AI Proving Ground Podcast

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AI Proving Ground Podcast

Hear from top IT leaders and AI innovators on how to navigate the future of enterprise AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation. New episodes dropped weekly — here on wwt.com or on your favorite streaming platform.

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AI Unplugged: Insights from the Frontlines of Enterprise Tech

AI deployment and adoption is complex — this podcast makes it actionable. Join top experts, IT leaders and innovators as we explore AI's toughest challenges, uncover real-world case studies, and reveal practical insights that drive AI ROI. From strategy to execution, we break down what works (and what doesn't) in enterprise AI.

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Agents, Copilots and Beyond: Everyday AI's Jordan Wilson on Future of AI in the Enterprise

In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, we talk with Jordan Wilson, host of the popular Everyday AI Podcast, to unpack the realities of enterprise AI adoption. From tool sprawl and failed pilots to executive sponsorship and agentic models, Jordan shares lessons he's taken away from thousands of conversations with enterprise leaders — and explains why soft skills and unlearning old habits may be the ultimate keys to success.

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•58:22

Sep 23, 2025

From Pilots to Productivity: Unlocking the True ROI of Microsoft Copilot

Millions of employees now have Microsoft Copilot at their fingertips, but only a small fraction of organizations have scaled it successfully. In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, World Wide Technology's Mike Davis and Softchoice's Craig McQueen share hard-won lessons on driving adoption, overcoming change management challenges and moving from pilots to measurable ROI. If your Copilot rollout has stalled, this conversation could be your roadmap forward.

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•34:17

Sep 16, 2025

AI Acceleration in Action: How AI in Higher Ed Is Balancing Innovation vs. Risk

AI is transforming higher education — from classrooms to research labs — but with innovation comes risk. How can universities protect sensitive data, meet compliance obligations, and still foster discovery? In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, WWT Higher Ed Principal Advisor Janet and Principal Cybersecurity Consultant for AI Bryan Fite share how one leading university is tackling AI governance and building guardrails that empower rather than restrict. Their insights reveal why higher ed is a proving ground for responsible AI adoption — and why every industry should be paying attention.

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•48:29

Sep 9, 2025

Private AI vs. Cloud: How Enterprise Leaders Can Make Smarter Build-or-Buy Decisions

Is your organization ready to own AI or are you better served by leveraging the speed and scale of the cloud? In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, WWT High-Performance Architecture Director Jeff Fonke and VP of Advanced Technology Solutions Jeff Wynn break down the toughest question facing IT leaders today: should you build or buy your AI capabilities? From the economics of inference costs to hybrid cloud realities, the two Jeffs share practical strategies on private AI, workload orchestration, data readiness and overcoming the enterprise skills gap.

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•40:55

Sep 2, 2025

Enterprise AI Adoption: How Workforce AI Is Changing the Future of Work

Organizations are racing to unlock the potential of workforce AI, but only a few have cracked adoption at scale. In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, VP of Digital Experiences Joe Berger and workforce AI expert Kait Miller break down why AI pilots stall, how to move from pockets of success to enterprise-wide impact and why employees often trust consumer AI more than company-approved tools. Kait and Joe explore the hidden gap between employee adoption and enterprise rollout, address the build vs. buy conundrum and walk through a real-world case study at WWT that slashed days of work into hours and generated new revenue.

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•49:24

Aug 26, 2025

AI Won't Save You: Easterly, Joyce and CISOs on the Cybersecurity Reality No One Wants to Hear

At a time when AI feels like oxygen — powering every tool, every conversation, every strategy — security leaders at the forefront are sounding the alarm: it won't fix the fundamentals. In this episode, top voices from government, industry and the next generation of cyber talent share unfiltered perspectives on AI-augmented threats, the velocity of attacks and what it really takes to defend in 2025 and beyond. Interviews include former CISA Director Jen Easterly, former NSA Cybersecurity Director Rob Joyce and a bevy of cyber experts from inside and out of WWT.

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•20:15

Aug 19, 2025

The Brutal Truth About AI Data Readiness: How to Slow Down to Move Fast

Charged with moving fast on AI? You might be setting yourself back. In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, WWT AI expert and data scientist Ina Poecher and Chief Technology Advisor Bill Stanley break down why the organizations that win with AI won't be the ones spending the most — they'll be the ones that get the fundamentals right. From "garbage in, garbage out" to building modular, reusable solutions, they share hard-earned lessons on how to align your teams, clean your data and choose the right first use cases to create a compounding "flywheel" of success. If you're feeling the pressure to move fast, this conversation will show you why the smartest move might be to slow down.

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•47:26

Aug 12, 2025

AI Hype to Mission Impact: Dell Federal, NVIDIA and WWT's Government Playbook

Federal technology leaders reveal how to start small, set data‑cyber guardrails and scale fast — all without blowing the budget . Listen to Dan Carroll (Dell Federal Field CTO), Ryan Simpson (NVIDIA Chief Technologist for Public Sector Partners) and Brandon Bulldis (WWT Federal Civilian Engineering Director) discuss how federal government agencies are sprinting from AI hype to real mission impact. Hear wins like multimodal chatbots and desk‑side AI supercomputers, plus three battle‑tested rules: guardrails first, design for surge and invest in people. Watch or listen now and leave with a clear playbook for infrastructure, talent and funding.

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•54:07

Jul 29, 2025

AI Agents: Scaling Your Digital Workforce

Enterprise adoption of AI agents is spiking, with industry surveys showing most large enterprises are already piloting AI agents. But there's a lot of hype out there. In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, Technical Solutions Architect Ina Poecher and Jason Campagna, Senior Director of WWT's AI Practice, expose widespread "agent-washing," highlight practical but ROI-heavy use cases you can pursue now. Tune in to discover how agentic architecture turns generative AI hype into secure, measurable enterprise AI outcomes — and what's next for multi-agent ecosystems.

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•54:15

Jul 22, 2025

Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A): The Future of Enterprise AI

Agentic AI systems have the potential to work together, but not yet at scale. This episode breaks down two emerging standards — Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) communication. Both promise modular AI integration, safer data flows and agentic collaboration that actually scales. WWT engineer Sally Jankovic and AI advisor David Geddam explain why these protocols are becoming essential infrastructure for enterprise AI.

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•44:25

Jul 8, 2025

AI's Invisible Bottleneck: Why AI Stalls at the Network, not the GPU

For many, AI success isn't limited by how many GPUs you can buy; it's limited by how fast those GPUs can talk to each other without tripping over the plumbing. In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, two of WWT's top networking minds —Justin van Schaik and Eric Fairfield — lay out the real choke points slowing AI projects to a crawl and how powerful, modernized network architectures are quietly rewriting the rulebook for scaling AI.

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•39:27

Jul 1, 2025

Jack in the Box CTO Reveals AI Playbook

Jack in the Box CTO Doug Cook and WWT Chief Digital Advisor Charlie Lawhorn detail how a multi-year modernization sprint paved the way for advancements in AI — and what every business can learn from the fast-food chain's journey. Doug and Charlie offer a candid conversation that delivers a playbook for prioritizing AI use cases, funding innovation in capital-constrained environments and rolling out AI with minimal disruption.

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•46:00

Jun 24, 2025

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About the AI Proving Ground

Everything AI. All in one place.

The AI Proving Ground Podcast is a byproduct of WWT's one-of-a-kind AI Proving Ground, which provides unrivaled access to the world's leading AI technologies. Powered by our Advanced Technology Center, this unique lab environment accelerates your ability to learn about, test, train and implement AI solutions.

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