A database holds ‘what happened’, never the decisions behind it. Dhiraj Rajaram, founder and CEO of Mu Sigma, joins The AI Adoption Podcast on enterprise AI, decision sciences and agentic AI. Dhiraj explains why enterprise AI has not matched consumer AI, and what leaders can do about it. He introduces the field of context, built from action, decision and perception traces, and shows that databases capture only the first. He argues that the big D that matters are decisions, not data, and that problems should be seen as a connected constellation rather than separate stars. He closes with a physics analogy for context that should reframe leaders thinking about the enterprise AI adoption. Key topics ● Enterprise AI versus consumer AI ● Field of context in enterprise AI ● Action, decision and perception traces ● Decision sciences and the big D ● Problems as constellations, not stars ● Agentic AI readiness for boards ● Systems thinking for AI transformation About the guest Dhiraj Rajaram is the founder and CEO of Mu Sigma. The firm helps large Fortune 500 companies through decision sciences and AI, with the goal of preparing them for a world of algorithms. The name pairs mu, the expectations people hold, with sigma, the variance from those expectations, the two forces Dhiraj sees behind every decision. Chapters ● 00:00 Challenges in building enterprise-level AI business cases ● 04:45 Complexity in large organisations and its impact on AI ● 07:03 Problems as constellations, not silos ● 10:42 From databases to a field of context ● 12:05 Making decisions more visible with AI ● 18:24 Unpacking action, perception, and decision traces ● 20:57 The three I's: intention, intelligence, initiative ● 24:31 Real-world example: problem redefinition in organisations ● 32:28 Key takeaways and future steps for enterprise AI

AI could erase the competitive edge that made your organisation win. On The AI Adoption Podcast, Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, explains why leaders, not tools, decide the outcome of enterprise AI adoption and AI governance. Vilas observes that many firms ask the wrong first question about AI, starting with the technology rather than the future they want it to build. He argues for a strategy-first approach and says that AI checklists mislead boards. The reflex to cut headcount with AI misses the opportunities to prepare organisations for fundamental changes in economic structures that AI brings about. He points to a blood-supply organisation that rebuilt its operations around AI demand projections and overturned over 25 years of assumptions and practices. His challenge to leaders is to prepare the organisation to sustain their competitive position once AI gives everyone richer information. Key topics • Strategy-first AI adoption versus vendor-led tooling • Why AI readiness checklists measure the wrong thing • Reimagining supply chains with AI demand projection • Red teaming AI decisions in the boardroom • AI, competitive advantage and sector convergence • Public markets, private capital and quarterly-earnings pressure • Raising the level of human decision-making in agentic processes About the guest Vilas Dhar is President and Trustee of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. He has spent his career at the intersection of building technology at scale and the rule of law. He leads the Foundation as a civil society voice arguing for a more just and humane use of AI.

Human in the loop is the wrong way to think about AI, argues Kerri O'Neill, Chief People Officer at Ipsos and its Global AI Workforce Transformation Lead. A podcast conversation on AI adoption, organisational culture and agentic AI at work. In this episode of The AI Adoption Podcast, Kerri O'Neill makes the case that AI adoption is decided in the cultural layer, not the technology. I discussed a range of topics including shared purpose between people and AI agents, the case for shifting mindsets rather than values, and the fate of human connection as agents take on more of the daily work. Kerri sets out the "augmented Ipsos" vision and the principles of trust, truth and transparency behind it. Viewers get a leadership frame for adoption that puts culture first. Key topics ● Culture as the deciding factor in AI adoption ● Shared purpose between people and AI agents ● Mindsets versus values in culture change ● Agentic AI and organisational design ● Certainty, guardrails and the limits of agents ● Human connection, dialogue and workplace wellbeing ● The augmented Ipsos vision and AI adoption principles About the guest Kerri O'Neill is Chief People Officer at Ipsos UK and Ireland and its Global AI Workforce Transformation Lead, a remit spanning 20,000 people across 93 countries. She is the author, with Alex Bailey, of Rapid Reculturing, published by Wiley. Her book places organisational culture at the centre of how companies adopt AI, which makes her a credible voice on adoption as a leadership challenge.

Ash Thankey of AWS joins the podcast to discuss AI adoption, productivity and public services. Ash argues that AI is already changing public sector productivity. His examples range from benefit applications at the Department for Work and Pensions to AI supported modernisation of legacy technology. The larger leadership issue is where the productivity dividend goes. AI can release capacity for better services and innovation, while direct financial savings can be easier to identify and measure. Ash also explains the case for multimodel AI, where organisations choose different models according to the application, capability required and cost. Key topics • Public sector AI productivity • AI adoption in UK government • AI and public service innovation • Department for Work and Pensions AI • Multimodel AI and Amazon Bedrock • AI supported legacy modernisation • AI skills and higher education About the guest Ash Thankey is Managing Director and General Manager for AWS Public Sector across the UK, Germany and International Organisations. His work puts him alongside public sector organisations navigating cloud computing, AI and generative AI adoption. He brings the perspective of organisations moving from individual applications towards broader transformation. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI's evolving role in society 02:06 Ash Thankey's role at AWS and public sector focus 03:0 Public sector's adoption of AI and its impact 04:03 Historical perspective on technological change and job creation 05:03 AI's effect on jobs and new industry creation 06:16 The rise of solopreneurs and AI-driven startups 07:10 AI as an augmentation tool for skilled professionals 08:21 AI's role in boosting UK productivity 09:27 AI as a force multiplier for economic growth 11:06 Preparing the workforce for AI integration 12:41 Public sector's progress in AI adoption 14:10 Overcoming challenges in public sector AI implementation 18:47 The importance of multi-model AI systems 22:41 Strategic steps for public sector AI adoption 25:14 Addressing the 'bad and ugly' of AI projects 26:42 The role of higher education in AI readiness 28:36 The ongoing AI journey and continuous learning

An AI agent now flags newer forms of domestic abuse and other crimes that an officer can miss. On The AI Adoption Podcast, Claire Hammond of the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection sets out AI’s role in frontline policing across domestic abuse, coercive control and non-consensual intimate images. Claire says that there are crimes that exist today that didn’t as recently as a few year ago. Claire introduces M, a closed AI agent embedded in the Centre’s toolkit and live across 43 forces. She explains why it is built to answer only from approved national guidance rather than learn from the open internet, and why the human keeps every decision. The conversation covers pattern detection in domestic abuse, AI-drafted handovers between shifts, faster disclosure across decades of records, and the honest admission that offenders are moving faster than the response. Key topics • AI in frontline policing • Closed AI agents in the public sector • Coercive control and pattern detection • Non-consensual intimate images and online harms • AI-drafted case handovers • Disclosure schemes and AI summarisation • Human in the loop and AI governance About the guest Claire Hammond is temporary Detective Chief Superintendent at the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection. The Centre sets national standards and training for policing’s response to these crimes. Claire speaks with direct operational authority on where AI supports officers and where the human must stay in charge. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI's role in policing and public safety 02:17 Claire Hammond introduces the NCVPP and her role 04:41 The NCVPP's work in AI and police training 06:46 How AI is changing police work and crime detection 08:14 Detecting AI-enabled crimes like deepfakes and fraud 09:24 Examples of AI in case file management and disclosures 11:36 Cultural challenges and trust in AI within police 13:23 Impact of AI on public understanding and safety 17:52 Using AI to support decisions in violence against women and girls cases 20:21 AI's role in identifying coercive control and domestic abuse patterns 21:12 Future plans for expanding AI use in police disclosures and protective orders 24:26 Governance and ethical safeguards for AI in policing 26:50 Building public trust and engagement with AI tools

An AI native firm with no junior staff still hits a human ceiling. Chris Donahoe of Stillpoint on agentic AI, the biological bottleneck, and AI constraints, on The AI Adoption Podcast. Chris co-founded Stillpoint to be AI native from the start, staffing only senior experts and handing the support work to teams of agents. In this conversation he explains why building such a firm is an exercise in destroying assumptions rather than installing technology. He sets out the biological bottleneck that caps agentic output at the speed a human can review it, and argues that every professional, even a solo operator, is now a manager of agents. Links Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/296zibtjU3w4ANuUsPSu2D Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ai-adoption-podcast/id1811897501 Website: https://theaiadoptionpodcast.com Key topics • AI native firm operating model • Agentic AI in professional services • The biological bottleneck in AI adoption • Human in the loop review and judgment • Managing teams of AI agents • AI talent strategy and the skills premium • Orchestration tools for hybrid human and agent work About the guest Chris Donahoe is Co-founder of Stillpoint, a global corporate affairs and public relations firm headquartered in Washington DC and built to be AI native. He previously spent close to a decade at Edelman, where he founded and led its first AI advisory practice. He works daily across Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, and advises client teams on AI enablement. Chapters 00:00 Building an AI native company: destroying assumptions 04:30 Encouraging experimentation with AI tools 07:07 Characteristics of an AI native firm versus traditional 08:13 Talent structure in AI native firms 10:28 Challenges of managing a human-AI hybrid organisation 12:54 The need for orchestration tools in AI workflows 13:54 Skills for managing in an AI native environment 17:03 Management and coordination of AI agents 19:35 Managing interdependencies and orchestration 23:43 Human biological bottleneck and work volume 27:40 Implications of human speed limits in AI workflows 34:04 Recruiting and developing talent for AI native organisations 37:28 AI native firms and future challenges

Leo Rogers, co-founder and CEO of Curvo, on agentic AI, orchestration and the end of specialist advantage, in this AI adoption podcast conversation with Professor Ashley Braganza. Episode summary Leo Rogers builds real-time AI that prompts sales teams during live meetings, so he sees adoption from the commercial front line. In this conversation he sets out the case for skill stacking over specialisation, holding around 30 per cent of several disciplines and letting specialised agents supply the depth. He explains orchestration in operational terms, a generalised agent directing specialists and reconciling their output, and argues this is the layer that decides whether agentic AI delivers. He also profiles the laggard organisation with uncomfortable precision, from complacent leadership through to the private equity buyer who arrives to squeeze the lemon. Links ● Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/296zibtjU3w4ANuUsPSu2D ● Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ai-adoption-podcast/id1811897501 ● YouTube: https://youtube.com/@aiadoption-conversations ● LinkedIn Showcase Page: [LinkedIn Showcase Page URL, to be supplied by Ashley] ● Website: https://theaiadoptionpodcast.com Key topics ● Agentic AI orchestration in the enterprise ● Skill stacking and generalist careers in an AI economy ● AI adoption laggards and change management ● Private equity and AI driven value creation ● Utilitarian robotics against humanoid robots ● The future of middle management under AI ● Agents hiring humans for the last mile About the guest Leo Rogers is co-founder and CEO of Curvo, which he describes as the real-time execution layer for sales teams, giving sellers in-meeting guidance on questions to ask and objections to handle. He read computer science, worked as a commercial UX designer, then built a software development agency that delivered more than one hundred SaaS products in four years for large banks, government clients and high growth start-ups. He also spun out a marketplace using AI to connect brands with fashion influencers, which gives him a view of AI adoption from inside the commercial function rather than the technology function. Chapters 00:00 AI's Impact on Headcount and Organisational Fat 00:30 Skill Stacking and Cross-Functional Value 00:59 Training Programmes and Upskilling in Large Organisations 02:26 Orchestration of Specialised AI Agents 05:00 AI Adoption in the UK and Change Management 06:10 Resistance to AI Adoption and Entrenched Roles 08:00 Restructuring and Talent Shifts for AI Integration 09:20 AI's Effect on Jobs and Cost Rationalisation 10:46 Future Skills: Broader, Generalist Roles 12:16 Becoming a Human-AI Hybrid: Skills and Exposure 14:23 Critical Thinking and Human Oversight of Agents 16:56 Acquiring Experience in Large Organisations 17:56 Self-Directed Learning and Side Projects 20:12 Characteristics of Lagging Organisations 23:23 Robots and Robotics in Value Creation 25:45 Orchestration of Agentic AI and Marketplaces 28:02 The Human Role in a Future AI-Driven Workplace 30:44 Organisational Transformation and Change Management

Peeyush Aggarwal, senior partner at Deloitte, on AI sovereignty, trust and the customer context that ties them together. The AI Adoption Podcast. Peeyush Aggarwal has spent thirty-six years building enterprise technology, from FORTRAN on air cargo systems to a fintech founded around the Y2K deadline. In this conversation he argues that a bank cannot earn trust on rented intelligence, and cannot own its context without controlling the data and intelligence layer beneath it. He takes apart the settled architecture of enterprise software, transaction systems, engagement layers and analytics, and identifies the point at which agentic AI forces a rebuild. He treats the disintermediation of banks as an open question and puts trust at the centre of the answer. Listen and subscribe: • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/296zibtjU3w4ANuUsPSu2D • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ai-adoption-podcast/id1811897501 • Website: https://theaiadoptionpodcast.com Key topics: • AI sovereignty and the enterprise intelligence layer • Trust in AI, earned transaction by transaction • The data moat and multi-layered customer context • Multi-agent drift, traceability and AI governance • Agentic AI architecture in financial services • Building a four-pillar AI adoption strategy • Disintermediation of banks and ecosystem consolidators About the guest: Peeyush Aggarwal is a senior partner at Deloitte, where he advises financial institutions and their boards on adopting AI safely. His career spans thirty-six years in enterprise technology, including work computerising the London fire and police services and founding the fintech Screen Trade. Peeyush works on the practical questions of sovereignty, trust and context that decide whether AI adoption creates value. Chapters 00:00 National sovereignty and AI infrastructure 05:54 Controlling the intelligence layer and infrastructure design 07:51 Data management and the data moat 09:26 Business model evolution with AI 11:37 Impact of AI on value creation in industries 13:17 AI readiness of software architecture 15:41 Challenges of deploying AI at scale 18:39 Consumer trust and AI agents 22:42 Disintermediation of banking and trust 24:06 Ecosystem emergence and innovation 25:50 Key ingredients for a successful AI strategy 29:30 Summary: Trust, context, and strategic pillars

Cost cutting in customer service ended in 30% pay rises. Ed Thompson, Senior Vice President for Market Strategy at Salesforce, on agentic AI adoption, token economics and the AI business case, on The AI Adoption Podcast. Ed has watched one of the first cohorts of organisations put AI agents into customer service in spring 2025, and by the autumn they were paying their remaining staff 30% above market rate. This episode sets out the arithmetic behind that reversal, and the wider gap between time saved and money earned. Three quarters of companies can evidence time savings, and around 10 per cent of finance directors can see a financial benefit. Ed explains token economics in plain terms, including why frontier model prices rose while lower end model prices did not, and gives the comparison that reframes AI business cases: traditional workflow is 1,000 to 10,000 times cheaper to run than the same work done on tokens. He argues the first real employment effect has hit middle managers through delayering, not contact centres. Links Website: https://theaiadoptionpodcast.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/296zibtjU3w4ANuUsPSu2D Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ai-adoption-podcast/id1811897501 Prof Ashley Braganza on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-braganza Instagram: @theaiadoptionpodcast Key topics covered • AI agent business case and cost reduction arithmetic • Token economics and frontier model pricing • Agentic AI in enterprise customer service • AI adoption and employee resistance to agents • Middle management delayering and AI • Open source and Chinese AI models for cost per token • AI and the future of work: the role of humans About the guest Ed Thompson is Senior Vice President, Market Strategy at Salesforce, a global software company known for CRM, sales, marketing and customer service software. He spends his working days with customers across Europe, and says every one of them now wants to talk about AI. That position gives him a longitudinal view of the same organisations from build, to configure, to buy, which is the basis for this conversation. Chapters 00:00 The Role of Humans in an AI-Driven World 01:08 AI Adoption Trends in Europe 05:12 The Rise of Agentic Organisations 10:10 Overcoming Adoption Challenges 12:07 Impact on Jobs and Employment 18:13 Understanding Token Economics 22:15 Scaling AI for Value 24:15 The Future of Work and Human Identity