The AI in Business Podcast

Daniel Faggella

  • 24 minutes
    How AI Is Reshaping Shutdown and Turnaround Operations - with Raghu Ahobilam of NOV
    Today's guest is Raghu Ahobilam, Global Director of Inventory and Assets at NOV. Raghu brings global leadership experience across inventory management, asset strategy, and operational transformation in the energy and industrial manufacturing sector. Raghu joins Daniel Faggella Emerj CEO and Head of Research to examine how enterprise data foundations and emerging AI capabilities are reshaping maintenance, asset utilization, and cross-functional decision-making in complex, legacy environments. Raghu also shares practical approaches to building KPI-driven dashboards, prioritizing predictive use cases, improving asset deployment across regions, and strengthening business cases for ROI across supply chain, manufacturing, and operations. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast! If you're interested in unlocking our AI best practice guides, frameworks for AI ROI, and specific resources for AI consultants, visit emerj.com/p1
    3 March 2026, 7:00 am
  • 19 minutes 9 seconds
    Trusted AI Architectures for Risk and Compliance Leaders - with Dean Alms & Eric Hensley of Aravo
    Enterprise risk leaders are currently struggling to move beyond static, episodic checklists while managing the data "fire hose" generated by continuous monitoring. In this episode, Dean Alms, Chief Product Officer, and Eric Hensley, Chief Technology Officer at Aravo, break down how AI-native orchestration transforms fragmented risk data into a holistic, board-level resilience strategy. They examine practical shifts toward exception-based monitoring, the automation of rote tasks like document ingestion, and the necessity of governing "responsible AI" practices within the vendor ecosystem. This episode is sponsored by Aravo. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/partner. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!
    2 March 2026, 7:00 am
  • 23 minutes 3 seconds
    AI for Better Customer Connections in CX - with Joe Atamian of Comcast
    Eliminating the friction caused by fragmented customer context is a primary mandate for enterprise operations leaders. Joe Atamian, Vice President at Comcast, joins the program to discuss the transition to an AI-first operating model — where AI acts as the connective infrastructure that maintains history and intent across IVR, chat, and live agents. This briefing explores how the Fortune 500 can move human teams away from system navigation and toward high-value judgment, empathy, and resolution. This episode is sponsored by Atlan. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at go.emerj.com/media_kit
    27 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 18 minutes 30 seconds
    Turning Real World Data into Safer Outcomes for Fleets and Physical Operations - with Hemant Banavar of Motive
    Today's guest is Hemant Banavar, Chief Product Officer at Motive. Hemant leads product strategy for AI-driven systems that bring real-time visibility and decision support to safety-critical physical operations. Hemant joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to unpack what changes when AI moves from after-the-fact reporting to edge-based, real-time detection and feedback — where accuracy and low latency determine whether insights actually prevent incidents. Hemant also shares practical takeaways on replacing lagging indicators with frontline feedback loops, combining video and operational telemetry to surface actionable risk signals, and building an ROI case through fewer incidents, lower insurance and fuel costs, and more consistent operational performance. This episode is sponsored by Motive. If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show. Episode Notes:
    • 12:33 - 12:50: Since January 1, 2023, Motive estimate that the Motive AI Dashcam is estimated to have helped prevent over 170,000 accidents and saved 1,500 lives
    • 12:46: Based on an internal study of customers with 150 or more active monthly vehicles and at least 90% AI Dashcam adoption for at least 12 months.
    • Some of the AI Dashcam Plus features like hands-free communication aren't available until later in 2026. For more, visit: https://gomotive.com/blog/introducing-ai-dashcam-plus/
    25 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 27 minutes 31 seconds
    Overcoming Skepticism and Driving AI Adoption - with Umesh Rustogi of Microsoft
    Today's guest is Umesh Rustogi, General Manager of Dragon for Nursing at Microsoft Health & Life Sciences. An expert in applying AI to clinical workflows, Umesh joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to explain how healthcare organizations are moving AI from pilot programs to real-world adoption. Umesh also shares practical strategies for reducing nurse documentation burden, improving accuracy and compliance, and turning AI deployments into measurable operational and patient-care impact. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast! Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at https://go.emerj.com/media_kit.
    24 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 18 minutes 57 seconds
    Improving Warehouse Efficiency with Unified Data and AI-Driven Visibility - with Dan Keto of Easy Metrics
    Today's guest is Dan Keto, President and Co-founder at Easy Metrics, where he focuses on helping warehouse and distribution teams turn fragmented transactional data into a unified "single pane of glass" that supports faster diagnosis of variance and more defensible decision-making. Dan joins Emerj's Matthew DeMello to explore what a solid data foundation looks like in warehouse networks — and why it matters before teams attempt to layer AI on top. He also shares practical takeaways on how enterprises can align stakeholders around a common data language, avoid costly "AI-first" missteps, and use repeatable investigations and alerts to surface real cost drivers. This episode is sponsored by Easy Metrics. If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
    19 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 30 minutes 27 seconds
    Enterprise AI Adoption at a Moment of Maximum Skepticism - with Nishtha Jain

    Today's guest is Nishtha Jain, AI Innovation Leader. Nishtha leads enterprise data and AI strategy in the biopharma sector, focusing on aligning advanced analytics and AI systems with real-world clinical, regulatory, and operational workflows.

    Nishtha joins Emerj Client Narrative & Content Strategy Lead Nick Gertsch to examine why most enterprise AI pilots fail to scale, how unrealistic expectations and poorly defined use cases undermine ROI, and what it takes to design human-centered AI systems that fit how teams actually work in regulated environments. Nishtha also breaks down practical frameworks for measuring value beyond headcount reduction, including return on employee experience and long-term capability building, along with concrete approaches to faster experimentation, customer-driven use-case prioritization, and building flexible operating models that adapt as technology and market conditions evolve. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast! If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!

    17 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 2 hours 4 minutes
    In a Sea of Complexity, Does a "Successor" Exist? - with Stephen Wolfram of Wolfram Research
    Today's guest is Stephen Wolfram, Founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. Wolfram is a pioneering computer scientist and physicist, best known for creating Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha, and for decades of work on complexity, computation, and the foundations of how systems evolve. Stephen joins Emerj CEO and Head of Research Daniel Faggella to explore how simple computational rules can give rise to complex, unpredictable systems, and what that means for the future of intelligence beyond biological life. The conversation examines concepts like computational irreducibility, adaptive evolution, and "bulk orchestration" at the molecular and digital level, framing how AI systems, biological organisms, and even physical processes can be understood as part of a broader computational universe. Stephen also shares practical perspectives on how these ideas translate into real-world AI development, including why coarse, outcome-driven objectives often outperform overly rigid design in machine learning, how enterprises can think about building systems that evolve rather than simply execute, and what leaders should understand about the limits of predictability, governance, and control as AI becomes more deeply embedded in business workflows. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast! If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
    14 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 19 minutes 29 seconds
    From Demos to Defensible in Financial Services Copyright & Compliance for Enterprise AI - Naveen Kumar of TD Bank

    Today's guest is Naveen Kumar, Head of AI Governance at TD Bank. With extensive experience in AI risk management and governance, he provides actionable strategies for secure AI scaling in regulated environments. Naveen joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to discuss foundational challenges blocking AI adoption in banking, including data leakage, prompt injection, shadow AI, and hallucinations. Naveen also shares practical takeaways, such as role-based AI guardrails for data access, safe sandboxes for experimentation, hybrid deployments to protect sensitive data, and treating AI agents as de-risked employees with human oversight for compliance and ROI. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!

    10 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 22 minutes 22 seconds
    Managing Third-Party Risk When You Have 10,000 Suppliers - with Dean Alms of Aravo

    Today's guest is Dean Alms, Chief Product Officer at Aravo. Aravo is an enterprise software company focused on third-party risk management and compliance platforms that help organizations manage vendor, supplier, and partner ecosystems across regulatory, operational, and reputational risk domains. Dean joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to examine how third-party risk has evolved into a data and AI-driven, board-level visibility and resilience challenge, and how automation is reshaping the way enterprises identify, remediate, and monitor risk at scale. Dean also shares practical workflow changes, including using AI to automate document ingestion and survey validation, generate corrective actions, and enable natural language access to risk data. The discussion highlights how these approaches reduce operational cost, improve data integrity, support continuous monitoring models, and help enterprise leaders protect revenue, reputation, and regulatory posture across complex supplier networks. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast! This episode is sponsored by Aravo. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

    6 February 2026, 7:00 am
  • 31 minutes 43 seconds
    The Internet of Agents and What It Means for Enterprise Leaders - with Vijoy Pandey of Outshift by Cisco

    Today's guest is Vijoy Pandey, Special Vice President and General Manager for Outshift by Cisco. Vijoy leads Cisco's internal incubation and strategy efforts focused on emerging technologies, platform development, and reducing technology and market risk as new capabilities move toward enterprise adoption. Vijoy joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to discuss how enterprises are shifting from deterministic systems to probabilistic, agent-driven architectures, and what that means for interoperability, governance, and deploying AI safely at scale. Vijoy also shares practical takeaways on building multi-agent workflows, implementing task- and transaction-based access control, and using simulation and validation layers to reduce operational risk and improve ROI in regulated and mission-critical environments. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast! This episode is sponsored by Outshift by Cisco. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

    5 February 2026, 7:00 am
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