Enterprise AI Innovators

Jaime Montemayor, Chief Digital & Technology Officer at General Mills, dives into the transformative power of AI in the food industry. He explains how clean data and cloud migration have driven innovation, enabling predictive analytics and improving supply chain efficiency. With 30% of the workforce embracing generative AI, Montemayor emphasizes the importance of being hands-on with technology. He also shares insights on digitizing logistics, accelerating product development, and the future of AI-driven consumer interactions, all while maintaining strategic focus for business growth.

Mark Sherwood, EVP and CIO at Wolters Kluwer, leads transformative AI efforts in product development and operations. He discusses revolutionary changes like automating standard operating procedures, reducing weeks of work to minutes. Sherwood elaborates on enhancing contract management by surfacing risks and suggesting rewording. He emphasizes a pragmatic AI strategy, prioritizing real business challenges and productivity gains. Looking ahead, he predicts AI agents will work alongside humans, enhancing collaboration while preserving uniquely human roles.

On the 56th episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, host Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) welcomes Sally Miller, Global Chief Information Officer at DHL Supply Chain. Sally reveals how AI and robotics are reshaping the warehouse floor, the back office, and customer expectations at a company operating 2,500 sites across more than 50 countries. From early bets on generative tools to inclusive bots supporting multi-language teams, she shares the strategy, systems, and human factors required to scale AI across the globe.Quick hits from Sally:On strategic clarity for AI: “We look for where people spend time doing non-value-added tasks and ask if AI can do that for them.”On AI’s impact at DHL: “Where we would be calling over the course of a week to confirm delivery appointments, we now kick off agents and those appointments are confirmed within a couple of hours. We’ve saved that [manual work], we’ve automated it, and we have the data faster. So the downstream processes are more efficient.”On business framing for AI usage: “I view AI as to the white-collar workforce what robotics was to the blue-collar workforce. It is going to change the way people work, much like the introduction of the personal computer.”Recent Book Recommendation: The Gray Man by Mark Greaney--Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top security executives share how moves to the cloud have created an evolved threat landscape that requires new tools to protect against cybercrime. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer

On the 55th episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) welcome Richard Donaldson, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Duke Energy. Richard explains how one of the largest regulated utilities in North America is embracing AI to reshape its digital infrastructure and accelerate enterprise-wide transformation. He shares concrete use cases, like Duke Energy Explorer for regulatory responses and generative AI authoring relicensing documentation, and conceptualizes a future where AI-powered drones and intimate co-pilots redefine operational productivity.Quick Hits from Richard: On strategic clarity for AI: “Everybody’s waiting for me to say we did this AI thing straight out of a science fiction book, but the most valuable stuff doesn’t always come with the spice.”On AI’s impact at Duke: “We built a conversational AI that harvests data across hundreds of sources for regulatory Q&A. It’s not banan, but it moves the needle every single time.”On business framing for AI usage: “We spent 2024 doing the unsexy work: protecting data, governing AI platforms. That was the homework. Now we're turning the page and going fast.”Book Recommendation: Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson—Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience. Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 54th episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Max Chan, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Avnet. Avnet is a $20 billion global technology distribution company that plays a critical role in the electronics supply chain, supporting the design, production, and delivery of devices worldwide. In this episode, Max shares how Avnet is utilizing generative AI to transform the way work is done across product design, quoting, customer service, and IT. He outlines their strategic maturity model for AI adoption and why CIOs must lead with experimentation.Quick Hits from Max:On evolving IT’s role: "[We] moved away from the monolithic type of solutions into a more cloud-first, digital-centric composable architecture. That change truly helped with driving any and every innovation that we are talking about today.”On framing enterprise AI: "We bucket [AI use] into three types. First, we talk about out-of-the-box generative AI tools… The second bucket is what we like to call embedded AI… Last is truly custom AI solutions."On generative design: "The engineers, instead of coming with three designs [and having] the customer look at it, come back with some recommendations or questions, [and then] they go back to the drawing board; now they can immediately get in front of a customer [and] say, 'hey, look, these are the things that we can do if this is what you want [and] these are the parameters that you're changing.'"Recent Book Recommendation: Competing in the Age of AI by Karim Lakhani.  "A great cheat sheet for CIOs and CDOs on how to get started and what to avoid."-- Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience. Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 53rd episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Sineesh Keshav, Chief Technology Officer at Prologis. With over 1.3 billion square feet under management and over 8 billion in revenue, Prologis is the world's largest logistics real estate company. In this conversation, Sineesh shares his perspective on how Prologis drove 95% company-wide adoption of generative AI through personal productivity use cases. He also discusses the future of SaaS as enterprises begin to take greater ownership of their data and AI models, and how AI is enabling a shift from static infrastructure to dynamic, self-optimizing supply chains.Quick hits from Sineesh:On understanding build vs. buy with AI: "If everyone has access to the latest, greatest models, which should be our assumption, then the only thing that differentiates your company is your data, and how you use it. And anything that touches proprietary data should be built internally.”On the importance of enterprise AI strategy: "This isn't something you can afford to sit out. There's a minimum investment every company needs to make—don't skimp on licenses; don't wait to see how it shakes out. Make it accessible, find champions, and start now.”On how AI empowers employees: "At the most basic level, it's a productivity driver. Some people use it to proofread emails, others use it to summarize a 40-page memo, or draft that memo entirely. Every employee can use it in completely different ways—and that's exactly the point.”Recent Book Recommendation: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi--Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience. Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 52nd episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, host Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) talks with Sastry Durvasula, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating, Information, and Digital Officer at TIAA. Serving the investment and retirement needs of over 5 million customers, TIAA is a Fortune 500 financial services company with $40 billion in revenue and over $1 trillion in assets under management. In this conversation, Sastry shares his perspective on how AI enables large-scale transformation within a 100-year-old institution, why everyone should have a secure AI assistant, and the cultural components that will unlock the next wave of enterprise AI adoption.Quick hits from Sastry:On using AI to enhance security awareness training: “We used to send static phishing emails. Now we use generative AI to create training campaigns that are more realistic—and way harder to spot.”On AI’s strategic impact for legacy enterprise: “AI will play the biggest role in the operational aspects of large, old companies, like digitization did 15 years ago.”On the importance of leadership: “We talk about platforms, processes, and people. But one of my mentors told me: it’s people, people, people.”Recent Book Recommendation: Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella, Jill Tracie Nichols, and Greg Shaw--Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience. Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 51st episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, host Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) talks with Shyam Bhojwani, Chief Information Officer at Nextdoor. With millions of users across the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, Nextdoor is one of the largest neighborhood-based platforms in the world, connecting communities with real-time information, local recommendations, and public safety alerts. In this conversation, Shyam shares his perspective on how AI is shifting automation from static workflows to dynamic, context-aware agents, why IT and cybersecurity are prime candidates for fast AI wins, and how culture, architecture, and data readiness all shape the long-term success of enterprise transformation.Quick hits from Shyam:On unlearning in the age of AI: “Every day with AI is a new learning but also a lot of unlearning. What we thought wasn’t possible yesterday is already possible today.”On the evolution from automation to agentic orchestration: “Earlier, you would sort of create static processes, step A, step B, step C. Now with AI, it can go from step A to step C based on context. These AI agents aren’t just automating tasks, they’re orchestrating workflows with real-time intelligence.On how to avoid AI chaos across teams: “There needs to be a centralized AI Ops team to connect the dots. Otherwise, every department ends up buying the same tool twice.”Recent Book Recommendation: The New Automation Mindset by Vijay Tella--Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience. Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.

Sesh Tirumala, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Western Digital, shares his vast experience in AI and digital transformation. He discusses how AI can minimize unnecessary meetings, highlighting that 90% are often unproductive. Sesh also talks about integrating sales and procurement data to proactively prevent customer churn. With a focus on experimentation, he emphasizes the need for organizations to adopt AI solutions swiftly, ensuring that technology drives efficiency in global manufacturing.

On the 49th episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Vineet Khosla, Chief Technology Officer of The Washington Post. The Washington Post is the third-largest newspaper in the United States, with 135,000 print subscribers and 2 and half million digital subscribers. In this conversation, Vineet shares his thoughts on the mainstream integration of AI technology, the transformative impact of AI on journalism, and the future of personalized news delivery. Quick hits from Vineet:On proof that AI is having a true impact on our lives: “The Nobel Prize for Physics went to Geoffrey Hinton. The Nobel Prize for chemistry went to Demis Hassabis, the deep mind. This is the first time we’re seeing the top prize in physics and chemistry go to people who created an AI which solved a problem in that field. It is the AI they invented that did such a commendable job that other people were forced to recognize their achievement as being top notch.”On the impact AI has on human creative roles: “So when these AI models start to be creative, it is understandable everyone's afraid. Let's put that as the baseline and say this is not wrong. It doesn't make anybody bad. But slowly and the way we're doing it with creative tools is that we want AI to do the part of your job that you shouldn't have been doing anyways, and you start to see a change in people's behavior, their hearts and minds. And of course, some people will move faster than others. But when they see the actual benefit, the skeptics will come around and use it to their power.”On encouraging Productivity and creativity through AI tools: “You give people these tools, let them be productive, let them go on their journey,  and you encourage them. You obviously give really good use cases. Like I said, when I was writing code recently, I got the AI to write me most of my unit tests because as an engineer, I hate that. And I know they're super important. There is no way I will check in code without it, but I hate writing them. Now that time gets freed up.”Recent Book Recommendation: Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmar--Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience. Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.