Humans of AI: Presented by WRITER

In this episode of Humans of AI, hosts Alaura Weaver and Diego Lomanto sit down with Brent Summers, head of AI platforms and GTM innovation at Qualcomm. Brent shares his journey from a UX-obsessed kid on dial-up bulletin boards to leading AI transformation at one of the world's great engineering companies. We explore what it means to be a "human marketer" in an organization that ben...

Cathy McPhillips spent nine years at Content Marketing Institute building content marketing before most companies had a budget line for it — back when executives still asked where “content” even fit in the org chart. Now, as Chief Growth Officer at the Marketing AI Institute, she's watching the same pattern play out again with AI. In this episode, Cathy, Diego, and Alaura dig into what that p...

We don’t always talk about the human side of transformation. We like the case studies. We like the ROI slides. But what happens when you bring powerful new tools to teams of experts who care deeply about quality, judgment, and craft? In this episode of Humans of AI , host Alaura Weaver and WRITER CMO Diego Lomanto sit down with Lilly Raymond, a marketing executive who has led MarTech and AI transf...

For decades, the inbound marketing playbook was clear: create content, rank on search engines, and capture leads. But what happens when that machine breaks? In this episode of Humans of AI, hosts Alaura Weaver and WRITER CMO Diego Lomanto sit down with Christian Westcott, a search industry veteran who watched the traditional top-of-funnel collapse as AI search engines changed how buyers find infor...

We all hit the "skip intro" button. We're conditioned to move faster, ship more, and check another box. But what if speed is the wrong metric to optimize for? In this episode of Humans of AI , we sit down with Robert Rose, co-founder of the Content Marketing Institute and former Silicon Valley CMO, to discuss AI in marketing — we're using it to train "button pushers"...

Companies spend years building dashboards that told them what to know. Now they’re building AI that tells them what to think. But what companies actually need is AI that takes action on their best ideas. Bruno Aziza, VP, Enterprise Software at IBM, shares why so many AI deployments fail — and the frameworks that separate successful implementations from expensive pilot programs. His insight: one cu...

What happens when marketing AI stops finding the right customer and starts finding the right moment of weakness? Nicole Alexander, former Global Head of Marketing at Meta and author of "Ethical AI in Marketing," takes us inside one of the most uncomfortable truths about modern marketing technology. Nicole reveals how optimization algorithms don't just target demographics anymore — t...

What does it take to reinvent a 10-year-old company when AI changes everything overnight? Dan O'Connell, CEO of Front, knows the answer‌ — ‌and it's not what most boards want to hear. Dan shares the framework he's using to lead Front through an existential transformation from legacy player to AI-first platform. Drawing on lessons from building TalkIQ, scaling through Google's h...

Late 2024, Logitech surveyed their entire workforce about AI usage. Seven thousand employees. 46 countries. When Eric Porres saw the results, he stopped calling it an adoption problem. Eric had spent the year running AI training sessions across Logitech—not as his official job, but as a second shift while leading innovation and software teams. 827 people over eight months. And in those sessions, h...

What's the difference between a $10 billion company and one that fails? The technology? The timing? The IP? According to Jevan Lenox, Chief People Officer at WRITER, it comes down to culture. And in the age of AI, that gap is about to get much wider. In this episode of Humans of AI, Jevan shares why AI doesn't just change your processes—it amplifies everything, including your cultural dy...

Picture this: You're 21 years old, just started your first job at Israel's Ministry of Finance. They sit you down in a corner office. No one else has access. For the next three years, you'll work on restructuring the entire social security system. If word leaks, careers end. This is Matan-Paul Shetrit. Today, he leads product design at WRITER, building and scaling agent-based AI for...

What does accountability mean when AI can make thousands of decisions before a human even notices? That’s the question Rowan Reynolds, General Counsel at Writer, is tackling.  Rowan shares how his background in philosophy and law taught him that legal frameworks aren't just about what's legal—they're about what's right. And in the age of agentic AI, building those frameworks be...

Why are organizations throwing money at AI without investing in the people who use it? And where is the disconnect between technology adoption and real business results? On this episode, we hear from guest speaker J.P. Gownder, one of the world's leading analysts on the future of work. With a background in history and political science and as VP and principal analyst for Forrester’s Furture o...

This Thanksgiving break, we wanted to share an episode from our friends at Fund/Build/Scale . As AI continues to reshape education, many are wondering how it will impact learning and what new skills the emerging workforce will need to thrive in this tech-driven landscape.  We're sharing a fantastic episode from our friends at Fund/Build/Scale. It's a conversation with Nectir co-founder a...

Are we trying to build AI, or are we ready to operationalize it? While the world chases bigger models, the real advantage lies in building systems that work reliably, safely, and at scale. On this episode, we hear from Dan Bikel, Writer's Head of AI. With a thirty-year career spanning nearly every major AI lab — including IBM, Google, LinkedIn, and Meta — Dan has shaped the field of natural l...

What if securing AI agents wasn't just about preventing breaches, but about creating a competitive advantage? On this episode, we hear from Eric Freeman, chief information security officer (CISO) at WRITER, who shares his unconventional journey from being a line cook to becoming a leading figure in enterprise security. Eric's unique experience, including teaching himself to hack using Me...

What if the key to success in the age of AI is forcing marketers to become more human, not less? Season 4 begins with Diego Lomanto, Chief Marketing Officer at WRITER, who explores the intersection of human intuition and artificial intelligence in modern marketing. Diego shares his unique journey from coding as a teenager to becoming a leading figure in AI-driven marketing strategies. Learn how Di...

Season 4 is almost here! In the meantime, we wanted to share an episode from our friends at Chain of Thought . It's a conversation with Cisco’s Giovanna Carofiglio about how you build the guardrails for this new world‌ — ‌how you let AI agents collaborate and create value, without creating chaos.  As a leader of the AGNTCY Collective (an open-source initiative by Cisco, Galileo, LangChain, an...

Learn how Melisa Russak, lead research scientist at WRITER, stumbled upon fundamental machine learning algorithms, completely unaware of existing research — twice. Her story reveals the power of approaching problems with fresh eyes and the innovative breakthroughs that can occur when constraints become catalysts for creativity. Melisa explores the intersection of curiosity-driven research, acciden...

Paul Dyrwal, a 23-year veteran in the AI field, shares his journey from early voice recognition software to his current role leading generative AI at Marriott International. With a diverse background in tech, including roles at a design agency, Amazon, and Ancestry.com, Paul brings a unique blend of UX design, product management, and research expertise. He highlights the transformative impact of A...

Dive into Ranjan Roy’s incredible journey from high school debate to revolutionizing the retail industry with AI. As a strategic leader at apparel brand Adore Me, Ranjan first found the power of generative AI by automating product descriptions, freeing his team to focus on more creative tasks. Now, as retail industry lead at WRITER, Ranjan is pushing the boundaries of hyper-personalization, ensuri...

Zayed Yasin, WRITER's healthcare industry leader and emergency room physician, explores the transformative potential of AI in healthcare and life sciences. Zayed shares his unique perspective on how AI can enhance the healthcare system without replacing the human touch. He emphasizes the importance of integrating AI to make healthcare professionals' jobs easier and more efficient, allowi...

Dilshoda's journey from Uzbekistan to the forefront of AI in financial services is a story of resilience and innovation. After leaving her home country to study in the US, she graduated from Harvard. She went on to work at top hedge funds and financial management firms, including Wellington Management, Bridgewater Associates, and State Street Global Advisors. She then joined WRITER, focusing...

Kushala Silva shares his journey from P&G, Coca-Cola, and Amazon Private Brands to becoming the consumer packaged goods (CPG) lead at WRITER, where he's helping transform the industry through AI. With nearly 20 years of experience, he reveals how CPG companies are using AI for personalized experiences, omnichannel optimization, and operational efficiency — and why waiting isn't an op...

Paul Martin, COO of the investment business at Willis Towers Watson, didn’t start as an AI enthusiast — in fact, he describes himself as a technophobe. Which is precisely why Paul’s insights and ideas are crucial to the success of his company’s emerging AI strategy. Join Paul’s journey from AI skeptic to AI leadership as he reveals the importance of understanding business processes, educating empl...