AI or Die

In Episode 27, the AI or Die crew is back. The team is joined by special guest Jenny Owens , Senior AI Program Administrator at Cleveland Clinic and Chair of the HIMSS Northern Ohio AI Center of Excellence Committee . Jenny brings a rare, inside look at how a major health system evaluates, validates, and governs AI — from the human realities of working with LLMs to running a full AI scribe evaluat...

In this episode of AI or Die , hosts Nick Woo and Brendan Kelly dive into the busy fall conference season and the AI patterns they’re seeing across enterprises. What We Cover Conference Insights – Highlights from recent events like Ohio VC Fest and what’s ahead at Data Connect . Enterprise AI Trends – Common challenges organizations face in improving the throughput of AI solutions and reinventing...

This week, our hosts welcome Ben Blanquera, VP of Technology and Sustainability at Rackspace Technology. Ben helps firms drive sustainable practices and accelerate their hybrid cloud and AI journey. During this episode, we dive into Ben’s expertise as he shares valuable insights around agentic AI within the enterprise. We discuss recent trends, common blockers, and how to successfully drive adopti...

On this episode, our hosts Nick Woo, Rehgan Bleile, and Brendan Kelly return for another audience Q&A episode, providing insight into the ethical implementation of AI systems within the enterprise. The team dives into how to responsibly enhance model performance and evaluate the ROI from generative AI. We also discuss and address questions around automation inside the enterprise. Additionally,...

On this episode, we welcome Scott Brown, an architect at Andelyn Biosciences. Scott has a focus on data flow enablement, operational excellence and innovation to serve analytics and AI. We discuss the critical importance of human-in-the-loop oversight, the evolving role of evaluation frameworks for AI outputs, and the broader shift toward hybrid AI systems that blend generative and traditional mac...

On this episode, we welcome Nan Li, an experienced AI and machine learning leader at Nationwide. Nan shares her insights from years of enabling AI and machine learning adoption within large enterprises, with a focus on workforce readiness, human-AI interaction, and operating model design. We explore how enterprises are evolving to support AI adoption beyond technical teams, highlighting the shift...

In this episode, we welcome Mike Alvarez, Chief Technology Officer at NeuZeit, a consulting firm specializing in value acceleration, particularly for AI initiatives. Mike shares insights on agentic architectures, their role in automating complex workflows, the evolving landscape of AI governance, and how businesses can balance innovation with structured AI adoption. We explore the challenges and o...

This week, our hosts Nick Woo, Rehgan Bleile, and Brendan Kelly celebrate their 20th episode with a reflection on AI advancements in 2024 and predictions for 2025. In this episode, the team dives into the diverse maturity levels of enterprise AI adoption, from early experimentation to large-scale deployment, the role of executive buy-in, and collaboration between business and technical teams. They...

On this episode, we welcome Bhavna Mehta, Assistant Vice President of Data and Analytics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Bhavna leads initiatives in data governance, AI governance, analytics, and business intelligence, leveraging her technical expertise and strategic insight to bridge the gap between innovation and practical implementation in healthcare. We explore the critical r...

This week, our hosts Nick Woo, Rehgan Bleile, and Brendan Kelly return for a special Q&A episode, addressing listener questions about AI adoption and governance in large enterprises. They explore how organizations balance AI innovation with practical implementation, focusing on integrating AI into existing systems while managing data privacy and security. The hosts dive into how enterprises ca...

This week, our hosts Rehgan Bleile (Avon), Nick Woo, and Brendan Kelly discuss the latest in AI, including AI regulation, synthetic data, and risk management. We discuss the push for watermarking AI-generated content to increase transparency and the challenges of enforcing these regulations. We then cover the risks of using synthetic data repeatedly for training, which can lead to a decline in AI...

On this episode, we welcome Kathy Koontz, who currently serves as the Global Head HCLS Data & AI at AWS. Her career includes significant roles at Nationwide, Teradata, and Wells Fargo, where she has focused on embedding core data practices into organizational frameworks. During this episode, we dive into Kathy's expertise, gaining valuable insights for integrating core data fundamentals and pr...

This week, we are joined by Sharybeth Lopez Rojas, a User Experience (UX) designer with a unique background in visual design, graphics, and user interaction. Sharybeth is currently enhancing her portfolio by pursuing a master’s degree focused on design for AI. During this episode, we discuss practical examples of AI-driven design improvements and the future of AI in enhancing user interactions. We...

On this episode, we welcome Maria Villar, a seasoned expert with over 20 years of experience as a practitioner in data management and strategy. Maria has spent the last few years of her career working at SAP as the Head of Enterprise Data Strategy and Transformation. She is also a member of the Women Leaders in Data & AI (WLDA) network. During this episode, we dive into her expertise in busine...

On this episode, we are joined by Alex Rogozhin, the Senior Director of Artificial Intelligence at Bread Financial. Alex has over twelve years of leadership experience in developing data science and machine learning solutions within the financial services sector. In his current role, Alex empowers high-performing teams to deliver AI/ML solutions that have a direct impact on the business performanc...

This week we are joined by Nicolay Christopher Gerold. In this episode, Nicolay (Nico) brings a unique blend of expertise with his rich background in GenAI, NLP, and LLMs. Nico discusses a practical approach to the real-world applications and implications of generative AI technologies. During this episode, we dive into the multifaceted impacts of GenAI, discussing its role in data extraction, the...

On this episode, our team welcomes guest Cal Al-Dhubaib, Founder of Pandata. The company specializes in AI solutions for high-risk sectors such as healthcare, financial services, and defense. This approach focuses on integrating trust into AI systems, while addressing the unique challenges and restrictions of these sensitive areas. During this episode, we explore the transition from experimental A...

This week we are joined by Maya Mikhailov. Maya is the Co-Founder & CEO of SAVVI AI and on a mission to make all companies more competitive to leverage the power of AI and machine learning. The company has created a platform and tool to build, launch, and manage their own purposeful machine learning apps for practical everyday business decisions. The company does this in a responsible, transfe...

This week we are joined by Jason Montgomery. Jason is an entrepreneur with almost 30 years of combined experience in systems, software, and cybersecurity engineering in the Data and AI space. Over his career he has worked with Fortune 500s, startups, and government agencies (Department of Defense) to specialize on system hardening and application security. He has Co-Founded and served as Chief Tec...

Welcome back to episode 8. This week we are joined by Salema Rice. Salema is the CEO and Founder of CDO Today. Throughout the course of her career, she has established a decorative portfolio by being a builder, lawmaker, and a strategic driver within the Data and AI space. Salema has been an industry Chief Data Officer (CDO) for almost 20 years and has thrived within the industry for over 25 years...

This week Rehgan Avon, Nick Woo, and Brendan Kelly meet in-person to chat about recent news in the data and AI world, along with, several other key topics. We discuss how data has transformed into being a product, rather than a project. Not to mention, how the user experience (UX) can benefit from leveraging data in their flow of work. Many organizations and teams are wondering how to learn from a...

This week we are joined by Michael Cavaretta of Ford Motors. Mike is currently an Analytics Executive in manufacturing at Ford Motors. We discuss scaling MLOps in an organization and delivering capabilities. Not to mention, incorporating models into a critical operation. Many organizations struggle to have business outcomes from implementing MLOps, we discuss how Mike is currently addressing that...

Welcome back to episode 5. This week we are joined by Carole Piovensan. Carole is Managing Partner at INQ Law, focusing her practice on privacy, cyber incident response, data governance, and artificial intelligence (AI) risk management. She regularly counsels clients on a wide range of matters related to privacy, cyber readiness and breach response, data governance, ethical AI, and responsible inn...

This week we are joined by Pete Gordon. Pete has worked with many companies to build NLP solutions. Pete believes that beautiful things happen when Statistics and Software come together on the Internet to bring Automated Inference (AI) and the ideal User Experience. This week we cover topics: Update from Nick at the conference he’s attending in Cincinnati, Ohio. Why are companies avoiding data gov...

Welcome back to AI or Die, episode 3! In this episode, we cover: GDPR violation of ChatGPT Why companies shouldn't wait to implement AI Emerging Tutorials for Documenting Is MLOps mostly data engineering? (hot take)