Emerging Reality

Jonathan Steel

For business leaders: The realities of AI adoption - the benefits, pitfalls, opportunities, and threats. Learn how to leverage AI in the real world - and how not to. Guests include technology specialists, startup founders, practitioners (CIOs, CTOs), business leaders, industry analysts, academics, and public sector leaders.

Episodes

  1. Oct 23

    Ep4: Jim Spignardo | Adopting AI Within an Organisation

    Implementing AI successfully can make a huge difference to productivity in your organisation - but only with careful consideration of both the workflows and data on which the AI will be working. Jim Spignardo, Director of Cloud and AI Enablement at ProArch works at the intersection of enterprise technology, AI, and operations. We discuss how companies are moving from AI experimentation to practical adoption, including agentic workflows, operational AI, implementation pitfalls, and how leaders can balance innovation with the systems and governance needed to make AI useful at scale.

  2. Aug 11

    Ep3: Clara Durodié | Future of AI in Financial Services

    As AI technology rapidly evolves, organisations in the financial services sector face both exciting opportunities and significant challenges. In this conversation with Clara Durodié, we delve into the current landscape of AI in finance, the dangers of rushed implementations, and the importance of a thoughtful strategy. Clara Durodié is a recognised tech strategist and AI pioneer in financial services. After a successful career in financial organisations, she founded the Cognitive Finance Group to provide impartial advice and insights on AI implementations. Durodié emphasises the need for strategic foresight and careful planning when integrating AI into business operations.

  3. Jun 29

    Ep2: Chris Surdak | The Potential Gains and Pitfalls that AI offers

    Are you ready to harness the massive benefits of AI? Or will you make the same mistakes as so many others are making today? Chris Surdak talks about the dangers of LLMs, the extraordinary potential for AI-driven fraud, and how businesses can win over the next few years, BUT only if they do the right things. Chris Surdak is an actual rocket scientist - and an expert in AI, big data, and compliance. He’s the author of four books, and is the President and CEO of ReLeaf Financial, providing Proof of Intent for digital transactions. 00:30 Introduction 01:46 Opportunities and threats in AI 05:04 Agentic AI is a raft of gotchas waiting to happen 06:59 ReLeaf Financial’s innovative approach 11:42 Data as the source of wealth creation 14:52 Human agency as the next source of value creation 16:47 Replacing people with AI - playing Russian roulette 18:24 AI will radically expose who adds value in your company, and who doesn’t  21:17 Task graphing, digital transformation, and the importance of building in resilience  25:57 AI means you will have to finally fix your processes 29:06 You’re not going to save the money you think 30:01 Circular financing in the AI sector 31:17 The future if you do AI properly: more efficient AND more effective

  4. Jun 29

    Ep1: Shoshana Cox | AI Cybersecurity is Critically Different

    Can you secure your AI systems? Learn from AI cybersecurity expert Shoshana Cox why AI security is fundamentally different from traditional systems, why it’s difficult to do, and why most AI security solutions and consultancy sold today is worthless. Shoshana is a mathematician, engineer, and former hacker working in AI cybersecurity in the national security sphere. She has written pioneering papers laying out why AI systems are so difficult to secure (her mathematical proof was recently confirmed by NIST in the US) and was part of the team that wrote the EU AI Act’s technical standards. She is a strong believer in AI and a fierce critic of companies selling security services which deliver no value! Timestamps 00:30 Introduction 03:02 How is AI cybersecurity different from traditional cybersecurity? 05:28 In AI, data is the attack vector 08:07 Threat modelling in AI security 10:59 The challenges of implementing AI in organisations 14:41 Is current AI hype dangerous? 18:50 How should large organisations approach AI? 21:52 Internal vs external AI models 24:28 Data, process quality and AI reliability 27:23 The importance of real engineering in AI deployment 30:11 AI red teaming - as it’s being sold - doesn’t work

  • 4 Episodes

About

For business leaders: The realities of AI adoption - the benefits, pitfalls, opportunities, and threats. Learn how to leverage AI in the real world - and how not to. Guests include technology specialists, startup founders, practitioners (CIOs, CTOs), business leaders, industry analysts, academics, and public sector leaders.

Information

  • Creator
    Jonathan Steel
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jonathan Steel
  • Show Website
    Emerging Reality