Where AI Works: Conversations at the Intersection of AI and Industry

It’s one of the world’s most iconic consumer goods companies, founded when America was still in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Now, more than a century later, it’s on the frontlines of another massive transformation in the way we work thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence.

On this episode of Where AI Works, host Christian Terwiesch is joined by Alfredo Colas, the Chief Data and AI Officer at Procter & Gamble, to explore how the 188 year old company is reinventing itself yet again. With nearly three decades at P&G, Alfredo shares his unique perspective on embedding AI into innovation, from product ideation to smarter supply chains, while keeping humans firmly in the loop. You’ll hear how the company leverages AI to supercharge creativity — turning individual ideas into high-performing concepts — and how AI helps democratize knowledge, making decades of consumer insights instantly accessible to employees across the company. Their conversation also highlights the importance of human judgment in final decision-making, the evolving nature of work, and how AI can eliminate routine tasks to let employees focus on higher-value, creative problem solving.


Episode Highlights:

6:13 - Alfredo shares how AI is being used to enhance rather than replace P&G’s “secret formula” for gaining consumer insights about its products.

10:20 - Alfredo explains how P&G is leveraging AI to boost personal employee productivity, improve quality, and democratize knowledge.

18:23 - Alfredo discusses which aspects of work he foresees changing the most as a result of AI implementation.

It’s an industry facing a wide variety of challenges; soaring costs, timely care, and employee burnout. But there’s growing evidence that AI can help make the healthcare sector safer, faster, and more human, all at once.

On this premiere episode of season four of Where AI Works, host Christian Terwiesch sits down with Lara Liss, the Chief Privacy and Data Trust Officer at GE HealthCare, to explore how AI is transforming healthcare delivery from the inside out. From smarter imaging and diagnostics to predictive tools that help entire hospital systems run more efficiently, AI’s potential to relieve pressure on the industry is enormous. But as Lara explains, with that power also comes responsibility to embed ethical AI principles at every stage of product development — ensuring transparency, safety, and clinical oversight. She also discusses what it takes to build trust in AI and why it’s critical to keep human practitioners in the loop to ensure patient care remains grounded in expertise and not just algorithms.

Episode Highlights:

6:06 - Lara lays out how AI has the potential to address many of the challenges currently facing the healthcare sector.

8:04 - Lara shares the first step all companies should take if they’re just getting started with AI implementation.

14:03 - Lara explains how GE Healthcare is using AI to augment the abilities of medical professionals rather than replace them.

This week, we’re doing something different. Instead of our usual episodes, we’re sharing a special conversation featuring “Where AI Works” season 3 host Peter Cappelli on the podcast “Using AI at Work.” It’s a timely, unfiltered look at how companies are actually trying, and often failing, to implement AI.

In this interview, Peter brings his decades of research at Wharton to dismantle the biggest myths leaders believe about AI adoption:
Why boards are obsessed with headcount reductions, and why that’s the wrong metric
The real reasons only ~5% of companies are meaningfully implementing AI
What executives get wrong when they chase “off-the-shelf” AI solutions
How job redesign, not job elimination, is where the true productivity gains come from
The surprising truth about employee cooperation: guaranteeing jobs may actually speed up AI progress

He also breaks down two real-world case studies, including Ricoh’s attempt to automate insurance paperwork and a manufacturing company’s AI-driven quality control system, revealing what actually works, what doesn’t, and why AI projects fail long before the technology does.

If you’re a leader trying to separate hype from reality, or if you want to understand how AI reshapes work without erasing workers, this conversation is essential listening.

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.

What happens when the volume and complexity of client needs outpace the capacity of even the world’s biggest banks? And how can AI move beyond efficiency tools to actually enrich client conversations, deepen relationships, and reimagine frontline service?

On this episode of Where AI Works, host Peter Cappelli sits down with Sohaib Perwaiz, the Senior Director of Business Advisory at RBC Borealis — the Royal Bank of Canada’s enterprise AI solution development hub and center of excellence. Their conversation explores how AI is being applied across the enterprise, including inside the bank’s advice center, where generative AI is helping thousands of human advisors reduce call times, surface insights from vast pools of transaction data, and transform routine problem-solving into personalized financial guidance. This episode also unpacks the organizational realities of scaling AI in a highly regulated industry: how to design solutions that empower rather than replace employees, how to align technology with real business pain points, and why shifting from “shiny object” experimentation to value-driven implementation is critical for banks and other companies as they navigate the AI era.


Episode Highlights:

4:49 - Sohaib describes how generative AI is being applied within RBC’s call center to improve both productivity and the client experience.

11:21 - Sohaib explains why he thinks augmenting human agents with AI adds more value than replacing them with AI-powered chatbots entirely.

17:24 - Sohaib lays out how RBC is using machine learning to drive greater client retention in the mortgage aspect of its business.