Pilots and Partnerships in Global Brands: Amex, Nike with Elaine Barsoom

Across Nike and American Express, Elaine Barsoom had a front-row seat to one of the hardest problems in corporate innovation: how to turn promising technology into something a large organization can actually absorb. She reflects on the moments that defined that work, from helping Nike pursue a direct-to-consumer shift through external partnerships and startup pilots, to standing up an AI center of excellence as generative AI began reshaping the enterprise agenda, to building and scaling a joint venture at Amex that reached real commercial traction. Along the way, she offers a clear-eyed view of why so many innovation efforts stall, why pilot success rarely tells the whole story, and why executive sponsorship only matters if it holds when adoption gets difficult. The result is a practical lesson in organizational readiness, AI governance, and the human work required to make transformation stick.