Host's Cut: Reflections on Season Three
Where AI Works: Conversations at the Intersection of AI and IndustryShow Notes
AI isn’t just a technology story — it’s an organizational one. From talent and transformation to data and decision-making, this season of Where AI Works uncovers how top executives are building the structures and the mindsets that make AI work at scale.
On this special recap and review episode, host Peter Cappelli looks back at the key takeaways from his conversations with Karalee Close, the Global Lead for Talent & Organization at Accenture; Vivian Sun, the Senior Director of Data & AI, Enterprise Architecture and IT Transformation at Jabil Incorporated; Greg Ulrich, the Chief AI & Data Officer at Mastercard; and Sohaib Perwaiz, the Group Business Engagement Lead at RBC Borealis. In each conversation, you’ll hear a first-hand perspective on how they’re guiding their companies through this transformational time, balancing innovation with governance, and experimentation with measurable business value. You’ll also get more of Peter’s expert analysis, including two important observations for any business leaders grappling with AI implementation within their own organizations.
Episode Highlights: 2:47 - Karalee explains how implementing AI requires a deep understanding of the roles and tasks within an organization, in order to re-skill employees as needed.
4:39 - Vivian talks about the first AI use-case within her organization, and how it served as a way to gain attention and support from executives.
6:42 - Greg discusses how AI implementation at MasterCard required not just alignment from internal stakeholders, but buy-in from other external partners as well.
8:36 - Sohaib shares RBC’s perspective on the importance of keeping “humans-in-the-loop”, especially as it relates to client relationships.
More from Where AI Works: Conversations at the Intersection of AI and Industry
What happens when AI stops being a tool and starts reshaping how decisions get made? Who has the judgment and responsibility to double-check the work that AI is doing? And what actually separates companies that are scaling AI from those that are just experimenting?
If AI removes traditional constraints on execution, what becomes the limiting factor? AI can now generate, summarize, and analyze, but it still can’t judge. And as many business leaders are learning, that can cause a new wrinkle in workflows.
How is AI transforming product development inside large-scale organizations? What does it look like when teams move from Product Requirements Documents to rapid prototyping? And how are roles, workflows, and decision-making changing in our increasingly AI-first world? On this episode of Where AI Works, host Matthew Bidwell sits down with Paul Stathacopoulos, Vice President of Product for Focus Categories and International Cross Border Trade at eBay, to find out how AI is reshaping the way products are built and delivered inside one of the world’s largest online marketplaces. Together, they explore how eBay is using AI across three key areas: improving customer-facing experiences, unlocking insights from massive datasets, and fundamentally transforming product development workflows. They also discuss the shift from traditional PRDs to rapid, AI-generated prototypes, and how “vibe coding” is enabling teams to test ideas with customers in a period of days instead of months. Finally, they unpack how AI is blurring roles across product, design, and engineering, and why adopting an AI-first mindset is critical to staying competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
It’s a question that looms large for any business leader these days, but the stakes are even higher for those that manage massive workforces: as AI transforms the workplace, what happens to jobs and the people doing them? On this episode of Where AI Works, host Matthew Bidwell speaks with Donna Morris, the Chief People Officer at Walmart, about what it means to introduce AI across one of the largest workforces on the planet; more than 2.1 million associates around the world. Morris explains the company’s “people-led, tech-powered” approach, where AI is used to augment employees rather than replace them. She also discusses the emergence of new roles like AI agent-builders , and explores the skills that matter most in an AI-driven workplace. While technical expertise is important, Morris argues that adaptability, communication, curiosity, and interpersonal skills will define the most successful employees in the years ahead. For leaders navigating this rapid change, the takeaway is simple: invest in people, build new skills, and be sure to bring your workers along for the ride.
The way we think about jobs is changing. As artificial intelligence reshapes how work gets done, traditional roles and titles are giving way to something more fluid: a skills-based economy. But while organizations are moving quickly to redefine what they need, workers and educators are still catching up, creating a growing gap between the skills people claim to have and the capabilities employers truly value.