Snowflake (19:16): Dr. Jennifer Belissent, Principal Data Strategist at Snowflake, breaks down why data quality, transparency, and governance remain the foundation of AI success, and why the next critical enterprise skill is learning how to manage AI agents as part of the workforce.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Scaling Agents with Trust and Control with Rory Blundell, Gravitee (35:11): Rory Blundell, CEO of Gravitee, shares how the agentic era is redefining API integration, why most enterprises are stuck at early AI maturity stages, and how agent management and security frameworks will unlock real action in 2026.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Quotes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“Yo u have to treat AI as a capability and not an IT project.” - Paul Baier&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ Transparency as a requirement is not slowing down adoption. It's actually accelerating it.” - Jennifer Belissent&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“My prediction is that companies that adopt robust security frameworks in 2026 will be the companies that accelerate fastest.” - Rory Blundell &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mentions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://gaiinsights.com/cbg-llms"&gt;GAI Insights’ Corporate Buyers Guide to Enterprise Intelligence Applications&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://hbr.org/data-visuals/2023/09/the-wins-framework"&gt;Harvard Business Review: GAI Insights’ WINS Framework&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.gravitee.io/the-ai-readiness-curve"&gt;Gravitee’s AI Readiness Curve&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://go.thoughtspot.com/ebook-ai-data-trends-2026.html"&gt;ThoughtSpot’s &lt;i&gt;Top Data &amp; AI Trends of 2026&lt;/i&gt; ebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guest Bios &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Paul Baier&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mr. Baier is the CEO and principal analyst at GAI Insights. Mr Baier co-authored 4 articles about enterprise GenAI that were featured in Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. He was appointed an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School and is a Forbes contributor. He is a seasoned software entrepreneur with two decades of experience and multiple exits. Related to AI, he was VP of Product at First Fuel Software, an enterprise AI company for 5 years. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a BA from Kenyon College.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Jennifer Belissent&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Principal Data Strategist, Jennifer advises Snowflake customers on data and AI strategy and best practices in building world-class organizations. Previously, she spent over a decade as a Forrester Analyst, and has held management positions in tech sales and marketing, designed urban policy programs, taught secondary school math as a Peace Corps volunteer, and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and a B.A. in econometrics from the University of Virginia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rory Blundell&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rory Blundell is the CEO of Gravitee. He joined the company in March 2020, first as Chief Revenue Officer, before becoming CEO in September 2020. Prior to Gravitee, Blundell led SnapLogic's EMEA expansion from a technical sales perspective, overseeing significant growth in EMEA revenues over three years. Prior to SnapLogic, he was the CEO and founder of Velinko, a UK software and consultancy company for the legal and accounting sectors.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hear more from Cindi Howson &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Sponsored by &lt;a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/"&gt;ThoughtSpot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Learn from three industry leaders on what’s next for AI and what you need to do to be successful in 2026.

Preparing for Agentic AI: Top Trends in Data and AI 2026

In this special episode, host Cindi Howson pulls together the most useful, and hard-won, lessons from a year of conversations with Data Chiefs leading the GenAI charge. With generative and agentic AI no longer a side experiment, this episode spotlights five practices early adopters can rely on to move from pilots to profit. Expect straight talk on what to prioritize, how to bring people with you, and how to scale AI with the trust, literacy, and guardrails that make impact stick.Key Moments:<ul><li>Tying AI to Real Dollars with Anand Iyer, Ecolab (02:10): Anand cuts through the GenAI FOMO and brings everything back to a simple survival test: if you can’t draw a straight line from an AI initiative to top-line growth or bottom-line savings, it won’t last. His lesson is a sharp reminder that “cool” doesn’t scale, value does. </li><li>Leading Through Ambiguity with Karen Stroup, WEX (06:01): Karen names what everyone’s feeling: ambiguity is paralyzing. She explains how leaders earn trust by shrinking the unknown into learnable, bite-sized experiments and creating the psychological safety people need to engage instead of resist.</li><li>Building Practical AI Literacy at Scale with Josh Cunningham, Lloyds Banking Group (12:42):  Josh shares how Lloyds Banking Group makes literacy impactful by meeting people where they are. Rather than one-size-fits-all training, they pair broad fundamentals with role-specific learning so every business unit can build confidence in ways that match their actual work. </li><li>Scaling Responsible Agentic AI with Noelle Russell, AI Leadership Institute (25:09): Noelle steps in with a practical framework for building agentic systems that don’t go rogue. She walks through the POET framework and stresses that responsible AI isn’t a final checkpoint. It’s something you embed from the first idea to production, with guardrails that protect people and outcomes.</li><li>Embedding AI Where Work Happens with Ilan Twig, Navan (32:35): Ilan tells a classic early-adopter story: start with a business problem, move fast, and be ruthless about what needs building versus buying. His lesson is that AI wins when it’s inside the workflow, supporting decisions at the point of impact rather than living in a separate tool. </li><li>Don’t Let Perfection Stall Progress with Ketan Karkhanis, ThoughtSpot (40:59): Ketan shares a culture gut-check: waiting for perfect metrics, perfect KPIs, or perfect clarity is how progress dies. He argues for visible, trust-building iteration, because in AI, speed to learning beats speed to certainty. </li></ul>Key Quotes:<ul><li>“One thing that people sometimes forget is that at the end of the day, it's all about are we either saving money or making money? And are you able to show that in the bottom line or the top line in a measurable way?” - Anand Iyer</li><li>“I don't think there's any chief anything officer that should not be considering AI today. I think if you're not considering AI, you are at the risk of being disrupted because you're not going to be learning at the pace with the rest of the industry, and there's someone out there looking for a better way.” - Karen Stroup</li><li>“It’s trying your best to meet people where they are… Finding a way to anchor the [AI] learning to something that's relevant to their day-to-day role is always going to make it land better.” - Josh Cunningham</li><li>“ When people lose 70% of their trust in you, they just don't buy from you, they don't work for you, they don't talk about you… and your business starts to die. I think that trust component is a human component… and it is underpinning all the other philosophies that I have.” - Noelle Russell</li><li>“When you asked me about how to educate yourself on AI, I think that companies must make a decision, and quickly, this or that.” - Ilan Twig</li><li>“ Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress.” - Ketan Karkhanis</li></ul>Guest Bios Anand IyerAnand Iyer is the SVP, Chief Data Officer at Ecolab, where he leads the company’s global data and analytics strategy. Based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, he oversees enterprise data governance, business intelligence, engineering, and advanced analytics to accelerate Ecolab’s digital transformation. Since joining in 2018, Anand has held several senior roles, including VP of Enterprise Architecture and VP of Architecture for Commercial Digital Solutions, helping to scale IoT and data-driven platforms across the organization.Karen StroupKaren joined WEX in 2022 as Chief Digital Officer, a newly created role. She brings more than 15 years of experience leading product management, digital, and innovation organizations focused on software as a service offerings, primarily in financial services.Josh CunninghamJosh Cunningham is the Group Head of Data and AI Culture at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the Data Culture Pillar—one of five strategic pillars in the Group’s data strategy. He is focused on embedding data-driven mindsets across the organization and empowering teams to unlock the full value of data.Noelle RussellNoelle Russell is a multi-award-winning speaker, author, and AI Executive who specializes in transforming businesses through strategic AI adoption. She is a revenue growth + cost optimization expert, 4x Microsoft Responsible AI MVP, and named the #1 Agentic AI Leader in 2025. She has led teams at NPR, Microsoft, IBM, AWS and Amazon Alexa, and is a consistent champion for Data and AI literacy and is the founder of the "I ❤️ AI" Community teaching responsible AI for everyone.Ilan TwigIlan Twig is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Navan, the leading modern travel and expense management platform, globally. As CTO, Ilan drives Navan’s product development and engineering efforts, leveraging cutting-edge technologies — including AI — to enhance user experience and operational efficiency. Ketan KarkhanisKetan Karkhanis is the CEO of ThoughtSpot, the Agentic Analytics Platform company. Prior to joining the company in September 2024, Ketan was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sales Cloud at Salesforce. He returned to Salesforce in March 2022 after his time as the COO of Turvo, an emerging supply-chain collaboration platform. 
Hear more from Cindi Howson <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/">here</a>. Sponsored by <a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/">ThoughtSpot</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;In this special episode, host Cindi Howson pulls together the most useful, and hard-won, lessons from a year of conversations with Data Chiefs leading the GenAI charge. With generative and agentic AI no longer a side experiment, this episode spotlights five practices early adopters can rely on to move from pilots to profit. Expect straight talk on what to prioritize, how to bring people with you, and how to scale AI with the trust, literacy, and guardrails that make impact stick.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key Moments:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Tying AI to Real Dollars with Anand Iyer, Ecolab (02:10): Anand cuts through the GenAI FOMO and brings everything back to a simple survival test: if you can’t draw a straight line from an AI initiative to top-line growth or bottom-line savings, it won’t last. His lesson is a sharp reminder that “cool” doesn’t scale, value does. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Leading Through Ambiguity with Karen Stroup, WEX (06:01): Karen names what everyone’s feeling: ambiguity is paralyzing. She explains how leaders earn trust by shrinking the unknown into learnable, bite-sized experiments and creating the psychological safety people need to engage instead of resist.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Building Practical AI Literacy at Scale with Josh Cunningham, Lloyds Banking Group (12:42):  Josh shares how Lloyds Banking Group makes literacy impactful by meeting people where they are. Rather than one-size-fits-all training, they pair broad fundamentals with role-specific learning so every business unit can build confidence in ways that match their actual work. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Scaling Responsible Agentic AI with Noelle Russell, AI Leadership Institute (25:09): Noelle steps in with a practical framework for building agentic systems that don’t go rogue. She walks through the POET framework and stresses that responsible AI isn’t a final checkpoint. It’s something you embed from the first idea to production, with guardrails that protect people and outcomes.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Embedding AI Where Work Happens with Ilan Twig, Navan (32:35): Ilan tells a classic early-adopter story: start with a business problem, move fast, and be ruthless about what needs building versus buying. His lesson is that AI wins when it’s inside the workflow, supporting decisions at the point of impact rather than living in a separate tool. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Don’t Let Perfection Stall Progress with Ketan Karkhanis, ThoughtSpot (40:59): Ketan shares a culture gut-check: waiting for perfect metrics, perfect KPIs, or perfect clarity is how progress dies. He argues for visible, trust-building iteration, because in AI, speed to learning beats speed to certainty. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key Quotes:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“One thing that people sometimes forget is that at the end of the day, it's all about are we either saving money or making money? And are you able to show that in the bottom line or the top line in a measurable way?” - Anand Iyer&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“I don't think there's any chief anything officer that should not be considering AI today. I think if you're not considering AI, you are at the risk of being disrupted because you're not going to be learning at the pace with the rest of the industry, and there's someone out there looking for a better way.” - Karen Stroup&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“It’s trying your best to meet people where they are… Finding a way to anchor the [AI] learning to something that's relevant to their day-to-day role is always going to make it land better.” - Josh Cunningham&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ When people lose 70% of their trust in you, they just don't buy from you, they don't work for you, they don't talk about you… and your business starts to die. I think that trust component is a human component… and it is underpinning all the other philosophies that I have.” - Noelle Russell&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“When you asked me about how to educate yourself on AI, I think that companies must make a decision, and quickly, this or that.” - Ilan Twig&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;“ Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress.” - Ketan Karkhanis&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Guest Bios &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anand Iyer&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anand Iyer is the SVP, Chief Data Officer at Ecolab, where he leads the company’s global data and analytics strategy. Based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, he oversees enterprise data governance, business intelligence, engineering, and advanced analytics to accelerate Ecolab’s digital transformation. Since joining in 2018, Anand has held several senior roles, including VP of Enterprise Architecture and VP of Architecture for Commercial Digital Solutions, helping to scale IoT and data-driven platforms across the organization.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Karen Stroup&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Karen joined WEX in 2022 as Chief Digital Officer, a newly created role. She brings more than 15 years of experience leading product management, digital, and innovation organizations focused on software as a service offerings, primarily in financial services.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Josh Cunningham&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Josh Cunningham is the Group Head of Data and AI Culture at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the Data Culture Pillar—one of five strategic pillars in the Group’s data strategy. He is focused on embedding data-driven mindsets across the organization and empowering teams to unlock the full value of data.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Noelle Russell&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Noelle Russell is a multi-award-winning speaker, author, and AI Executive who specializes in transforming businesses through strategic AI adoption. She is a revenue growth + cost optimization expert, 4x Microsoft Responsible AI MVP, and named the #1 Agentic AI Leader in 2025. She has led teams at NPR, Microsoft, IBM, AWS and Amazon Alexa, and is a consistent champion for Data and AI literacy and is the founder of the "I ❤️ AI" Community teaching responsible AI for everyone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ilan Twig&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ilan Twig is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Navan, the leading modern travel and expense management platform, globally. As CTO, Ilan drives Navan’s product development and engineering efforts, leveraging cutting-edge technologies — including AI — to enhance user experience and operational efficiency. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ketan Karkhanis&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ketan Karkhanis is the CEO of ThoughtSpot, the Agentic Analytics Platform company. Prior to joining the company in September 2024, Ketan was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sales Cloud at Salesforce. He returned to Salesforce in March 2022 after his time as the COO of Turvo, an emerging supply-chain collaboration platform. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hear more from Cindi Howson &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Sponsored by &lt;a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/"&gt;ThoughtSpot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

In this special episode, host Cindi Howson pulls together the most useful, and hard-won, lessons from a year of conversations with Data Chiefs leading the GenAI charge. With generative and agentic AI no longer a side experiment, this episode spotlights five practices early adopters can rely on to move from pilots to profit. Expect straight talk on what to prioritize, how to bring people with you, and how to scale AI with the trust, literacy, and guardrails that make impact stick.

GenAI Best Practices: What Early Adopters Have Learned

Meet the world’s top data and analytics leaders transforming how we do business. Hear case studies, industry insights, and personal lessons from the executives leading the data revolution. 

Join host Cindi Howson, Chief Data & AI Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot, every other Wednesday to meet the leaders and teams at the cutting edge.

The Data Chief

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