Podcasts about emerj

A widening gap has emerged between the speed of AI innovation and the ability of large enterprises to deploy it responsibly, leading many organizations to repeat avoidable mistakes in scaling. In this episode, Shaje Ganny, Author, Guest Lecturer, TEDx Speaker, and Digital Transformation Director at Procter & Gamble, joins Matthew DeMello to examine how leaders can ground AI adoption in clear business value and human-centered operational design. The discussion highlights practical considerations for evaluating AI through its impact on the company, the consumer, and the surrounding workforce community, and the executive education and policy foundations required to move from pilots to reliable enterprise deployment. Emerj works with a select group of AI vendors to reach Fortune 500 decision makers through research, media, and direct access.  If you want to be considered, download our media kit at http://emerj.com/AD1

Enterprise AI initiatives treat design as a finishing step. Carsten Wierwille, Chief Product & Design Officer at HTEC, argues that this is a strategic mistake, and one that explains why so many AI investments produce tools that work technically but fail to change how people actually work. In this episode, Wierwille examines why enterprises keep building AI because they can rather than because they understand the problem, how the shift to AI-assisted ideation has moved the bottleneck from creation to review, and why the answer is not faster shipping but sharper design clarity at the start. The conversation covers the financial advisor as a model for AI force-multiplication, why the MVP framework breaks down for genuinely novel AI experiences, how design now extends to defining the evaluation criteria for AI output, and what Wierwille calls cognitive design, the practice of thinking about how users will perceive, decide, and trust before anyone writes a line of code. This episode is sponsored by HTEC. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Computer vision implementations in manufacturing never advance beyond the pilot phase — not because the technology fails, but because deployment is treated as a software problem rather than an operational one. In this episode, Jeff Witt, Digital Transformation Leader at a Fortune 500 global leader in building materials and fiberglass composites, examines the architectural, organizational, and change management decisions that determine whether a vision AI initiative reaches production and scales. The conversation covers how to build a reusable data architecture for vision data, why shifting ownership from IT to business units accelerates deployment, and what a platform mindset — versus a point solution approach — looks like in a multi-site manufacturing environment. This episode is sponsored by Roboflow. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

The pressure on financial services AI leaders to show board-level results has intensified — yet the pace of vendor pitches, shifting tooling stacks, and stalled pilots has made action feel riskier than waiting. In this episode, Art Shectman, CEO and Founder at Elephant Ventures, breaks down why the instinct to evaluate everything before building anything is the primary obstacle to production, and what a realistic first step actually looks like inside a regulated enterprise. The conversation covers how to identify the right initial workflow, how to structure a time-boxed sprint toward a minimum viable production deployment, and how to present early AI wins to boards that have stopped trusting strategy decks. This episode is sponsored by Elephant Ventures. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

The reason enterprise AI programmes stall is not the technology — it is the sequence in which decisions are made before and after the pilot succeeds. In this episode, Ronny Fehling, Chief AI Transformation Officer at HTEC, examines why AI initiatives lose momentum at the production threshold and what organisational conditions determine whether they make it through. The discussion covers production slices, decision gates with kill-switch authority, use case discipline, and why top-down AI mandates tend to reproduce the same failure modes regardless of budget. This episode is sponsored by HTEC. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Deepfake voice fraud is not bypassing enterprise security technology, it is beating the workflows agents rely on to make trust decisions in real time. In this episode, Jon-Rav Shende, Global CTO for Data and AI at Thales Group, outlines where enterprise voice channels are most exposed, why identity, urgency, and business action converging in a single call represents the highest risk point, and what a practical four-step response framework looks like for regulated organisations. The discussion covers how to map risky voice journeys, define escalation decision points, build the evidence chains auditors and cyber insurers will require, and deploy AI as a risk signal layer without automating high-risk actions beyond appropriate controls. ​ This episode is sponsored by Modulate. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

A growing share of pharmaceutical innovation is now constrained not by scientific imagination, but by the infrastructure required to support AI at scale. In this episode of the AI in Business podcast, Thomas Fuchs, Chief AI Officer at Eli Lilly & Company, joins Matthew DeMello to explore how Lilly's new AI supercomputing platform is reshaping scientific discovery and enterprise operations. The conversation examines how large-scale computing enables more advanced models, secure and usable data environments, and faster scientific iteration across the organization. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Boards are pushing CIOs to commit to AI strategies built on contracts written for an entirely different era of enterprise software. In this episode, John Belden, Chief of Research and Strategy at UpperEdge, breaks down the six dimensions of uncertainty CIOs now face when weighing major AI and ERP commitments, and explains why the next five years are about flexibility, not productivity. The conversation covers the case for tighter SI accountability around adaptability, the practical role of contractually-protected optionality, and the difference between performance theater and the kind of continuous learning that keeps a transformation honest. This episode is sponsored by UpperEdge. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

AI programs in financial services don't fail at the model; they fail at the seam between pilot and production, where data, integration discipline, and ownership decide whether anything reaches scale. In this episode, Jeremy Caine, Technology Strategy and Solution Leader at IBM, unpacks why banks and insurers get stuck in pilot purgatory and what an AI-native future state actually looks like in a regulated environment. The conversation covers a data product strategy that surfaces the data that matters for the use case, the industrialized software delivery lifecycle required to move AI into production, a platform-led architecture built on open foundations and automation, and the operating model shifts senior leaders need to make to convert AI investment into durable business capability. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at http://go.emerj.com/partner

Context defines accurate, reliable AI decision‑making, forcing enterprises to confront the fragmentation that prevents systems from accessing the information those decisions depend on. In this episode, Ravi Marwaha, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Product Officer at Arango, examines how AI breaks down when it is asked to reason across disconnected architectures that cannot supply a unified, critical context. The discussion highlights how leaders can isolate the information that drives real decisions, structure access so AI can use it at the moment of action, and establish governance as agent‑generated outcomes move into production. This episode is sponsored by Arango. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

A significant share of manufacturing knowledge still lives in the heads of retiring workers, and the window to capture it is closing as operations push toward AI-enabled ways of working. In this episode, Anand Gnanamoorthy, Director of Corporate Strategy and AI at Ingersoll Rand, examines how manufacturers can digitize tribal knowledge, structured operational data, and decades of unstructured archives before that context disappears. The discussion covers separating data, insights, and decision-making across AI deployments; tapping messy, unstructured data without over-cleaning it; anchoring use cases to the frontline worker rather than the process; and treating every AI project as permanently in pilot mode. This episode is sponsored by Poka. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Enterprise service leaders are realizing that deploying AI for simple productivity gains fails to resolve the underlying issues that cause repeat truck rolls and high costs. In this episode, Niken Patel, CEO and Co-Founder at Neuron7.ai, unpacks why moving beyond basic automation requires a deterministic intelligence layer to make fragmented data ready for complex resolution decision-making. The discussion focuses on benchmarking industry performance, educating core teams on AI readiness, and establishing a data foundation that enables a transition from reactive repairs to predictive service models. This episode is sponsored by Neuron7.ai Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Energy organizations have made progress in safety, but most still rely on backward‑looking investigations rather than systems that anticipate when risk is rising. In this episode, Patricio Rivera, Former Vice President of HSE International at Oxy, joins host Matthew DeMello and examines how learning from good days and leveraging existing observation data can strengthen an organization's ability to predict and prevent safety‑critical events. He highlights the practical shifts required to extend periods of stable operations, reinforce the controls most likely to fail, and align safety practices with broader business performance expectations. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at http://go.emerj.com/partner

AI enthusiasm has outpaced enterprise readiness, leaving many organizations stuck with pilots that work in the lab but fail to deliver meaningful value in production. In this episode, Lawrence Whittle, Chief Strategy Officer at HTEC Group, joins Emerj's Marilie Fouché to examine how the gap between individual users, isolated use cases, and true end‑to‑end sequences prevents companies from moving beyond experimentation. He highlights the practical shifts required — smaller real deployments, tighter scopes, faster iteration cycles, and integrated expertise — to build momentum and translate AI concepts into tangible business results. This episode is sponsored by HTEC. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Agentic AI is running into a hard limit: most enterprise systems, security layers, and operational backends aren't yet built to support automated execution at scale.  Alex Tyrrel, SVP and CTO of Health at Wolters Kluwer, joins Emerj's Matthe DeMello to unpack how agentic systems adapt models to domain‑specific tasks and act directly inside regulated environments. He outlines the practical requirements for higher‑velocity automation, including tighter APIs and entitlements, stronger observability and compliance, and backend capacity that can handle machine‑driven throughput. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at http://go.emerj.com/partner

Stabilizing the operational environment around underwriting judgment is the shift that enables decisions to move into the market with greater speed, consistency, and control. In this episode, Barbara Stacer, Vice President, Head of Small Commercial Underwriting and Underwriting Operations at Utica National Insurance Group, examines how governed versioning, traceable approvals, and embedded documentation close the execution gap that slows pricing changes after they leave actuarial. She outlines the practical steps leaders can take to reduce queue time, strengthen auditability, and ensure pricing updates reach production when they matter most. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at https://go.emerj.com/partner1

A widening gap between retiring experts, manual craftsmanship, and limited process visibility is making it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to maintain consistency, prevent errors early, and onboard new operators effectively. In this episode, Sebastian Dykas, Director of Manufacturing, Engineering, and Maintenance at Smith+Nephew, joins Emerj's Marilie Fouche to examine how capturing best practices and connecting machines for real‑time data can tighten control and reduce variability across shifts. He highlights the practical moves leaders can make now — from standardizing training and strengthening process baselines to introducing data‑driven feedback loops that prevent scrap and stabilize production. This episode is sponsored by Poka.  Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner 

Volatility is exposing the limits of traditional scenario planning, where siloed KPIs and thin operational margins prevent enterprises from seeing how disruptions cascade across forecasting, procurement, and operations. In this episode, Dr. Gopalendu Pal, Director of Operations at Target, joins us to examine how running hundreds of interconnected simulations enables leaders to understand enterprise‑level tradeoffs and make decisions that hold up under shifting demand and supply constraints. He highlights the need to simplify and stabilize core processes so that automation and AI strengthen decision‑making rather than amplify existing operational weaknesses. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at http://go.emerj.com/partner

Voice-based fraud has moved from a fringe security concern to a primary operational risk for financial institutions and enterprise contact centers, and the authentication methods most organizations rely on are no longer adequate. In this episode, Ken Morino, Director of Market and Behavioral Research at Modulate, examines how enterprise leaders can deploy real-time voice intelligence to detect fraud patterns, protect customer trust, and build clear accountability structures across fraud, CX, and compliance teams. The discussion covers where to prioritize investment first, how to integrate voice AI without disrupting existing infrastructure, and why smaller specialized models outperform large general-purpose systems in regulated environments. This episode is sponsored by Modulate. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

The consistency gap in enterprise AI represents a critical failure point where unpredictable system behavior outside of controlled demos threatens to derail executive sponsorship and regulatory compliance. In this episode, Amar Akshat, SVP & Chief Architect at Paysafe, examines how leaders can move beyond experimental shadow AI by embedding determinism and high-threshold guardrails directly into the production pipeline. The discussion outlines a rigorous evaluation framework centered on treating prompts as versioned intellectual property, implementing Know Your Agent (KYA) policy envelopes, and ensuring every agentic decision remains holistically auditable. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at https://go.emerj.com/partner

AI infrastructure projects are failing not because the technology underdelivers, but because organizations commit capital before establishing the business case. In this episode, Juan Orlandini, CTO at Insight, examines why enterprise AI programs stall and outlines how leaders can apply decades of established IT investment discipline to evaluate, validate, and scale AI initiatives with measurable outcomes in mind. The conversation covers organizational change management across employee adoption segments, the application of FinOps principles to AI infrastructure spending, and a minimum viable proof of concept approach for validating AI investments before scaling.   Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at http://go.emerj.com/partner.

Legacy financial systems often trap organizations in "data swamps" where AI is mistakenly treated as a magic fix for fundamentally broken manual architectures. In this episode, Juan Orlandini, CTO of North America at Insight, outlines why senior executives must distinguish between statistical AI outputs and the mathematical precision required for financial compliance to avoid significant reporting risks. The conversation provides a roadmap for building a scalable operating layer by prioritizing data engineering and leveraging established vendor knowledge to protect long-term investment. This episode is sponsored by K1x. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at https://go.emerj.com/partner

A recurring challenge for leaders is that the use cases they expect to automate rarely match what customers actually struggle with once large‑scale conversation data is analyzed. In this episode, Shezan Kazi, Head of AI Transformation and AI Products at Dialpad, examines how autonomous agents should take the first pass on high‑volume deterministic requests, when they must hand off to humans, and why confidence scoring and oversight models are essential for safe deployment. He highlights the practical steps leaders can take — from starting with low‑risk, high‑impact tasks to redesigning processes around real interaction data — to expand automation responsibly and improve customer outcomes over time. This episode is sponsored by Dialpad. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

R&D teams are starting to advance AI capabilities faster than they can translate them into measurable business value, creating mounting friction between scientific progress and operational reality. In this episode, Aziz Nazha, Global Head of AI Innovations Institute at Incyte Pharmaceuticals, examines how culture, talent, infrastructure, and expectation‑setting determine whether AI meaningfully improves drug discovery and development. He highlights the practical shifts required — from redesigning workflows to disciplined upskilling and targeted validation cycles — to ensure AI adoption accelerates cycle times rather than getting stalled by organizational bottlenecks. This episode is sponsored by Deloitte. Learn how brands like Deloitte work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

A major shift is underway as enterprises move from lab‑ready computer vision to the far more complex reality of deploying visual intelligence across messy, variable, high‑stakes physical environments. In this episode, Joseph Nelson, Co‑founder and CEO at Roboflow, examines how dependable visual data, models tuned to real operating conditions, and integration with existing production and safety systems determine whether visual AI delivers meaningful value. He highlights the practical moves that matter most: securing consistent visibility into key processes, choosing a first deployment that proves impact, and scaling only once the operational foundations are in place. This episode is sponsored by Roboflow. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Today's guest is Aaron Demory, Senior Partner at Fearlus and Chief of Information Technology and Security at the FDIC. Fearlus is a strategic governance and risk innovation firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., founded in 2024. They offer the Fearlus Risk Operating Model, a structured approach designed to help organizations align strategy, execution, and governance through cognitive infrastructure and decision clarity. Aaron joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello on today's show to share insight on how regulated institutions are approaching generative AI with caution and clarity, focusing on foundational governance, narrow pilot use cases, and maintaining public trust. The conversation highlights emerging best practices for evaluating large language models, implementing explainability frameworks, and balancing experimentation with accountability. If you find the episode useful, please leave us a five-star review on your preferred podcast platform. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at http://go.emerj.com/partner

Operational complexity in modern distribution centers is accelerating faster than most organizations can adapt, leaving leaders with fragmented data, static facility designs, and inefficiencies that compound across planning and fulfillment. In this episode, Jerod Hamilton, Director of 3PL Warehouse Strategy at Tyson Foods, joins Emerj's Marilie Fouche to examine how disconnected forecasting and warehousing systems limit real‑time decisioning and obscure the true sources of leakage inside large‑scale operations. He highlights the need for integrated planning signals and more adaptive warehouse systems that can adjust placement and movement decisions as demand shifts, rather than weeks after inefficiencies have already taken hold. This episode is sponsored by Easy Metrics. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Today's guest is Emma Vitalini, Head of Global Digital Health Technology Innovation at Amgen. Amgen is a global biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and delivering medicines for serious illnesses. Emma joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to examine how data and AI are reshaping patient recruitment, decentralized clinical trials, and compliance workflows in highly regulated healthcare environments. Emma also discusses practical ways AI can surface unstructured genomic and clinical data to improve patient identification, how API-based access supports hypothesis testing without large-scale data movement, and how modular consent and explainable AI frameworks help sponsors scale trial operations while maintaining regulatory trust and patient transparency. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Aging expertise, paper‑based instructions, and inconsistent onboarding are creating a widening execution gap on the factory floor as experienced workers retire and new operators expect real‑time digital support. In this episode, Antoine Bisson, CEO and Co‑Founder at Poka, examines how manufacturers can capture institutional knowledge and convert it into structured digital guidance that accelerates training and stabilizes performance. Poka is a connected‑worker platform for manufacturers. It digitizes work instructions and training, uses AI to convert legacy knowledge into structured content, and delivers contextual guidance to frontline teams in real time. The discussion highlights how AI‑generated instructions, contextual support, and focused early use cases help leaders reduce variability, strengthen continuity, and move teams toward more proactive operations. This episode is sponsored by Poka. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at  go.emerj.com/partner

Architectural decision‑making in large enterprises can break down when system knowledge is fragmented, slowing delivery and creating inconsistent outcomes across teams. In this episode, Amar Akshat, Senior Vice President of Architecture at PaySafe, examines how codified organizational memory and deterministic guardrails enable intelligent systems to accelerate development without sacrificing control. He highlights the shift toward machine‑readable decision records, intent‑driven interfaces, and standardized design patterns that help enterprises reduce drift, strengthen compliance, and move faster with greater confidence. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at http://go.emerj.com/partner

Tax processes remain constrained by document-based workflows that limit data accessibility, speed, and cross-system integration. In this episode, Neal Schneider, Co-Founder and CTO at K1x, and Ken Powell, Chief Revenue Officer at K1x, unpack how shifting to standardized, connected tax data enables more efficient processing, interoperability, and improved use of information across stakeholders. The discussion focuses on reducing manual data handling, progressing through stages of data maturity, and using centralized data to support faster processing and more informed client work. This episode is sponsored by K1x. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

The gap between customer expectations and operational delivery is widening as traditional reactive service models struggle with volume volatility and workforce attrition. In this episode, Philipp Heltewig, Chief AI Officer at NiCE, unpacks how enterprises can transition to a proactive, AI-first customer experience by rethinking core service processes for the age of automation. The discussion outlines the shift from measuring simple deflection to prioritizing resolution quality, alongside the technical requirements for structuring APIs and knowledge bases to support high-performance AI agents. This episode is sponsored by NiCE. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Supply chains are being pushed to move faster while geopolitical volatility makes traditional planning cycles increasingly fragile for global enterprises. In this episode, Edmund Zagorin, Founding Chief Strategy Officer at Arkestro, and Mike Shin, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Trinity Rail Industries, join Daniel Faggella, Emerj CEO and Head of Research, to examine how proactive, data‑driven procurement models help organizations balance cost, capacity, and continuity under these conditions. They highlight how offer‑driven sourcing, automated contract intelligence, and supplier‑alternative discovery shorten decision cycles, surface hidden risks, and strengthen collaboration across procurement and supply chain teams. This episode is sponsored by Arkestro. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner.  Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

The collapse of traditional, static survey models at scale creates a systemic visibility gap that transforms multi-tier supply chain dependencies into boardroom-level risks. In this Aravo-sponsored episode, Carey Smith, former CIO and Chief Technology Innovation Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and President and CIO of XcelerateHealth, outlines how enterprises must transition to continuous, AI-enabled monitoring to achieve deterministic explainability in risk scoring. The discussion focuses on shifting from simple risk detection to operational resilience by automating remediation playbooks and segmenting vendor scrutiny based on business materiality Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Enterprises are facing an 80% failure rate for AI agents in complex tasks because these systems lack the deep understanding required to navigate established legacy environments and existing internal systems. In this episode, Eran Yahav, CTO and co-founder at Tabnine, outlines how an enterprise context engine acts as a persistent memory and mapping layer that onboards AI systems into specific business logic, security perimeters, and organizational dependencies. The conversation highlights how this infrastructure can double agent success rates and reduce token costs by 80% while allowing technical leaders to establish swim lanes that ensure agents operate reliably within complex software architectures. This episode is sponsored by Tabnine. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner.  Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

AI adoption is forcing a shift from automating yesterday's processes to redesigning the enterprise for differentiation and growth. In this episode, Dan Diasio, Global AI Consulting Leader and Americas Consulting CTO at EY, joins Emerj's Matthew DeMello to unpack why leading organizations are reallocating AI gains toward workforce reinvention, new operating models, and competitive advantage rather than headcount reduction. The conversation distills how executives are reframing investment strategy, avoiding the visibility trap, and aligning mindset, skill set, and tool set to unlock enterprise‑level value. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast! Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

Regulated industries are facing mounting pressure to adopt AI while maintaining absolute accuracy, data protection, and clear human accountability. In this episode, Steve Hasker, CEO at Thomson Reuters, joins Emerj's Matthew DeMello to examine how these demands are reshaping expectations for model reliability, data isolation, and the future of high‑stakes regulatory work. The discussion highlights the need for transparent guardrails, expert‑trained systems, and new approaches to handling large‑scale filings without compromising oversight. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert1  for more information and to be a potential future guest on Emerj's flagship 'AI in Business' podcast! Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner

The contact center is shifting from a service channel to a primary point of fraud, where text‑based systems fail to catch the signals that surface only in live voice. In this episode, Mike Pappas, CEO & Co‑Founder at Modulate, joins Emerj's Nick Gertsch to examine how audio‑native, multi‑model analysis exposes social engineering and deepfake‑driven threats that traditional tools routinely miss. The discussion highlights how leaders can strengthen real‑time detection, limit downstream financial and regulatory impact, and evaluate voice‑AI systems based on accuracy, speed, and adaptability to evolving fraud tactics. This episode is sponsored by Modulate. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options atgo.emerj.com/partner. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

A growing number of enterprises are discovering that early agent wins don't translate into scale because agents can connect but cannot yet share context or improve as a coordinated system. In this episode, Papi Menon, Vice President of Product Management and Chief Product Officer at Outshift by Cisco, joins Emerj's Matthew DeMello to unpack why the missing cognitive layer in multi‑agent environments limits progress and what it will take for agents to operate as a collective rather than isolated tools. He highlights how leaders can make meaningful headway by choosing low‑risk, high‑impact starting points and building on open, interoperable foundations that support future evolution. This episode is sponsored by Outshift by Cisco. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

A decade of stalled industrial AI efforts has given way to a new phase where agentic systems can finally handle complex, variable operational tasks without the brittle constraints of earlier automation. In this episode, Somya Kapoor, CEO at IFS Loops, joins Daniel Faggella Emerj CEO and Head of Research to examine how digital workers can be introduced as task‑specific assistants that learn from business instructions and progressively take on procurement, service, and back‑office responsibilities. She highlights the shift toward managing these agents alongside human teams, emphasizing focused adoption, measurable operational gains, and the need for built‑in oversight, auditability, and guardrails. This episode is sponsored by IFS. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

Financial institutions are finding that the primary bottleneck to AI adoption isn't the technology itself, but the inability to govern sensitive data with the precision required for enterprise-scale deployment. In this episode, Mark Crean, Regional Vice President of Sales from Securiti AI and James Dean, AI Specialist at Google Cloud, breaks down how fragmented data and access risks keep high-value use cases trapped in the pilot phase. They outline the shift toward disciplined data classification and the cross-team alignment necessary to transition AI into regulated, revenue-critical workflows. The conversation highlights why remediation and traceability have become the ultimate benchmarks for safety and ROI in the sector. This episode is sponsored by Securiti AI. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click go.emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

The traditional focus on supply chain efficiency has created brittle networks that break under modern volatility and shifting global trade consensus. Optilogic provides an AI‑native platform for supply chain design, where autonomous agents build models, generate scenarios, and evaluate network tradeoffs. In this episode, Don Hicks, CEO at Optilogic, unpacks why enterprise leaders must run supply chain planning and design as parallel, symbiotic processes to move beyond current network constraints and build for long-term resilience. The discussion outlines a framework for using AI to automate routine tactical decisions while leveraging human-led what-if simulations to architect future-state competitive advantages. This episode is sponsored by Optilogic. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/partner 

Enterprise data estates often optimize for platform expansion over decision velocity, producing reporting layers that signal activity but fail to accelerate strategic outcomes. In this episode, Barry McCardel, CEO at Hex, examines how leading organizations can compress the gap between executive questions and decision-grade insight to materially increase the enterprise value of data. The discussion focuses on tightening feedback loops, operationalizing collaborative and AI-augmented analysis, and redefining data ROI around adoption, trust, and measurable business impact rather than production metrics. This episode is sponsored by Hex. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/partner. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

Customer service leaders face rising pressure to resolve more interactions faster, while maintaining high-quality experiences — and many legacy systems and processes can't keep up. In this episode, Craig Walker, CEO of Dialpad, joins Daniel Faggella, Emerj CEO and Head of Research, to break down how AI can augment human agents to handle routine requests like order status and password resets, freeing teams to focus on complex issues. He shares actionable strategies for enterprise leaders, from cleaning knowledge bases and analyzing ticket patterns to running controlled pilots and scaling AI agents across the organization. Craig also explains how AI can coach agents in real time and surface insights for managers, creating a continuously improving support system that drives measurable ROI. This episode is sponsored by Dialpad. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1 Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

Modern enterprise leaders face a critical strategic challenge in balancing seamless digital onboarding with the increasing threat of sophisticated, AI-driven fraud. In this episode, Mary Ann Miller, VP of Client Experience and Fraud Advisor at Prove, unpacks why a robust "welcome mat" strategy centered on high-assurance identity verification enables the safe scaling of high-value services and drives institutional ROI. The conversation examines the implementation of endpoint bot protection to counter agentic AI attacks, the transition to intelligent data pre-fill to reduce abandonment, and the role of tokenized identity in creating a persistent, frictionless customer experience. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/e2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on Emerj's flagship 'AI in Business' podcast.

The critical bottleneck in small commercial pricing is no longer the actuarial model itself, but the operational friction and administrative stagnation that occurs during the transition from indication to production deployment. In this episode, Barbara Stacer, Vice President and Head of Small Commercial Underwriting and Underwriting Operations at Utica National Insurance Group, unpacks how carriers can eliminate premium leakage and accelerate speed-to-market by implementing standardized operational infrastructure to automate versioning, documentation, and governance. The discussion outlines a practical framework for mapping pricing lifecycles to identify specific deployment delays and transitioning to a governed environment where audit trails are synchronized with rate adjustments. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/e2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on Emerj's flagship 'AI in Business' podcast! This episode is sponsored by Akur8.

Today's guest is Carey Smith, Former President and CIO of XcelerateHealth and Chief Technology Innovation Officer (CTIO) of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. XcelerateHealth is a health-tech startup and business unit of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, focused on AI-driven digital products to transform healthcare insurance experiences. Carey joins Emerj's Nick Gertsch to discuss how leaders can structure talent and workforce AI so decisions are consistent, reviewable, and aligned with organizational controls. Smith also shares practical steps for tightening decision rights, improving data readiness, and designing workflows where AI accelerates hiring and mobility without increasing risk. This episode is sponsored by Eightfold AI. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/partner Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

Commercial life‑sciences teams are facing a widening gap between strong brand strategy and fragmented real‑world execution, driven by misaligned workflows, static targeting, and an inability to act at the speed patients move through their therapeutic journeys. In this episode, Philip Poulidis, CEO and Co-founder of ODAIA, unpacks how AI can close that gap by connecting brand intent to real‑time execution, enabling teams to prioritize the right HCPs, orchestrate engagement, and measure impact through outcomes rather than activity metrics. He highlights the practical shifts required to get there — from cross‑functional adoption and workflow‑embedded insights to attribution modeling, efficiency gains, and focused pilots that prove value quickly. This episode is sponsored by ODAIA. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/partner. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

Enterprise risk leaders are currently struggling to move beyond static, episodic checklists while managing the data "fire hose" generated by continuous monitoring. In this episode, Dean Alms, Chief Product Officer, and Eric Hensley, Chief Technology Officer at Aravo, break down how AI-native orchestration transforms fragmented risk data into a holistic, board-level resilience strategy. They examine practical shifts toward exception-based monitoring, the automation of rote tasks like document ingestion, and the necessity of governing "responsible AI" practices within the vendor ecosystem. This episode is sponsored by Aravo. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/partner. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

Eliminating the friction caused by fragmented customer context is a primary mandate for enterprise operations leaders. Joe Atamian, Vice President at Comcast, joins the program to discuss the transition to an AI-first operating model — where AI acts as the connective infrastructure that maintains history and intent across IVR, chat, and live agents. This briefing explores how the Fortune 500 can move human teams away from system navigation and toward high-value judgment, empathy, and resolution. This episode is sponsored by Atlan. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/media_kit