In this episode of Designed to Accelerate, Steph Louis and I sit down with Cornelius Pone—co-founder of Digital FastForward and a Lead System Architect with more than 25 years of experience across hundreds of Pega implementations—to explore why AI is transforming how enterprise delivery gets done.The biggest takeaway? AI doesn’t just change the tools—it changes the operating model. Delivery organizations can’t simply adopt AI. They need to redesign how they design solutions, organize teams, and deliver value.In this episode, we discuss:* Why adopting AI isn’t enough—and how AI is reshaping the roles of architects, developers, business analysts, and delivery teams.* Why coding is becoming commoditized, and how delivery organizations should rethink R&D, delivery, and maintenance to maximize value.* The difference between design time and run time, and why a vibe-coded application isn’t automatically ready for enterprise environments with governance and regulatory requirements.* How architects are evolving from technical gatekeepers into strategic advisors who help business leaders understand options, trade-offs, and business outcomes.Next Steps:📍 Join the next cohort of our Solution Design Accelerator Workshophttps://workshop.digitalfastforward.com📘 Request a complimentary copy of "The Ultimate Guide to Pega Value Acceleration"https://book.digitalfastforward.com

In this episode of Designed to Accelerate, Steph Louis and I sit down with Kenneth Hearn — AVP of Digital Process Automation at Navy Federal Credit Union — to explore how AI is expanding the pool of people who get to ideate within the enterprise, and what that means for the future of solution design.

We discuss:

• How AI tools like Pega Blueprint empower everyone to ideate, not just developers and architects
• Why Kenneth sees AI as a steady evolution rather than a disruption, even after 20 years in the field
• The difference between using AI at "design time" and "run time" and how a regulated bank got AI approved for design work
• Where the Solution Designer role is heading as ideation spreads from IT to the businessNext Steps:1. Join the next cohort of our Design Accelerator Workshop: https://workshop.digitalfastforward.com2. Request a complimentary copy of Clay's book, "The Ultimate Guide to Pega Value Acceleration": https://book.digitalfastforward.com

AI is changing the economics of building software and operating businesses. But lower cost and faster execution don’t automatically create better outcomes. In this episode of Designed to Accelerate, Steph Louis and I sit down with Reshma Block — Founder & Principal at Compass Consulting and former CTO at Tricon Residential — to explore a hard truth many leadership teams are struggling to confront:AI won’t save bad strategy.While at Tricon, Reshma led an enterprise Automation & AI strategy that helped transform the company's operations at scale and contributed to Fitch upgrading the company’s borrowing rate based on the strength of the technology assets her team built.In this conversation, we unpack:* Why many organizations are getting lost in the “AI Fog”* The difference between “investing in AI” and building a real AI strategy* Why AI lowers the cost of ideation, but increases the need for clarity and governance* What becomes obsolete in the AI era — and what becomes even more important* How leaders can use AI to strengthen business cases and accelerate executive buy-in* Why strategy, orchestration, and change management matter more than everIf you’re a CIO, CTO, COO, transformation leader, or enterprise architect trying to navigate the next wave of AI-driven change, this conversation is for you.