Real AI. Now‪.‬ Two Impulse

We’re putting together a few valuable insights for company executives in this episode, but it’s so packed that, in the end, there’s just something in it for everyone. This is because Afke Schouten, our special guest, has much to share with us! Paulo Nunes, your host and CEO at Two Impulse, knows this very well and lays down an open road to keep it all coming.

Afke’s mission is to help organizations generate true value with AI. She is the Head of Data & AI Strategy at Xebia Data, focusing on corporate training and consulting. Her previous background as a consultant, as well as a data scientist, AI strategist and analytics team lead at companies such as EY, Swiss Re, SwissQuant and AI Bridge allows Afke to help executives build AI strategies and become data-driven.

But there’s more! Afke is also a lecturer at HWZ University of Applied Sciences, in Zurich. She frequently speaks about the future of work with AI and teaches introduction to Artificial Intelligence and AI Management. And if you’d think that’s it… you would be wrong! Afke is a partner at the Future of Work Forum, a think tank speaking about the future of the workforce with technology and AI, as well as part of the Board of the Data & AI Leadership Day.

Now that you know why you should listen carefully to this conversation, let us give you an overview of what it will cover. And we open right away on a high note with ChatGPT and Large Language Models. Yes, we’re going deep in the topic of the hour. Questions like these are on the menu: How’s it going to change how companies work? What to take into account? What are the implications for companies, people and the society? And this is just to get you warmed up.

Paulo and Afke discuss afterwards how companies should develop and implement an AI strategy, including specific roles and steps to take. The recruitment of qualified people, as well as getting the most of human resources in an AI context are also covered. And this lands the conversation on other important topics to consider, such as how to measure the success of a project and also keeping it that way. Before leaving us, Afke still has time to talk a bit about data science and her love for it, and to provide great advice for anyone pursuing a career in it.

As you can see, it’s over an hour of great insights that you just have to check out. And it will be worth it!

Marc Giombetti (Product Manager at Two Impulse) is back for another episode of Real AI. Now., this time about process automation. And to talk about that, and its relevance to operational excellence, we are happy to have Claude Egli (Founder at optimiQ) as our special guest.

Claude supports organizations in the operationalization of their services, thereby enabling sustainable value creation of their innovations. Along their lifecycle, companies adapt and reinvent the way they support their customers and achieve operational excellence. Drawing on his wide experience in building and leading support functions, and evolving their way of working, Claude enables successful transitions.

Besides that, Claude is lecturing on process topics at the universities of applied sciences (HWZ and HFGR) and is actively engaging himself in a network for sustainable business models.

The conversation starts where it should: by setting the foundations and answering the question of what is operational excellence. It then goes through the processes' role and importance to it before landing on how to actually design those processes. Focusing on automation, we cover the potential of AI, a couple of real examples, and not forget to go over tools and recommendations. Marc then brings the topic of sustainability to the table, as well as the role of humans’ in automation, taking the episode into the finish line on a very high note. Still, before actually crossing the line, there’s still time to dig a bit onto Large Language Models and ChatGPT.

If you’re looking into knowing a bit more of optimizing and evolving organizations in order to achieve operational excellence, you cannot miss  this one.

This is definitely one of the best episodes of Real AI. Now.! Symbolic AI vs Machine Learning is the main theme for a conversation with an amazing guest: Walt Mayo (CEO of Expert.ai). “AI pragmatist and disambiguator” - these are his own words about himself. And as you’ll notice, Walt is funny, very insightful and does not spare any shots about AI.

He has been in the industry for over 25 years and is a thought leader when it comes to how AI impacts businesses. You can also sense other past professional experiences sprinkled on his words, for example his work as a diplomat for the US. It’s over 80 minutes of an engaging and insightful conversation with Paulo Nunes (CEO of Two Impulse). We could not think of a better fit to our podcast.

With such an interesting background, we obviously need to start there. How does a diplomat get into the AI industry? From there on, Symbolic AI and Machine Learning are omnipresent in pretty much all the topics we go over in the episode. Not only do we get deeper in each one, but also the friction between them, as well as the benefits of balancing through Hybrid AI. Another topic that comes up in some capacity throughout the conversation is ChatGPT and, let me tell you… you don’t want to miss it when it happens.

The conversation gets right away very engaging with the discussion about the hype of AI. Very strong points are made there, and it even gets a bit philosophical and profound. The very foundations of what artificial intelligence really means are on the table. It then moves to Natural Language Processing topics and the connection with expert systems. Ethics and Responsible AI also take a big chunk of the talk and, most certainly, will leave you pondering about some of the claims you’ll hear. Finally, unsurprisingly, Paulo and Walt focus on Large Language Models. Consequences, responsibility and even its possible underwhelming usefulness are covered. Before dropping the curtain, Walt still leaves us with a few words of advice for companies that want to use AI to solve problems.

Honestly, this might very well be the best content about AI you didn’t know you needed. But don’t take our word for it. Go check it by yourself!

We’re talking about Digital Transformation in this new episode, with Paulo Nunes (CEO at Two Impulse) as your host. Our special guest is Jan Myszkowski (Head of Best Practice Lab at Talanx), so you can expect a big focus on Insurance. If you’re wondering why, we can add that Jan is a leader in the insurance industry. He held positions at BCG, Allianz, Signal Iduna and at the Talanx group, one of the major European insurance Groups. Currently, he heads the Best Practices Lab, a unit that brings units and businesses together from all over the world in order to find common ways of embracing change.

If we already had your curiosity with our guest’s background, you better give us your attention as well. Jan is the author of the ebook “50 Shades of Leadership” and the “How to lead now” content series on LinkedIn. That means some very valuable insights are coming your way in this episode.

The conversation gets very engaging right from the start and Jan takes it to another level by adding a few cartoons from his book here and there to illustrate some very interesting points. At one moment they’re chatting over insurance's role in our society and changes brought up by technology to the industry. On the other, they’re discussing the foundations to make an organization data-driven, as well as how to balance between building those foundations and focusing on business value. We will also look into the future and how technology may disrupt insurance and the world. And as if that wasn’t enough already, throughout the episode, whenever you least expect, you'll also get great advice and tips from Jan regarding leadership and conducting change in organizations.

As you can see, we have good reasons to be excited!

Finally, if this has sparked your interest in Jan’s book, you can find it here:
https://amzn.eu/d/cUhfmEz

This time the conversation will be about digital content. And we’re thrilled to have Alexandar Vassilev (CEO at WeTransfer) to help us get into that. On the other side of the mic will be Paulo Nunes (CEO at Two Impulse). Alexandar is a product visionary by background. Before taking the helm as CEO, he initially joined WeTransfer as the Chief Product and Technology Officer and was pivotal in bringing together all things innovation and engineering across the entirety of WeTransfer’s product suite and spearheading the launch of WeTransfer Premium.

Having spent nearly a decade of his career at Google (including YouTube), Alexandar witnessed first-hand the first wave of creators turning to digital platforms to build their careers. His focus on WeTransfer was then aimed at how best to serve this community in the long-term through innovation and new features. Prior to WeTransfer, Alexandar led Joyn, a German entertainment streaming platform, serving as a CEO and Managing Director.

With such a rich and interesting background, it’s no wonder that the conversation starts by exploring exactly that. Afterwards, we dive right into the Google topic, discussing its advertising side as well as the algorithm behind it, among other things. Obviously, we'll be chatting about video content and the role of data around it, which eventually leads to Netflix and Youtube, as well as Joyn. As you would expect, we also get a little deeper into WeTransfer, including current products and strategy, but also what the future may hold and how AI can play a role there.

You will certainly get lots of interesting insights here: WeTransfer, Google, Youtube, Netflix, content, data, recommendations, engine, algorithm, AI and market are some of the buzzing keywords for this awesome conversation. It’s our 13th episode and if we were superstitious, we would definitely be scratching our heads. We are excited to be able to bring you this amazing episode with such a special guest, so 13 is clearly a lucky number for Real AI. Now..

Don’t you dare miss it!

Insurance will be under the spotlight in this episode’s chat. Marc Giombetti (Product Manager at Two Impulse) welcomes Marco Peyer (CPO at Risktec) to talk about AI-Enabled Digital Insurance. Our guest brings with him over 20 years of experience and a track record in digital, tech and the re/insurance business. Marco is the co-founder and chief product officer at Risktec, which is using technology and data to transform the risk industry. By now you probably already have the feeling that Marco is the right person to talk with about insurance, but we can make it even more clearer by adding that prior to Risktec he was leading the global reinsurance solutions tech & data team at Swiss Re, one of the largest reinsurers in the world.

The conversation will start in a tone very close to our guest as we go over 3 words that could probably make up his motto: People, Purpose & Progress. Afterwards, the conversation takes off covering data, technology and AI in Insurance. Marco will also give us some insights on the right approach to start using AI in the industry, his view on a few technical roles, as well as some advice for students and newcomers. The chat does not end before an engaging discussion over a few products, such as parametric insurance or embedded insurance, and a peek into interesting technological innovations.