JoAnn Stonier can’t deny that her role as chief data officer at Mastercard isn’t easy. Advising the company on the mitigation of current and future risk while guiding her team to think critically about the problems they’re using AI to solve is challenging — but, she says, it’s also fun.In this episode, JoAnn talks with Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh about the elements of her job that are both demanding and rewarding. She also touches on the skill sets she finds most valuable in her colleagues and shares how her work in interior design helps her reframe technology challenges at work. Read the episode transcript here.Read the article Strategy For and With AI.Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/aipodcast.Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.Your reviews are essential to the success of Me, Myself, and AI. For a limited time, we’re offering a free download of MIT SMR’s best articles on artificial intelligence to listeners who review the show. Send a screenshot of your review to smrfeedback@mit.edu to receive the download.Guest bio:JoAnn Stonier serves as chief data officer for Mastercard, leading the organization’s data innovation efforts while navigating current and future data risks. Stonier and her team design and operationalize Mastercard’s global data strategy, ensure governance and data quality, and guide enterprise deployment of cutting-edge data solutions, including advanced analytics and AI and the development of enterprise data platforms.We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.  

1-800-Flowers faces the same cold-start problem any consumer-facing business might face: It doesn’t know exactly what its customers need when they first come to its website. What’s more unique to the platform which operates through a network of local florists and affiliates worldwide, though, is that each time a customer comes to its site, they may have a different end goal in mind. Consumers shop for gifts and floral arrangements for different occasions — as varied as funerals, birthdays, and holidays — which can make it difficult for technology to recommend the best product during a specific online shopping session.In Season 2, Episode 3, of the Me, Myself, and AI podcast, 1-800-Flowers president Amit Shah explains the company’s unique challenge as a platform business and engagement brand facing this perennial cold-start problem. He also shares his insights into why marketers may have a leg up in working with AI and machine learning, how to foster a team of curious learners, and why it’s important to tolerate failures. Read the episode transcript here.Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/audio-series/me-myself-and-ai.Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.Your reviews are essential to the success of Me, Myself, and AI. For a limited time, we’re offering a free download of MIT SMR’s best articles on artificial intelligence to listeners who review the show. Send a screenshot of your review to smrfeedback@mit.edu to receive the download.Guest bio:Amit Shah has a proven track record for leading e-commerce marketing strategies while rapidly scaling user acquisition and revenue streams. As president of 1-800-Flowers.com (since August 2020), he is responsible for leading the operations and management of the 1-800-Flowers.com brand. Since joining the company in September 2011, Shah has held several roles of increasing responsibility, most recently serving as chief marketing officer from March 2017 to August 2020.We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.

Will Grannis, founder of Google Cloud’s CTO Office, shares how his early love for gaming shaped his tech career. He discusses the importance of defining problems for success in AI projects, emphasizing a user-first mindset and collaboration across diverse perspectives. Grannis highlights the intricate balance between human teamwork and machine integration, particularly in customer support contexts. He also underlines that focusing on business impact rather than just technology is crucial for effective machine learning solutions, drawing valuable parallels from gaming.

Craig Martell says he won the career lottery. After studying logic, philosophy, political science, and political theory, he completed a Ph.D. in computer science and found his way to machine learning, a field he thoroughly enjoys. After spending time at Dropbox and LinkedIn, Craig headed to Lyft, where he runs the LyftML engineering team. He’s also an adjunct professor at Northeastern University in Seattle.We kick off Season 2 of Me, Myself, and AI discussing a particular trend Craig has seen in the AI and machine learning space: As organizations depend more on technology-driven solutions to solve business problems, algorithms themselves are less important than how they fit into an overall engineering product pipeline and product development road map. Craig shares his thoughts about what this shift means for academic education and cross-functional collaboration in organizations, and the hosts pick his brain about how to combat unconscious bias. Read the episode transcript here.Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/aipodcast.To find out more about the movie Coded Bias, which Craig mentions during the interview, visit https://www.codedbias.com. To learn more about the work of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini, visit her page on the lab's website: https://www.media.mit.edu/people/joyab/overview/Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.Your reviews are essential to the success of Me, Myself, and AI. For a limited time, we’re offering a free download of MIT SMR’s best articles on artificial intelligence to listeners who review the show. Send a screenshot of your review to smrfeedback@mit.edu to receive the download.Guest bio: Craig Martell is head of machine learning at Lyft and an adjunct professor of machine learning for Northeastern University’s Align program in Seattle. Before joining Lyft, he was head of machine intelligence at Dropbox, led a number of AI teams and initiatives at LinkedIn, and was a tenured professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Martell has a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania and is coauthor of Great Principles of Computing (MIT Press, 2015).We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.

Kay Firth-Butterfield, head of AI and machine learning at the World Economic Forum, dives into the complexities of AI governance and ethics. With her background in human rights law, she emphasizes the necessity of education and collaboration in technology to address power dynamics and drive innovation. Kay discusses how AI can enhance innovation in sectors like healthcare and environmental solutions while advocating for empathetic human interactions with machines. She also highlights the importance of diverse backgrounds in shaping future leaders who can ethically navigate the AI landscape.

Arti Zeighami’s interest in artificial intelligence started when he read science fiction as a teen. Yet as head of advanced analytics and AI for global retailer H&M Group, his leadership style focuses on reality: first building a business case and a proof of concept, and then undergoing an agile process of iteration and scaling, failure and success, measurement and improvement.In this episode, Arti talks about weaving AI into the value chain in the fashion industry — specifically around personalization, pricing, merchandising and forecasting. He has coined the term amplified intelligence — where humans and machines work together — and in this episode shares stories and practical tips on how teams can get started and scale successfully. Read the episode transcript here.Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/audio-series/me-myself-and-ai.Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast between MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group. Its engineer is David Lishansky, and its coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.Guest bio: Arti Zeighami is a senior executive and a business leader at H&M Group. As chief data and analytics officer, he is responsible for all AI, analytics, and data capabilities across all of the company’s brands.We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.

Mattias Ulbrich has always been interested in new technology. As CIO of Porsche and CEO of Porsche Digital, he runs a subsidiary focused on the “new stuff” — new ideas, new models, and new opportunities. That means implementing innovations in AI, cloud technology, and blockchain in local markets around the world, and instilling a culture of continuous learning within his own cross-functional workforce.In this episode, Mattias shares examples of how AI is accelerating innovation at Porsche — by enhancing product design and the driving experience, improving production and sustainability efforts, and better managing the global supply chain. He has also connected some unlikely dots from other spaces — for example, by using the sound of an espresso machine to inform car component design. Read the episode transcript here.Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/aipodcast.Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast between MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group, hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Its engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.Guest bio:Mattias Ulbrich has been CIO at Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG since October 2018 and CEO of Porsche Digital GmbH since April 2019. After studying electrical engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Mattias began his career in the sales division of American IT company Hewlett-Packard in 1993. He joined Audi AG in 1998, working at the Neckarsulm, Germany, site until 2003. Mattias was subsequently appointed CIO at SEAT in Barcelona, Spain, and then joined Volkswagen in 2006. From 2012-2018, Mattias was CIO at Audi AG.We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.

As vice president of innovation at logistics company DHL, Gina Chung oversees a 28,000-square-foot innovation facility in Chicago. Fascinated with supply chains since college (“I think it’s something to do with the fact that I’m from New Zealand and grew up in a pretty isolated part of the world,” she explains), she spearheads AI and robotics projects focused on front-line operations — like automated pallet inspection and stacking, delivery route optimization, and aircraft utilization.Gina notes that “the first day for AI is the worst day”: The technology improves with human input over time, achieving accuracy to a level where people trust and embrace it. She describes how success requires closely collaborating with key stakeholders, integrating change management, bringing teams along when introducing new technology, and designing solutions with the end user in mind. Read the episode transcript here.Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/aipodcast.Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast between MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group, hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Its engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.Guest bio: Gina Chung is vice president, Innovation Americas, at DHL, where she is responsible for DHL’s Americas Innovation Center, a purpose-built platform to engage customers, startups, and industries on the future of logistics. She manages a portfolio of projects focused on the rapid testing and adoption of technologies such as collaborative robotics and artificial intelligence across logistics operations.We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.

Prakhar Mehrotra, vice president of machine learning at Walmart, shares his experience and how it prepared him to lead an AI team at a $500B retailer. Tasked with using AI to help with decision-making and enhance the business, Prakhar focuses on the technology that improves store merchandising (pricing, inventory management, financial planning).Before joining Walmart, Prakhar led data scientists and developed stochastic models at Uber and Twitter, where he learned how to move quickly and scale AI. (Fun fact: he even drove for Uber to better understand the driver experience — a perfect example of the role empathy plays in AI.)Hear Prakhar share stories on rallying and educating teams on AI, the relationship of AI and business intelligence, and what it means to make big bets in an enterprise setting. Read the episode transcript here.Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast betweenMIT Sloan Management Reviewand Boston Consulting Group, hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger. Guest bio: As vice president of machine learning, Prakhar Mehrotra is one of the top executives for AI and machine learning at Walmart and an internationally recognized leader and innovator in the field. He was recently awarded The Franz Edelman Medal by INFORMS for significant contributions in data science and advanced analytics. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and serves as a peer reviewer for top conferences and journals in AI, including the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence conference, the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, and the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems.We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.

Slawek Kierner, senior vice president of enterprise data and analytics at Humana, has been immersed in data for as long as he can remember. His fascination with process simulations began on his first PC running MATLAB and Sumulink, and later led him to innovative roles at Procter & Gamble and Nokia. His desire to use data for a noble purpose drove Slawek to Humana, where he leverages AI to solve problems around medication adherence and predict population health outcomes.Tune in to hear Slawek share stories on recreating synthetic individual profiles indistinguishable from real humans (helping physicians better predict patient admissions and behaviors), and how his team created an internal machine learning platform that gives data scientists access to open source capabilities. All the in pursuit of helping human beings live longer, healthier lives. Read the episode transcript here.Read more about our show and follow along at sloanreview.mit.edu/aipodcast.Me, Myself, and AI is Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast between MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group, hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Its engineer is David Lishansky, and coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.Guest bio: Slawek Kierner is Humana’s senior vice president, digital health and analytics. He is responsible for enabling data governance, analytics platforms, data science, and artificial intelligence integration across the enterprise to foster innovative solutions that help Humana’s communities, members, care teams, and employees more easily take actions for better health outcomes.Slawek has previously served as the chief data and analytics officer for the Microsoft Business Applications Group and has led digital marketing operations and information systems for Procter & Gamble’s European business. He also served as a board member and CIO for P&G’s Central Europe division.We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.