The AI in Business Podcast

In this week's episode, we're discussing a topic that applies across industries for AI projects: where is the data coming from? Our guest is Dora Boussias, Senior Director for Data Strategy and Architecture at Stryker. Stryker is a $17B per year company in the medical device space. She discusses the process of building out a data strategy with a key emphasis on the right questions to ask, such as: how can we organize and focus our vision and efforts to be able to unlock the data that's likely to be the most valuable for today's projects and for the future of AI projects as well? The opinions in this episode are the guest's personal opinions and do not represent Stryker's opinions in any way. If you're interested in accessing Emerj's best practices and frameworks for AI ROI, AI strategy for building AI roadmaps, and our full library of AI use-cases, you can learn more at emerj.com/p1.

This is another episode in our AI is Here series. We've covered all sorts of industries in this recent series, from financial services to oil and gas, but we've yet to touch on defense. Our guest today is Jared Dunnmon. Jared is a Ph.D. from Stanford in Artificial Intelligence and is now the Technical Director of AI and Machine Learning for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). In this episode, we explore two key themes: individual use-cases and capabilities that are becoming important and the adoption of AI in the defense industry today. Jared highlights how we can find patterns in data in the world and the must-knows in the enterprise to get AI off the ground. This AI is Here episode is brought to you by SambaNova Systems. To learn more about Emerj Media and how to engage with the Emerj audience, visit emerj.com/ad1.

Today we're discussing the topic of leveling up software tools with AI capabilities. Our guest is Matt Berseth. Matt is the CIO and one of the co-founders of NLP Logix, an AI services firm. A few weeks ago, Matt joined us to discuss the analogy of pizza vs. lasagna or what it means for AI to go from playing at the surface to become part of a software solution. In this episode, Matt gives examples of this transformation happening in the real world. Matt discusses where existing software solutions have been leveled up in terms of what they can deliver for value to both the end-user and the organization leveraging it in the public and private sectors. This episode is brought to you by NLP Logix. If you're interested in learning more about reaching Emerj's global audience, visit emerj.com/ad1.

Today's episode is the fifth and final part of our series on building an enterprise AI strategy. Our guest is Richard Benjamins, Chief AI & Data Strategist at Telefónica and author of "Data-Driven Company." Telefónica is a $40B firm and one of the largest in the telco space in the EU. In this episode, Richard emphasizes the importance of how we collect and handle data at an enterprise level in a way that enables us to support strategy-building. He also shares his opinion on including ethics and governance as part of the strategy-building process and discusses using smaller projects to construct bigger-picture momentum to finalize a strategy. If your company is getting started with AI, download our free guide, "Beginning with AI: 3 Critical Insights for Non-Technical Executives," at emerj.com/beg1 to learn more about the practical steps for initial AI adoption.

Today is episode four of five in our series, where we're focusing on enterprise AI strategy. Our guest today is Adam Bonnifield. Adam is the CEO of Konux, an AI firm based in Germany. One of the key takeaways Adam emphasizes in this episode is that strategy is as much about what you're not going to do as what you are going to do. He frames the processing of brainstorming about strategy and identifying opportunities in a way that focuses on the things that truly matter. Another critical point Adam makes is the benefit of addressing your enterprise's existing problems rather than a novel application when it comes to strategy. Adam describes what this looked like within Airbus with lessons that are transferable to any other enterprise. Finally, we discuss the Trinity Model for AI ROI, a tool within Emerj Plus. To learn more about Emerj's frameworks for AI readiness, ROI and strategy, visit emerj.com/p1.

Today we dive back into our series on AI strategy and have two more days of episodes coming this week. Today's guest is Sankar Narayanan, Chief Practice Officer at Fractal. Fractal is a unicorn company working on AI-related projects across industries and is well-known for its work in CPG and several other sectors. In this episode, Sankar explores three critical topics in great depth: finding the correct problems, having a long-term mindset, and building with the user in mind. In particular, being able to consider a less successful project and work backward to create a new process with a much larger likelihood of a user taking it, running with it, and converting it into ROI is one of the most salient points for this interview. He also emphasizes that it's not about whether the algorithm works or we have the data but whether someone will use it. To access Emerj's frameworks for ROI, strategy, and more, visit Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1.

Today's guest is Anand Mahurkar, CEO and Founder of Findability Sciences. Based in Boston, Findability Sciences has done a lot of work in the ERP space across different sectors. In this episode, Anand discusses some of the challenges of data access and multiple use-cases for how current ERP data can provide predictive value for estimating demand and customizing prices for different products. Anand also unpacks the importance of ERP and where it's going in the future. This episode is brought to you by Findability Sciences. If you're interested in learning more about reaching Emerj's global audience through our podcast, email, and more, visit emerj.com/ad1.

This is episode two of five in our series on AI strategy, and today, our guest is Bret Greenstein, Partner at PwC. Bret has worked at many of the largest consulting companies in the world, and he now leads AI efforts at PwC. This special series focuses on building an enterprise AI strategy to align departments and efforts with striving for a long-term and near-term ROI. One of the main themes Bret discusses in this episode is the importance of executive fluency for assessing and building skills. Brett also gives his perspective on balancing a variety of small, disjointed AI projects distinct from business operations and connecting them so that strategy can come to life. Visit emerj.com/beg1 to learn more about the practical steps for AI deployment for non-technical professionals.

This week we are diving into the topic of AI strategy with a new series devoted to exploring how to build an enterprise-wide AI strategy and align company efforts to optimize long-term ROI while still seeing an immediate return with leaders at top companies. To start the series, we welcome back David Carmona. David is the General Manager for Artificial Intelligence and Innovation at Microsoft. In this episode, David speaks about how Microsoft didn't get its AI strategy quite right initially and what they learned from their approach. The critical takeaway he shares is educating leadership to bring everyone to a level of solid conceptual understanding of AI. He explains how this educational element became a crucial underpinning for how they turned things around and built a strategy that can help inform where they are going as a company. If you're interested in unlocking our AI best practice guides, frameworks for AI ROI, and more resources, visit emerj.com/p1.

This is another episode in our AI is Here series, and today, we're focusing on AI in the hospital setting. In this episode, we discuss patient data and being able to guide a patient's treatment journey with artificial intelligence. Our guest is Dr. Kostas Papagiannopoulos. Kostas is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Leeds University and serves as Thoracic Surgeon for Leeds Teaching Hospitals. He is also a Medical Advisor to several substantial medical device companies and, until recently, was President of the European Society for Thoracic Surgeons. In today's episode, Kostas discusses where he's seeing AI make its way into the hospital setting and some of the critical barriers to adoption, and how leaders should overcome them. This series is brought you to by SambaNova Systems. SambaNova believes that AI is here, and we've partnered with them to bring you leading experts across industries to discuss where AI is making an impact today.