Agentic AI is pushing leaders to rethink roles, processes, and governance far beyond another automation wave.

In this episode, Andreas Welsch speaks with Danielle Gifford, PwC Managing Director of AI, about how organizations should prepare for agentic AI. Danielle draws on frontline experience with enterprise pilots and deployments to explain why agents require new infrastructure, clearer role boundaries, and fresh approaches to governance and workforce design.

Highlights from the conversation:

• Why agents are different from classic rule-based automation: they’re goal-driven, context-aware and can act with autonomy, which creates both opportunity and risk.
• Where companies (especially in Canada) are on the adoption curve: pilots and POCs are increasing, but full-scale deployments need better data, guardrails, and change planning.
• How leaders should approach agent projects: start with the business problem, map processes, and decide where human + agent collaboration delivers the highest value.
• Workforce design and the “digital coworker”: practical advice on defining role boundaries, delegation rules, and how to evaluate outcomes when humans and agents collaborate.
• Multi-agent orchestration and governance: how to prevent agents from converging on weak solutions and how to build review, control, and accountability into agent systems.

Key takeaways:

1. Business first: define the problem before choosing technology. Agents aren’t a silver bullet — they must solve a real, scoped pain point.
2. Move from experimentation to implementation: Canadian enterprises are ready to progress beyond proofs of concept and invest in production-ready agent solutions with proper controls.
3. Agents ≠ automation: treat agents as goal-based collaborators that need explicit boundaries, evaluation metrics, and workforce redesign.

If you lead teams, product strategy, or AI initiatives and want practical guidance for turning agent hype into measurable outcomes, this episode is for you. Listen now to get the full conversation and actionable next steps.

Questions or suggestions? Send me a Text Message.

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Disclaimer: Views are the participants’ own and do not represent those of any participant’s past, present, or future employers. Participation in this event is independent of any potential business relationship (past, present, or future) between the participants or between their employers.

Level up your AI Leadership game with the AI Leadership Handbook:
https://www.aileadershiphandbook.com

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AI agents are arriving fast, but the winners will be the organizations that pair them with trusted data, clear processes and security — not those who chase scale alone.

In this episode, Andreas Welsch talks with analyst and diginomica co-founder Jon Reed about what’s actually next for agentic AI: where real value is emerging, why many pilots stall, and how to move from hype to measurable outcomes. They cut through the noise around model releases and scary headlines, and focus on practical pathways for enterprise adoption.

Highlights include:

• Why throwing scale at models isn’t a cure-all and how enterprises succeed by constraining problems and adding domain context
• The “last mile” problem: when out-of-the-box LLMs miss industry-specific language, and when to fine-tune or use smaller domain models
• Data readiness as a multi-year journey — and how to weave data cleanup into early AI use cases so you can get wins fast
• Real business examples (procurement long-tail, finance workflows, shop-floor QA) where agents and ML already drive measurable impact
• Security, trust and identity for agents: new threat vectors, authentication challenges and when agent-to-agent interactions create additional risk
• Practical tech signals to watch: RAG + tool-calling, MCP/A2A protocols, zero-copy data approaches, and when to favor internal wins over multi-vendor orchestration
• People and culture: empower middle managers and junior staff to experiment safely, avoid short-sighted headcount cuts, and build communities of practice
• Legal and fairness considerations, including why frameworks like the EU AI Act offer useful risk-drive guardrails

If you lead an AI initiative, build data platforms, or are responsible for secure automation, this conversation gives realistic next steps — from choosing the right model size and partners to hardening agent deployments and capturing the first ROI moments.

Listen to the episode to learn how to move past hype and design agent strategies that actually deliver business outcomes.

Questions or suggestions? Send me a Text Message.

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***********
Disclaimer: Views are the participants’ own and do not represent those of any participant’s past, present, or future employers. Participation in this event is independent of any potential business relationship (past, present, or future) between the participants or between their employers.

Level up your AI Leadership game with the AI Leadership Handbook:
https://www.aileadershiphandbook.com

More details:
https://www.intelligence-briefing.com
All episodes:
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AI is reshaping every job from the C-Suite to the front line. It's happening at a pace unlike any change we’ve seen before.

But most leaders are uncomfortable leading this change. Despite all the talk about technology, AI-driven uncertainty is a deeply human topic. Sitting it out or waiting for someone else to solve the big questions of self-identity, value, and skills is not an option.

In this episode of "What’s the BUZZ?," host Andreas Welsch sits down with Alison McCauley, Author and Digital Change Strategist, to explore how leaders can navigate the uncertainty AI brings to the workplace.

Catch the BUZZ:

• Why will every role will change and how can leaders prepare?
• What's the critical role of expertise in the AI era?
• How can you equip your team with AI skills and big-picture thinking?
• When should you use AI as a thought partner?

Whether you’re a CEO, a mid-level manager, or just starting your career, this conversation offers actionable ways to lead with confidence when the future feels unclear.

Questions or suggestions? Send me a Text Message.

Support the show

***********
Disclaimer: Views are the participants’ own and do not represent those of any participant’s past, present, or future employers. Participation in this event is independent of any potential business relationship (past, present, or future) between the participants or between their employers.

Level up your AI Leadership game with the AI Leadership Handbook:
https://www.aileadershiphandbook.com

More details:
https://www.intelligence-briefing.com
All episodes:
https://www.intelligence-briefing.com/podcast
Get a weekly thought-provoking post in your inbox:
https://www.intelligence-briefing.com/newsletter