The AI in Business Podcast How Enterprise Industrial Leaders Are Applying AI to Systemic Manufacturing Problems - with Emily Nguyen of Palantir Technologies
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Nov 4, 2025 Emily Nguyen, Head of Industrials and Warp Speed at Palantir Technologies, brings over a decade of expertise on AI in manufacturing. She discusses the stubborn persistence of legacy systems and how they hinder efficiency. Emily emphasizes the need for better interoperability between siloed systems to enhance decision-making. She shares insights on using AI tools like LLMs to automate routine tasks, promote scenario planning, and build AI readiness incrementally without overhauling existing processes.
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Walled Gardens Stall Agility
- Legacy ERP/PLM systems create rigid walled gardens that block data interoperability and practical use on the factory floor.
- Emily Nguyen argues these silos force workers back to pen, paper, and whiteboards, harming agility and competitiveness.
FIFO Logic Broke During COVID
- During COVID a customer had to turn off auto-fulfillment because FIFO logic failed amid supply and demand shocks.
- Emily used this story to illustrate how rigid system logic can force companies back to spreadsheets.
Usability Trumps Data Lakes
- Usability, not just data availability, drives workers to prefer whiteboards and Excel over rigid systems.
- Emily highlights that proprietary formats and inflexible data models make real-world coordination impractical.