The AI Forecast: Data and AI in the Cloud Era
The AI Forecast: Data and AI in the Cloud Era is a podcast by Cloudera that examines the role of data in the evolution of computing, from the first computers to the dotcom boom and the current rise of artificial intelligence. It emphasizes that having data is not enough—it’s the architectures and systems that determine its true value and trustworthiness. The show explores the past, present, and future of enterprise AI through conversations with leading companies and industry experts.
Episodes
Leaving the Sandbox: AI In the Real World
The AI worked in the sandbox. Then it met the real world.
David Hardoon learned that lesson during an ATM optimization project designed to improve cash-delivery routes. Once deployed, the system collided with traffic and unpredictable schedules, which are the realities that face the people doing the work.
Recorded at EVOLVE26 Singapore, this episode of The AI Forecast brings Paul Muller together w
AI Agents Move Fast. Can Security Keep Up?
Your AI agent has credentials. Now, what happens when it goes off script?
An agent can take action and change course before a traditional security review even begins. For Alex Bovee, identity is only the beginning of the security conversation.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Alex Bovee, co-founder and CEO of C1 and longtime cybersecurity and identity leader, to explo
Why Successful AI Models Can Still Fail the Business
An AI project can deliver a great prediction and still fail the business.
Rajesh Kelvalkar has seen it happen firsthand. In one mining project, the model worked, but the team discovered that the downstream business process wasn’t configured to act consistently on its recommendations. The technology had done its job, but the transformation hadn’t.
Recorded at EVOLVE26 Singapore, this episode of The
When Everyone Has AI, Your Data Sets You Apart
After 23 years in machine learning and data science, Cao Hong has seen plenty of AI projects come and go. His measure of success is simple: did it create value for the business?
Recorded at EVOLVE26 Singapore, this episode of The AI Forecast brings Paul Muller together with Cao Hong, Principal Director of Data Apps at NCS, to explore how organizations can turn AI experimentation into measurable bu
Making AI Fluent in Your Business
Every new AI chat is another first day on the job.
Rob Collie describes today’s general-purpose AI as a brilliant new hire who wakes up on their first day every time you start a new conversation. It may understand your industry, but your workflows and business context have to be explained all over again.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller speaks with Rob Collie, founder and CEO of P3
Beyond the POC: AWS’s Playbook for Enterprise AI Success
Most AI pilots never make it past the demo phase.
AWS Machine Learning Lead Praveen Jayakumar has seen plenty of promising AI projects get stuck between a successful demo and production. Teams often define what success looks like without deciding what failure looks like, leaving underperforming projects alive long after they should have been shut down. As Praveen puts it, they become “zombie” AI p
Can AI Make Sense of Pharma’s Messiest Data?
Human biology is extraordinarily complex, and researchers often have only fragments of information to work with. Brian Martin compares it to looking at a skyscraper through a keyhole: you can see something clearly, but only a tiny piece of the whole.
Recorded at EVOLVE26 Singapore, this episode of The AI Forecast brings Paul Muller together with Brian Martin, CTO of Applied AI at Cloudera and co-f
Running with Scissors: The Enterprise AI Reality
Enterprise AI loves a shiny object. Sol Rashidi would rather talk about procurement.
After years of leading AI deployments, Sol has learned that some of the biggest wins come from the decidedly unglamorous parts of the business. Her favorite function to transform? Procurement.
Recorded at EVOLVE26 Singapore, this conversation brings host Paul Muller together with Sol Rashidi, CEO of ExecutiveAI, t
AI Adoption vs. Adaptation: What Problem Are You Solving?
Paul McDonagh-Smith estimates that many business leaders would struggle to define their organization’s problem clearly in fewer than 25 words. With AI, that lack of clarity can quickly turn into fragmented solutions and misplaced expectations.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Paul McDonagh-Smith, a Visiting Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and a Senio
The Great AI Re-Architecture Pushes Workloads to the Data Center
New research points to a major shift in enterprise IT: more than two-thirds of surveyed data leaders are moving some workloads back into the data center.
The catalyst? AI.
In today’s episode, Paul Muller is joined by Cloudera CTO Sergio Gago and CPO Leo Brunnick to unpack Cloudera’s survey of more than 1,500 technology and data leaders about how AI is reshaping their infrastructure. As AI moves in
Vibe Coding to Production: Building AI Apps That Actually Scale
Now that AI coding tools have put development capabilities into more hands, prototypes are becoming business-critical applications almost overnight. Shanea Leven sees an opportunity for a new generation of builders, provided the infrastructure around their applications keeps pace.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Shanea Leven, co-founder of Empromptu AI, to explore wh
Enterprise AI Success: What Separates Results from Expensive Experiments
Most enterprise AI use cases still aren't delivering measurable value. So what separates the projects that work from the ones that quietly disappear?
For Mark Ritcey, the answer comes down to disciplined execution. AI programs need a clear business problem and an organization prepared for how the technology changes the way work gets done.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down w
How AI Is Helping Humanitarian Teams Make Faster Decisions
In a humanitarian crisis, waiting for perfect information isn't an option. Every decision must be made with incomplete data and limited resources in a situation that can change by the hour.
For organizations like Mercy Corps, AI is helping teams make sense of that uncertainty. By bringing together information from conflict reports, local media, humanitarian data, and environmental sources, AI can
From KPIs to Action: What Comes After The Dashboard?
Your dashboard can tell you sales are down, but it can't tell you why or what to do next.
Dashboards have become the default way to monitor a business. Bhaskar Sunkara argues they're only the starting point. The next step is AI that understands business context and helps leaders move from insight to action.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with the founder and CEO of Bicy
Behavior Change: How Startups Are Making AI Stick
Behavior change is the biggest hurdle in AI adoption. AI only creates value when people make it part of their everyday work.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Varun Puri, CEO and co-founder of Yoodli, to discuss why successful AI adoption starts with changing how people work. Drawing on his experience at Google, Google X, and as the founder of an AI startup, Varun shar
AI Guardrails: How to Govern AI Without Slowing Innovation
AI is already inside your organization. The question is whether you know where.
As Lisa Pent says, “You can’t govern what you can’t see.”
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Lisa Pent, CEO and Founder of PentEdge, to discuss why AI visibility is becoming a board-level issue and what organizations can do to govern AI with confidence. Lisa makes the case that visibility i
Decision Logic: The Difference Between an Answer and a Decision
Ask an AI system a question, and you'll get an answer. Decision logic determines whether you should trust it.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Darlene Newman, Innovation Lead at Duczer East, to explore the hidden layer that helps AI move from pattern matching to practical decision-making.
From semantic layers and ontologies to knowledge graphs and governance framewo
Why Some AI Products Strike a Chord (and Others Don't)
You recognize the tune, but something feels off.
That's how Marlon Davis describes many of today's AI initiatives: AI karaoke. Organizations are rushing to add AI to products, but too often they're layering technology onto solutions without fully understanding the customer problems they're trying to solve.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with fractional Chief Product Offi
Mastering Enterprise AI: Why Some Projects Succeed While Others Fail
AI may be the most capable intern your organization has ever hired.
However, interns still need guidance and clear direction. Enterprise AI is proving no different.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Michael Gray, CTO of Thrive, to explore the patterns and anti-patterns emerging from real-world enterprise AI deployments.
Drawing on his experience helping organizations
The Rise of VibeOps: How AI Is Transforming Network Automation
For decades, network teams have been forced to choose between speed and stability.
AI may finally be changing that equation.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with John Capobianco, Head of AI and Developer Relations at Itential and author of “Automate Your Network,” to explore how AI is reshaping the future of network operations.
Drawing on decades of experience in network
The Space-AI-Quantum Nexus Challenging Governance
AI governance is already struggling to keep pace. Add quantum computing and space infrastructure, and the challenge becomes exponentially harder.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with technology governance specialist and researcher Preetha Bedi to explore the growing convergence between AI, space, and quantum technologies—and why this nexus is creating entirely new catego
Why Enterprise AI Still Breaks at Scale with Ravit Jain
As organizations rush to scale AI, many are learning that better models can’t compensate for weak data foundations. AI hype is everywhere, but operational readiness still isn’t.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Ravit Jain, founder of The Ravit Show and one of the leading voices in the global data and AI community, to explore the trends shaping the future of enterprise
Fan Intelligence: Preparing for the World Cup Surge
With the World Cup on the horizon, global attention is about to shift back to football. For clubs, that spotlight represents a rare opportunity to activate millions of fans. The question is whether they’re ready.
As AI reshapes how organizations understand and engage their customers, sports clubs are beginning to rethink what a “fan” really is. In markets like Brazil, where membership programs are
Out of This World AI: Inside Spaceflight with Jeanette Epps
Human spaceflight is one of the few domains in which data and human judgment must work together flawlessly under extreme pressure. That makes it a powerful lens for understanding what it takes to build resilient, intelligent systems here on Earth.
In this Women Leaders in Technology spotlight episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with former NASA astronaut Dr. Jeanette Epps to explore
The Data Governance Coach: From Data Error to Insight
In the world of enterprise AI, the pressure on data has changed. What used to be “good enough” now gets amplified by faster decisions, and therefore, faster mistakes. Governance is fundamental in ensuring data trust and integrity. In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with The Data Governance Coach, Nicola Askham, to share her pragmatic perspective and assert that governance on
AI Adoption: The Data Readiness Problem Holding Enterprises Back
AI ambition is everywhere. The models are ready, the investment is flowing, yet the outcomes aren’t keeping up.
Cloudera’s Data Readiness Index 2026 survey identifies a widening gap between what enterprises want from AI and what they can actually deliver. In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Cloudera CTO Sergio Gago to bring a practitioner’s lens to the problem, drawing
AI Risk & Cybersecurity: Theresa Payton on the New Threat Landscape
As AI adoption accelerates, so do the risks that come with it. So what happens when AI puts cyberattack capabilities into everyone’s hands?
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller is joined by Theresa Payton to break down the new reality of AI-powered threats. Drawing on decades of experience as the first female White House CIO, CEO of Fortalice Solutions, and the author of four books on p
Industrial Enterprise AI: The Missing Piece is Organizational
Enterprise AI is running into a familiar problem in the energy and manufacturing industries: the technology is moving faster than the organizations around it.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Patrick Bangert, VP and Chief of AI at Occidental Petroleum, and author of “Leading Enterprise AI Programs: Optimize AI Teams for Value Creation,” to unpack the complexities of r
Agentic AI Is Forcing a Governance Reset
What happens when AI stops advising and starts acting?
Agentic AI promises autonomy, speed, and a new level of intelligence in how systems operate. But as these systems begin to pursue goals and make decisions, the risks become harder to predict.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with futurist Nell Watson, AI ethics expert and co-author of “Safer Agentic AI: Principles and
The “Wobbly” Nature of AI: Governing an Unpredictable Technology
AI governance is the Achilles heel of most enterprises. As organizations accelerate AI adoption, boardrooms face urgent questions about cybersecurity, compliance, resilience, and regulatory risk.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller meets with Shoshana Rosenberg, author of “Practical AI Governance: Building a Program for Oversight and Strategy,” and creator of the Prism AI Governance Fr
Women Leaders in Technology: AI Agents Are Your New Team– Now What?
In this special Women Leaders In Technology episode of The AI Forecast, Wayfound.ai CEO Tatyana Mamut, PhD, makes a bold claim: AI is already acting like a workforce—and organizations are unprepared for what that means.
From econometrics to anthropology to leading roles at Salesforce, AWS, an d Nextdoor, Tatyana shares how her background shaped a fundamentally different approach to leadership. Dr
The Vibecoding Liability: How Unchecked AI Can Kill Cloud ROI
Cloud computing promised efficiency, scalability, and reliability. But as AI workloads grow more complex, many enterprises are learning the hard way that these promises don’t come automatically.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller sits down with Linthicum Research founder David Linthicum to talk through the real state of hybrid cloud strategy and enterprise architecture in the age of
AI Managed Services: A Smarter Path for SMEs
AI adoption is accelerating across small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but many businesses lack the in-house expertise to build and manage AI infrastructure effectively.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Paul Muller speaks with Hyve’s Marketing and Operations Director, Charlotte Webb, about how managed service providers (MSPs) are reshaping AI adoption for SMEs. They explore the build vs
Open Lakehouse Architecture: How to Scale AI to Production
Open lakehouse architecture is becoming the foundation for production AI and enterprise AI at scale.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Dipankar Mazumdar, Director of Developer Relations at Cloudera and co-author of the book “Engineering Lakehouse with Open Table Formats,” joins Paul Muller to explain why open lakehouse architecture is critical for moving from AI pilot to production AI.
They br
How Billy Beane Changed Baseball Forever with Data Analytics
For decades, success in baseball was built on instinct. Scouts trusted their guts and managers leaned on tradition, meaning experience and unwritten rules shaped decisions that often went unquestioned.
Then Billy Beane changed the game.
The former Executive VP of Baseball Operations for the Oakland Athletics and pioneer of the Moneyball philosophy joins host Paul Muller on this special episode of
The AI Shake-Up Telecom Can’t Ignore with Mike O’Sullivan
As telecom operators invest billions in next-generation networks, many are racing to deploy AI to cut costs and unlock new revenue. But beneath the push for automation and smarter infrastructure lies the deeper challenge of rethinking how connectivity itself should be trusted.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Mike O’Sullivan, Head of Member Solutions at TM Forum, joins host Paul Muller to explo
How AI FOMO and Lost Focus on Culture Harm ROI with Jen Stirrup
As AI and BI projects race to deliver quick wins, many organizations overlook what truly determines long-term success: the people behind the data.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Jen Stirrup, author, speaker, and founder of Data Relish, joins host Paul Muller to dissect the difference between data literacy (reading the numbers) and data fluency (speaking the language of business). Jen challeng
The Secret to Creating the Cloud-Like Experience Anywhere with Adam Skotnicky
Data complexity is the enemy of innovation. Adam Skotnicky, VP of Engineering at Cloudera and founder of Taikun (acquired by Cloudera), joins host Paul Muller to explain how engineering teams can reclaim simplicity without sacrificing flexibility or control.
Together they unpack why most teams are overwhelmed by tooling and operational overhead, how platform engineering can abstract complexity awa
Mobilize AI or Lose: Why the Salesperson with the Most Information Always Wins with Frank O’Dowd
AI is reshaping how sales teams find prospects, build relationships, and close deals. Frank O’Dowd, Cloudera’s Chief Revenue Officer, joins to discuss Cloudera’s approach to AI in the sales function.
Frank details his philosophy, which is that rather than replacing the human touch, AI is helping sales professionals work smarter, offering insights, personalization, and efficiency at scale. It’s a
Compute with Conscience: Using AI to Supercharge ESG with Qlik’s Julie Kae
One common cause of concern around AI is how its computing may negatively impact the environment.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Julie Kae, VP of Sustainability and Social Impact at Qlik and Executive Director of Qlik.org, joins host Paul Muller to reframe the conversation: when designed intentionally, AI isn’t a threat to ESG: it can be one of its most powerful enablers.
Drawing on more than
When AI Moves Fast, Security Can’t Lag Behind with Jessica Hammond
As AI adoption accelerates, so do the risks. In this episode of The AI Forecast, Jessica Hammond—Senior Director Product Management of GenAI at Protegrity—joins host Paul Muller to unpack how organizations can move fast with AI without compromising security, privacy, or compliance.
Drawing on her background in product, engineering, security, and compliance, Jessica explains why sensitive data expo
Agent Chaos: Navigating the Most Disruptive Year in AI History
The AI Forecast welcomes back John Santaferraro, host of The Digital Analyst Podcast and CEO of Ferraro Consulting, for a candid look at what’s really coming next for AI in 2026.
John argues that despite nonstop headlines, most organizations are still dabbling with AI, not truly using the technology. He predicts that 2026 will be defined by AI literacy, strategic adoption, and a shift away from t
AI Provenance: Pass Model Audits with Confidence
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Anu Jain, founder and CEO of Nexus Cognitive, joins host Paul Muller to introduce a transformative idea: AI doesn’t have a last-mile problem. It has a first-mile problem. While AI models and algorithms can scale instantly through the cloud, their success still depends on the quality, provenance, and readiness of the data that feeds them.
Drawing from his career
The Networking Gap: Building Influence in an AI-First World
Cloudera Chief Marketing Officer Mary Wells helped spearhead the launch of Cloudera’s Women Leaders in Technology initiative, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. To honor this milestone, Mary joins this special edition of The AI Forecast to reflect on the impact of this program so far.
Mary Wells and host Paul Muller embark on an inspiring conversation on leadership, allyship, and
Why LLMs Aren’t Enough and How AI Fabrics Will Change Everything with Jake Trippel
GenAI may have captured the spotlight. But according to Dr. Jake Trippel, co-founder and CTO of Codename 37, the real disruption is still ahead. Jake joins the podcast to explain why today’s LLM-centric stacks will hit architectural limits and how “AI fabrics” and shared memory meshes can unlock agent-to-agent collaboration across data silos.
From untangling decades of technical debt to the surpri
Unlocking Healthcare’s Data Potential With MDClone’s Luz Erez
Turning complex, siloed medical data into accessible, actionable insight isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a human one.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Luz Erez, physicist-turned-entrepreneur and CTO of MDClone, explores how synthetic data is transforming the way we use medical information for research, innovation, and patient care.
Erez explains how MDClone’s platform manages tens of mi
The AI Readiness Gap: Is Your Data an Asset or a Liability with IBM’s Marcela Vairo
Enterprise leaders are racing to deploy generative AI, but most overlook a critical foundation: data readiness. Despite bold ambitions, less than one-third of technology leaders believe their data is prepared to support AI at scale.
Marcela Vairo, IBM’s Vice President of Data and AI for the Americas, joins The AI Forecast to explore one of the most persistent challenges in enterprise AI: why stro
The Culture Fix: How to Stop Employee Resistance to AI Deployment
AI is transforming not only the way we work, but what we value as work. Success in this new era won’t come from chasing efficiency alone, but from cultivating cultures where AI empowers people, strengthens purpose, and drives innovation with trust at the center.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Teddra Burgess, founder of Chasing Outcomes, joins host Paul Muller to explore how AI is reshaping no
Why Most Enterprise AI Projects Fail and How to Fix Them with Tom Harshbarger
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Tom Harshbarger, Director of Cloud and AI Strategy at Arrow Electronics, joins host Paul Muller to unpack what it really takes to build enterprise AI solutions that deliver value. From navigating an immature market to choosing the right partners, Tom shares hard-earned lessons from decades in the industry on how to start small, experiment intelligently, and scal
What AI Is Teaching Us About the Next Great Companies with Alex Kantrowitz
The AI era is redefining what it takes to stay on top. Success won’t come from protecting the status quo, but from embracing the “always day one” mindset—where reinvention, adaptability, and bold experimentation drive progress.
Drawing on Big Tech’s playbook, Alex Kantrowitz, former journalist and now founder of Big Technology, joins host Paul Muller on The AI Forecast to discuss why continuous r
Keeping Humanity in the Age of AI with Jess Von Bank
What does it mean to design AI with humanity at its core? Jess Von Bank—futurist, HR transformation leader, and president of Diverse Daisies—joins The AI Forecast to discuss. With host Paul Muller, the two explore how AI is reshaping the workforce and our very sense of what it means to be human.
From AI-driven recruiting and workforce redesign to the mental health crisis and the erosion of human c
Private AI: Big Data’s Third Era with Sergio Gago
We’re entering a new era of Big Data defined by convergence—where on-premises and cloud systems come together to power trusted, private AI. By integrating AI with modern data architectures, organizations can harness the full value of their information, drive innovation, and enable a new wave of business outcomes in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Cloudera
Fueling the AI Future: Data, Deployment, and Tangible Outcomes with Patrick Moorhead
The future will not be decided by who experiments with AI first, but by who can operationalize it at scale - turning messy, fragmented data into trusted insights, deploying models seamlessly across hybrid environments, and delivering measurable business outcomes. To discuss, we’re joined by Patrick Moorhead, Founder, CEO and Chief Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.
He and host Paul Muller e
Mike Walsh Returns: Are AI Agents the New Workforce?
Fresh off his keynote at Cloudera’s EVOLVE NYC, futurist and author Mike Walsh returns to The AI Forecast to share bold insights on the rise of AI agents and what they mean for business, culture, and society. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mike explores how AI is evolving from simple automation into a limitless digital workforce, and why the real disruption lies in the second- and third-order
AI as a New Class of Risk with Ojas Rege
AI is changing the way businesses operate. But without trust, governance, and accountability, progress stalls.
Ojas Rege, SVP and GM of Privacy and Data Governance at OneTrust, joins The AI Forecast to explore how organizations can balance innovation with responsibility. He and host Paul Muller unpack why AI represents a “new class of risk,” what it means to design privacy and governance into sys
Where GenAI ROI Hides: Unlocking Value in Overlooked Workflows with Christian Lund
AI can’t transform businesses if organizations aren’t prepared to embrace it.
Christian Lund, Co-Founder of Templafy, joins The AI Forecast to explore thoughtful AI deployment in an organization. He and host Paul Muller dive into the realities of today’s AI landscape—from why over 40% of AI projects are likely to be canceled, to the untapped potential of document workflows as a proving ground for
The High-EQ Leader: Why Vulnerability Wins in 2026
As part of our Women Leaders in Technology (WLIT) series on The AI Forecast, we’re joined by Avani Desai, CEO of Schellman, a leading cybersecurity firm. Each quarter, we’ll take a break from the regularly scheduled AI programming on The AI Forecast to direct our attention to this important topic in tech.
Avani shares her journey from a curious kid in Orlando who loved to tinker with technology to
Enabling the Future of AI with Donna Beasley
AI can’t transform businesses if organizations aren’t prepared to embrace it.
Donna Beasley, Chief AI Enablement Officer, joins The AI Forecast to explore thoughtful AI deployment in an organization. She and host Paul Muller dive into the challenges and opportunities of AI adoption, from ensuring data quality to driving organizational change management.
They discuss the importance of collaborati
Building AI-Driven Cities That Think—and Care—with Ayesha Khanna
A city can’t be smart if its systems don’t serve its citizens.
Ayesha Khanna, AI advisor, entrepreneur, and CEO of Addo, joins The AI Forecast to explore how AI is reshaping the cities we live in and the lives we lead within them. She and host Paul Muller dive into the intersection of AI and urban development, where infrastructure, governance, and personalization come together to elevate the quali
Rebuilding AI from the Ground Up with Val Cook
When AI needs to think faster, the architecture beneath it matters more than ever.
Val Cook, Chief Software Architect at Blaize, joins The AI Forecast to unpack how today’s AI systems demand more than raw compute, but more adaptable infrastructure. He and host Paul Muller explore the critical intersection of hardware and software, the growing importance of data flow machines, and the limits of tra
Securing the Evolving Frontier of Digital Trust with Jim Brennan
When trust collapses, everything else goes with it.
Jim Brennan, Chief Product and Technical Officer at GetReal Security, joins The AI Forecast to break down one of the biggest challenges in today’s world: securing digital trust. He and host Paul Muller explore why trust is the backbone of modern business and how advancements like deepfakes, impersonation attacks, and AI-powered deception are sha
The AI Ownership Crisis with Sean Ren
As AI systems grow more powerful, so does a more profound structural concern: ownership. A handful of players now control the data, infrastructure, and models shaping global AI and, with them, the rules of access, participation, and innovation.
Sean Ren, co-founder of Sahara AI, joins The AI Forecast to explore the implications of competition in the AI industry, the necessity of decentralized tech
If You’re Not Managing Your Data, You’re Not Managing Your AI with Jim Liddle
Jim Liddle, Chief Innovation Officer of Data Intelligence and AI at Nasuni, joins The AI Forecast to spotlight a critical obstacle to enterprise AI: messy, ungoverned data. He and host Paul Muller trace the evolution of data management and unpack why so many organizations still struggle with the basics, starting with the challenge of taming unstructured information.
They explore how the absence of
AI Means Nothing If You Don’t Know Why You’re Using It with Cassie Kozyrkov
In the race of not being left behind in adopting new technology—like AI—enterprises often overlook the most straightforward, strategic question: what decision are we trying to make? Cassie Kozyrkov, first and former Chief Decision Scientist at Google and founder of Kozyr, joins The AI Forecast to reframe the conversation. Her take? It’s not about the genie granting the wish—in this case, AI; it’s
From Fear to Function: AI Isn’t Taking Your Job, It’s Redefining It with Derek Osgood
As the conversation around job loss vs. job evolution heats up, how can we look at the glass half full? Derek Osgood, Founder and CEO of DoubleO and Ignition, joins The AI Forecast to explore how agentic AI is reshaping business workflows and reframing the conversation from replacement to augmentation. As Derek puts it, automation isn’t about erasing opportunity; it’s about redefining it.
Tune in
Reimagining Business Intelligence: From Dashboards to Decision Engines with John Santaferraro
The next era of business intelligence is here. Traditional dashboards and static reports give way to AI-driven systems built for faster, more informed decision-making. John Santaferraro, CEO and founder of Ferraro Consulting and host of The Digital Analyst podcast, joins The AI Forecast to share how enterprises can modernize BI to unlock real business value. Because in today’s data-rich world, tur
Redefining Learning: The Future of K-12 Education and AI with Marlee Strawn
It’s official. AI has reached the classrooms, but not without pushback and hesitancy. Marlee Strawn, co-founder of Scholar Education, joins The AI Forecast to discuss. Marlee’s years of experience in education—both as a teacher and school administrator—ground her strong perspective that AI won’t replace teachers or make students “dumber.”
Tune in as Marlee and host Paul Muller delve into the sign
From Concept to Capability: Making AI Actually Useful with Whippy’s Jack Kennedy
In this episode of The AI Forecast, we’re joined by Jack Kennedy, CTO and co-founder of Whippy. From SMS to email to voice, Whippy helps unify fragmented communication channels—boosting efficiency with real-time AI tools.
Jack joins host Paul Muller for a wide-ranging conversation covering the evolution of Whippy from a scrappy consulting operation to a fully productized platform, the surprising a
Engineering for GenAI: Lessons from Past Hype Cycles with Ryan Ries of Mission Cloud
Generative AI is entering the enterprise at scale, following patterns set by the rise of cloud computing. As organizations shift from buying tools to building custom solutions, architecture and integration become key to long-term success.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, Ryan Ries, Chief AI and Data Scientist at Mission Cloud, joins host Paul Muller to discuss AI infrastructure built for succes
Leading with Joy in the Age of AI with Kevin Surace
In this episode of The AI Forecast, host Paul Muller is joined by Kevin Surace—Chair & CEO of Appvance.ai, Chair of Token Ring, and a pioneering force behind the first human-like AI virtual assistant—for a deeply human conversation about what it means to lead through disruption.
From building billion-dollar companies to holding 94 worldwide patents in AI, automation, and sustainability, Kevin
Artificial Useful Intelligence: A More Impactful Future for AI with Dr. Ruchir Puri
In this episode of The AI Forecast, host Paul Muller welcomes Dr. Ruchir Puri, Chief Scientist at IBM Research, to cut through the noise surrounding Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and spotlight a more pragmatic path forward: Artificial Useful Intelligence (AUI).
Dr. Puri—a globally recognized AI pioneer with over 50 patents, 100+ publications, and academic roles at Stanford, Columbia, and B
Keeping AI “In” and Risk “Out” with Vineet Jain
In this episode of The AI Forecast, host Paul Muller sits down with Vineet Jain, CEO and co-founder of Egnyte, for a conversation on one of the biggest enterprise challenges in AI: protecting corporate data while enabling innovation.
Vineet shares his perspective on the real risks of generative AI in the workplace—from inadvertent data leaks to the shadow IT resurgence—and outlines why governance
Why AI Agents Are the Future of Enterprise AI with Cloudera’s Abhas Ricky
AI agents are quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools in the enterprise AI toolkit. According to Cloudera’s latest Agentic AI Survey, 96% of enterprises plan to expand their use of AI agents. But what’s driving this surge, and how can organizations turn hype into results?
In this episode of The AI Forecast, host Paul Muller sits down with Abhas Ricky, Chief Strategy Officer at Cloudera, to
From Poker Tables to Boardrooms: AI, Risk, and Business Communication with David Daneshgar
In high-stakes environments like professional poker and startup entrepreneurship, precision, timing, and strategy are everything. And nobody knows that better than David Daneshgar.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, we’re joined by David Daneshgar, a World Series of Poker champion and now Co-founder and CEO of Whippy, a company using AI to transform how businesses communicate with their customers
Lessons in Tech and the Two-Way Street of Mentorship with AWS’s Melissa Dougherty
As part of our Women Leaders in Technology (WLIT) series on The AI Forecast, we’re joined by Melissa Dougherty, Global Managing Director of Partner Sales, Financial Services at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Each quarter, we’ll take a break from the regularly scheduled AI programming on The AI Forecast to direct our attention to this important topic in tech.
Melissa shares her unconventional journey
AI’s Growing Appetite: Can Data Centers Keep Up feat. Scott Jarnagin
As AI booms and workloads skyrocket, data centers are being pushed to their physical and operational limits. Meanwhile, massive growth has sparked conversations about the environmental impacts of greater computing requirements.
Data center electricity consumption will grow by an average of 23% annually between 2023 and 2028. Additionally, the same report forecasts that AI-specific data center ene
The Path to Safe AI – Education with Peter Norvig
In a world where AI is rapidly reshaping everything from how we work to how we live, one truth stands out: education is the cornerstone of both innovation and safety.
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As AI becomes a regular topic in boardrooms, many executives face critical blind spots around strategy, governance, and implementation. Few are AI-native, and many struggle to connect high-level goals with practical, accountable systems.
In this episode of The AI Forecast, host Paul Muller speaks with Dr. Maya Dillon, an astrophysicist turned AI thought leader and CEO of consultancy XSAIA. Maya e
Boring AI is Safe AI with Cal Al-Dhubaib
In highly regulated industries like healthcare and energy, a lot is at stake if an AI system “fails” – therefore leading to a higher risk of unintended consequences that could mean life or death. These high-risk environments can teach us a lot about responsible AI, practical guardrails, and best practices overall.
One of those lessons? Make AI “boring”. To dive into what that means for highly reg
Data Strategy for Competitive Advantage in AI
Data is more complex than ever before, and the big data market is growing rapidly with advancements in digital technology such as AI and cloud computing. But with this growth also comes opportunity.
The business leaders who can make sense of their data – and transform it into value – will be the winners in today’s data economy. To discuss this, we’re joined by Jan-Willem Middleburg.
Jan-Willem i
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