Leading AI Transformation | a conversation with SprintRay CPO, Ed Cohen

06/08/2025 55 min Temporada 1 Episodio 1

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Episode Synopsis

Have you been asked, “what are doing with #AI?” Every day leaders tell me this is now their mandate to figure out. Heads of #HR, Heads of Marketing, and just yesterday, a Head of Legal. Yes, it looks interesting, but what value is AI adding? Has anything actually worked? I’ve had the same question and decided the only way to find out was to ask people who’ve done it. To start with, we’re asking Ed Cohen, #CPO at SprintRay Inc. Over many years with IBM, Amazon, and as CLO at Booz Allen Hamilton , he’s seen what technology has done well, and what might be a red herring. He’s going to go give us some practical advice on what we should be doing to lead through the uncertainty of technological change. If you’re a CEO or CHRO looking for the right approach to bringing in and succeeding with AI, then join us to hear veteran CPO Ed Cohen’s advice. After leading technology and management consulting firms for nearly 40 years, Ed has established a point of view on what leaders need to do to adopt and adapt to new technologies. He suspects, this time, it won’t be solved by delegating a project to IT.WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?In the last few months, nearly every leader we've spoken to at Brave has said something like, "our CEO has asked each CxO to come back with two AI use cases by next quarter". And while there’s endless commentary about the technology, there isn’t much practical advice on what’s actually working. So to help address this, Brave is talking to practitioners about what they've tried. In our conversations we ask, “What works?, What doesn't work? And what's still unknown?”So far, reviews are mixed. There's a lot of work to get it right, and the payoff isn't always impressive. Recently, CIOs are reporting sticker shock, as the full integration of AI turns out to be a lot more intensive then marketed. Intuit and UKG had to lay people off, apparently in an effort to cover their ballooning AI bills.In a recent study, Upwork found, “Nearly half (47%) of employees using AI say they have no idea how to achieve the productivity gains their employers expect, and 77% say these tools have actually decreased their productivity and added to their workload.”WHAT WE THINK.BraveLabs helps companies build custom AI tools to improve workforce performance. But these numbers might make you think twice! Research shows if you use AI to fine tune existing work, it’s often not worth the effort. As we proceed to apply AI, the goal should be reinventing how we do things to achieve a big and better vision for the future. The question is, what do you aim to do?