Enterprise Automation Excellence

Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke

Welcome to the Enterprise Automation Excellence Podcast, your go-to resource for navigating the complex world of enterprise automation. Automation has been a cornerstone of enterprise operations for over 50 years, seamlessly managing business processes, analytics, development, infrastructure, and more. Yet, it often goes unnoticed until something goes wrong. In this podcast, industry experts Dan and Tom—an Automation Industry Analyst and a Product Manager—will provide strategic insights on the evolving automation landscape.

  1. MAR 31

    Ep. 32 - The Shift to Agentic Observability: From Insight to Autonomous Action

    AI is reshaping the observability market, bringing greater ability to detect patterns and predict issues that may occur in the future. In this episode, Arturo Oliver (Head of Market Strategy, ScienceLogic) joins Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke to discuss three major shifts: from reactive problem diagnosis to proactive prevention; from noise-filtering to AI-driven recommendations; and from scripted automation to agents that can take action independently. The episode tackles the harder, long-term challenge of connecting AI agents together across different tools and systems.   Key Points Observability shifting from retrospective root-cause analysis to forward-looking prediction and preventionAI agents organized in layered, specialized roles reflecting real enterprise IT structuresTrust and transparency as primary barriers to adoptionTraditional telemetry insufficient; intent and expected outcomes required for meaningful contextThe “orchestrator of orchestrators” as an unresolved challenge in aligning intent and policy across systemsRecommendations for Automation Leaders 1. Don't be a late adopter – look for quick wins with current agentic AI technology, don't wait for the technology to fully mature 2. Prioritize prevention over recovery – focus on preventing incidents, not fighting fires 3. Deliver intelligence to the right people at the right time – agentic systems should make your team more productive, not bury them in more data 4. Trust and transparency are non-negotiable – AI insights and recommendations must be verifiable, traceable and auditable 5. Focus on building institutional knowledge - capture and share your learnings as you apply agents and evolve new solutions   Links Arturo Oliver: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arturooliver/ ScienceLogic: https://sciencelogic.com  Footer EAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellence Feedback & Questions: mailto: eaepodcast@emausa.com

    31 min

  2. MAR 17

    Ep. 31 - Governed Agentic AI: Business-Driven Orchestration Transforming ERP Without Replacement

    Transforming the business does not require expensive technology changes, it can be accomplished through business partnership and better use of existing systems and information. In this episode, Rich Corbridge (CIO, SEGRO plc) joins Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke to discuss how they are using automation and AI to significantly improve their ERP capabilities, without replacing their ERP systems. Focusing on business value, SEGRO is piloting AI-enable orchestration to create workbenches that tie together disparate systems for timely access to information, improving decision making. Crucially, this approach introduces agentic AI within a centralized orchestration model, ensuring governance, consistency, and controlled deployment rather than uncoordinated agent sprawl. Key Points Business value drove technology selection and the decision to supplement existing ERP systems rather than replacing them A centralized approach balances consistency with localized customizations Partnering with two vendors with different engagement styles provided valuable insights ROI was defined upfront, each pilot process had specific targets before testing began Technology change is happening quickly, SEGRO's deliberate approach is making them culturally ready for rapid change. Agentic AI is being deployed within a centralized orchestration framework to maintain control and avoid fragmented, independent agent development Takeaways for Automation Leaders Build alliances with business leaders before starting the technology selection process A structured evaluation of AI-enabled orchestration outperforms giving everyone tools to built their own agents Cultural change in the IT team is as important as cultural change in the business Momentum comes from demonstrating what is possible Success is defined as business impact, SEGRO is using orchestration to grow the business without increasing staff or operational costs LinksRich Corbridge on LinkedInhttps://www.segro.com/ FooterEAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellenceFeedback & Questions: mailto@emausa.com

    26 min

  3. MAR 2

    Ep. 30 - From Order Taker to Change Agent

    Enterprise automation leaders must maintain reliable services supporting business and operational processes while also driving change in their organizations. In this episode, Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke discuss the challenges and opportunities of becoming a change agent, and why it is important to step forward rather than waiting for direction from above. They advocate behaving like an entrepreneur in identifying problems to be solved, building business cases, and actively selling their proposals to leadership.Key Points Many automation groups only get attention when something is broken, functioning as a service rather than being recognized as a strategic assetSenior managers often do not understand how automation enables the businessAutomation leaders often wait for someone above them to provide direction on when to actNo matter where you are in the organization, you have a role to play in moving change forwardAutomation leaders need to behave like entrepreneurs, driving change to improve their business impactMarketing and selling are not dirty words; automation leaders must frame proposals in business terms, understand executive and stakeholder priorities, and actively communicate the value automation delivers.Takeaways for Automation Leaders Create a "State of Automation" briefing that your management and non-technical stakeholders can read to understand why automation matters to the businessMeet with your management to understand: - their expectations of what the automation team needs to work on, - what business initiatives automation should be performing, and - whether the leadership team feels the automation team is moving quickly enoughDesign and propose a small pilot where automation can deliver a measurable business improvement References Intrapreneurship (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IntrapreneurshipIntrapreneuring: Why You Don't Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur, Gifford Pinchot III, (Harper & Row, 1985) - out-of-printFooterEAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellenceFeedback & Questions: mailto:eaepodcast@emausa.com

    24 min

  4. FEB 17

    Ep. 29 - AI Automation Anxiety: Take a Breath, Back to Fundamentals

    The current hype about AI has left many enterprise automation leaders feeling anxious about how they will integrate these rapidly evolving AI solutions whilemaintaining reliability and resilience. Hosts Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke recommend taking a pause to recognize that there are more similarities than differences with past waves of integrations of new technologies into automation platforms. These integrations succeeded by following proven change management practices: start with small pilots, iterate based on learnings, collaboration with stakeholders, and maintaining production discipline.    Key Points AI agents are just another process type to be managedCore automation principles remain unchanged, ensuring that the right actions happen at the right time applies equally to AI workloadsTechnology adoption fails more frequently from coordination failures than from technical issuesChoose pilots based on readiness and suitability for an iterative, learning approachAssess your observability capabilities, AI can introduce non-deterministic execution and outcomes, requiring a higher level of monitoring than traditional applications   Takeaways for Automation Leaders Invest in expanding your observability capabilities now, even there's no immediate need for AI integration.Improve your teams cross-functional collaboration skills, focusing on business, technical and operations teams.Be prepared, tart looking for your AI "learning candidate" automation use cases and platform touch points. Footer EAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellence Feedback & Questions: mailto:eaepodcast@emausa.com

    22 min

  5. JAN 28

    Ep. 28 - From AI Hype to Operational Reality: Insights from Gartner IO&CS25

    Enterprise IT continues to evolve rapidly as organizations look for effective ways to use AI and other automation tools to streamline their processes. In this episode, Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke discuss Tom's learnings from December's Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference. Topics include the emerging pragmatism around AI, continuous operations, managing the automation portfolio as a platform, and the importance of communicating automation value in business terms. The episode reinforces the need for automation leaders to focus on business outcomes and maintain reliability as the technology landscape changes. Key Points Top-down pressure to adopt AI is solution-driven rather than problem-focusedReal autonomy in agentic AI remains elusive, with many solutions underperforming or costing much more than projectedPlatform-centric I&O represents the next maturity stage for infrastructure management, automation leaders should adopt this approach as they evaluate which tools belong in their portfolioWhile AI tools continue to improve rapidly, I&O leaders should anticipate that costs will rise to reflect the large amounts of money being invested. Takeaways for Automation Leaders AI is automation, as the hype dissipates the operation of these tools will wind up in the automation center of excellence.Addressing tech debt must be framed in business enablement, enabling faster delivery of new capabilities, while improving reliability and resilience.AI will transform expectations around automation, increasing demand and requiring more agility to satisfy business needs. Links Episode 8 - Five Key Trends from Gartner I&O 2024:  https://em360tech.com/podcasts/episode-8-five-key-trends-gartner-io-2024-ai-automation-and-evolution-technical-leadership   EAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellence   Feedback & Questions: mailto:eaepodcast@emausa.com

    23 min

  6. JAN 14

    Ep. 27 - What 26 Episodes Taught Us About Enterprise Automation—and What Comes Next

    Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke conduct a retrospective of EAE 2024 and 2025 episodes. Using Anthropic Claude to analyze the podcasts, they identify five dominant themes that merged from their conversations. They discuss their learnings fromlooking back at the episodes, plans for the podcast in 2026, and ideas for tools to help listeners navigate the growing library of episodes to explore specific topics.     RetrospectiveThemes Don't Automate, OrchestrateAI is a Catalyst for the Evolution of Enterprise AutomationThe Skills Gap is a Bottleneck to Improving Business ImpactCommunicate Business Value to StakeholdersAdapt Change Management and Governance Process Takeaways for Automation Leaders Adopt Orchestration as Your Strategic FrameworkInvest in Observability and Data QualityHelp Your Stakeholders Understand the Business Value of Automation Contact Us EAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellence Feedback & Questions: mailto:eaepodcast@emausa.com

    19 min

  7. 2025-11-20

    Ep. 26 - AI Dev Tools: What Automation Leaders Need to Know

    Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke are joined by Pete Goldin (DevOps Digest). Dan and Pete discuss their recent survey of AI development and DevOps tools. The research shows high adoption rates of AI-native development tools with broad use of AI integration in core processes. This early success has created cautious optimism, however, significant governance gaps exist in many organizations. Automation leaders must prepare for changes to CI/CD and release management processes, as well as different automation usage profiles as AI tools are integrated. Key Points AI development tools have become a competitive requirementAI introduces changes that are not addressed through existing change controls and governance Integrations with automationAutomation integration use cases will shift as AI tools change development processes and utilize a greater set of automation tool capabilitiesDeveloper and automation team skillsets must evolve, while AI may handle more basic activities, deep knowledge of the environment and business processes will be needed to meet requirements for critical business systemsTakeaways for Automation Leaders 1. AI SRE tools will automatically make changes to enterprise infrastructure and processes: Document current integration points and systemsEstablish change detection to generate alerts of changes made outside of existing controls Measure current performance in order to identify where AI tools impact KPIsThese precautionary actions have value for cybersecurity as well.2. Build governance partnerships before a crisis occurs Establish relationships with development, DevOps, security and IT governance teamsDiscuss how AI changes will be reviewed, tested and promoted through the environmentsCreate a shared knowledge baseEpisode Links AI in DevOps On-Demand Webinar:https://www.enterprisemanagement.com/product/ai-in-devops-transforming-the-developer-experience-and-expanding-the-security-perimeter/AI in DevOps Report:https://www.enterprisemanagement.com/product/ai-in-devops-adoption-outpaces-governance-as-developer-role-evolves/DEVOPSdigesthttps://devopsdigest.comPete Goldin, DEVOPSdigest Editor and Publishermailto:Pete@apmdigest.comFooterEAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellence Feedback & Questions: mailto:eaepodcast@emausa.com

    24 min

  8. 2025-11-03

    Ep. 25 - Building the Business Case for Automation Investments

    Getting approval for new automation investments requires building a business case with a cost analysis, expected business benefit, and assessment of project complexity and risk. In this episode, Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke provideguidance on how to build a successful business case for automation initiative, highlighting the need to speak in terms of business value, particularly revenue growth, profit expansion, and customer acquisition. Their conversation includes real-world examples ranging from expanding API access to transforming business operations. Key Points Describe technical capabilities in terms of business services and outcomesUnderstand who is involved in approving your proposal and what their concerns areMatch project cost and effort to payback expectationsStrategic alignment is key, initiatives tied to revenue growth, profit expansion, and customer acquisition receive highest priorityDon't take rejection personally, executive leadership must assess hundreds or thousands of proposals with finite resources Takeaways for Automation Leaders Build a solid financial framework by partnering with Finance to build the initiative's cost and benefits modelExplain initiative outcomes through business impact, not technical improvementsRealistically access risk, complexity and strategic alignmentThink like a shareholder, asking "Is this truly the best use of company resources compared to other possible investments?"  Footer EAE Podcast Home: https://em360tech.com/podcast-series/enterprise-automation-excellence Feedback & Questions: mailto:eaepodcast@emausa.com

    27 min
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About

Welcome to the Enterprise Automation Excellence Podcast, your go-to resource for navigating the complex world of enterprise automation. Automation has been a cornerstone of enterprise operations for over 50 years, seamlessly managing business processes, analytics, development, infrastructure, and more. Yet, it often goes unnoticed until something goes wrong. In this podcast, industry experts Dan and Tom—an Automation Industry Analyst and a Product Manager—will provide strategic insights on the evolving automation landscape.

Information

  • Creator
    Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    32
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dan Twing and Tom O'Rourke
  • Show Website
    Enterprise Automation Excellence