The Real AI Advantage Isn't What You Think

The Real AI Advantage Isn't What You Think

Everybody says they're data-driven. But according to a Harvard Business Review study, only 7% of enterprises believe their data is actually ready for AI. Not agents. Not advanced machine learning. Just AI. Everyone wants the outcome. Far fewer have done the years of work required to make AI useful in the first place. But Matt Pappas [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-pappas-4391a818] has. As Chief Data Officer at Kiewit, he's spent more than 15 years building production machine learning systems that influence billion-dollar decisions, risk assessments, and project forecasts. His team deployed its first company-wide production algorithm in 2017, years before most organizations had even formalized a data strategy. This isn't a conversation about chasing the next breakthrough. It's about what "AI-ready" actually means, why data science remains a craft, how Kiewit uses machine learning to make better decisions, and why Matt believes technology should solve business problems instead of going looking for them. The companies pulling ahead aren't necessarily the ones with the newest models. They're the ones who started taking data seriously long before everyone else had to. The AI Proving Ground Podcast leverages the deep AI technical and business expertise from within World Wide Technology's one-of-a-kind AI Proving Ground, which provides unrivaled access to the world's leading AI technologies. This unique lab environment accelerates your ability to learn about, test, train and implement AI solutions.  Learn more about WWT's AI Proving Ground [https://www.wwt.com/atc/ai-proving-ground/overview]. The AI Proving Ground is a composable lab environment that features the latest high-performance infrastructure and reference architectures from the world's leading AI companies, such as NVIDIA, Cisco, Dell, F5, AMD, Intel and others. Developed within our Advanced Technology Center (ATC) [https://www.wwt.com/service/atc/overview], this one-of-a-kind lab environment empowers IT teams to evaluate and test AI infrastructure, software and solutions for efficacy, scalability and flexibility — all under one roof. The AI Proving Ground provides visibility into data flows across the entire development pipeline, enabling more informed decision-making while safeguarding production environments.

Everybody Wants AI. Who's Paying for It?

For years, technology leaders could afford a little inefficiency. A system that stayed in place longer than it should. Infrastructure that nobody got around to optimizing. Assets that quietly blended into the background. AI is changing the math. As organizations invest in more intelligence, more automation, and more ambitious digital strategies, every decision about infrastructure, operations, and capacity suddenly matters a little more. Not because the future is out of reach, but because the opportunity is now big enough to be worth chasing. In this episode, WWT's Mark Wall argues that some of the most valuable AI investments aren't new at all. They're hiding in plain sight. The conversation explores why the next generation of enterprise leaders will think differently about efficiency, not as a cost-cutting exercise, but as a way to unlock growth, accelerate innovation, and create room for what comes next. Because the companies that get the most from AI may not be the ones with the biggest budgets. They may be the ones that know how to create capacity for the future. Support for this episode provided by: Riverbed More about this week's guest: Mark Wall [https://www.wwt.com/profile/mark-wall/bio] is Managing Director of Automation at World Wide Technology, where he helps enterprises turn complexity into opportunity. With more than 20 years of experience across networking, application services, automation, and infrastructure, Mark works with organizations to modernize operations, drive innovation, and build the foundations needed for the next generation of AI-powered business. Mark's top pick: Claude Mythos and the Remediation Velocity Gap [https://www.wwt.com/blog/claude-mythos-and-the-remediation-velocity-gap] The AI Proving Ground Podcast leverages the deep AI technical and business expertise from within World Wide Technology's one-of-a-kind AI Proving Ground, which provides unrivaled access to the world's leading AI technologies. This unique lab environment accelerates your ability to learn about, test, train and implement AI solutions.  Learn more about WWT's AI Proving Ground [https://www.wwt.com/atc/ai-proving-ground/overview]. The AI Proving Ground is a composable lab environment that features the latest high-performance infrastructure and reference architectures from the world's leading AI companies, such as NVIDIA, Cisco, Dell, F5, AMD, Intel and others. Developed within our Advanced Technology Center (ATC) [https://www.wwt.com/service/atc/overview], this one-of-a-kind lab environment empowers IT teams to evaluate and test AI infrastructure, software and solutions for efficacy, scalability and flexibility — all under one roof. The AI Proving Ground provides visibility into data flows across the entire development pipeline, enabling more informed decision-making while safeguarding production environments.

Your AI Agent Doesn't Sleep. Are You Ready for That? NVIDIA Answers.

The most important shift in AI isn't better chatbots. It's the arrival of agents that can work independently. Give them a task before bed and they may finish it before you wake up. They can write code, access tools, analyze information and make decisions without a human in the loop. The productivity upside is enormous but so is the potential risk. In this episode, NVIDIA's Dave Barry breaks down what enterprises are learning about autonomous agents, from secure runtimes and policy controls to observability, governance, and limiting blast radius when things go wrong. The technology is getting more capable by the week. The real challenge is making sure it stays pointed in the right direction. Support for this episode provided by: CrowdStrike [https://www.wwt.com/partner/crowdstrike/overview] More about this week's guest: Dave Barry is a Senior Solutions Architect and Data Scientist at NVIDIA. His team focuses on NVIDIA AI software for Agentic AI and accelerated computing. While his background is rooted in computer vision, he enjoys tackling problems across every corner of AI.  The AI Proving Ground Podcast leverages the deep AI technical and business expertise from within World Wide Technology's one-of-a-kind AI Proving Ground, which provides unrivaled access to the world's leading AI technologies. This unique lab environment accelerates your ability to learn about, test, train and implement AI solutions.  Learn more about WWT's AI Proving Ground [https://www.wwt.com/atc/ai-proving-ground/overview]. The AI Proving Ground is a composable lab environment that features the latest high-performance infrastructure and reference architectures from the world's leading AI companies, such as NVIDIA, Cisco, Dell, F5, AMD, Intel and others. Developed within our Advanced Technology Center (ATC) [https://www.wwt.com/service/atc/overview], this one-of-a-kind lab environment empowers IT teams to evaluate and test AI infrastructure, software and solutions for efficacy, scalability and flexibility — all under one roof. The AI Proving Ground provides visibility into data flows across the entire development pipeline, enabling more informed decision-making while safeguarding production environments.

Cisco Live! 2026: AI Is Taking Away the Luxury of Time

The most interesting thing at Cisco Live! 2026 wasn't a product announcement. It was a shift in tone. For years, technology leaders have had the luxury of studying change before responding to it. They could build a roadmap, socialize a strategy, secure a budget, and move forward on their own timeline. AI is taking that luxury away. Across nearly every conversation this week, the same tension kept surfacing. The technology is improving faster than organizations are adapting to it. Security teams are watching the window between vulnerability and exploit shrink dramatically. Infrastructure teams are preparing for a world where software doesn't just serve users, but acts on their behalf. And leaders are being forced to rethink operating models that were designed for a much slower era. In this episode, WWT leaders and industry experts explore what that shift means in practice. From AI-driven security threats and agentic operations to token economics and infrastructure modernization, the conversation focuses less on the technology itself and more on the consequences of its success. Because the question is no longer whether AI will change the enterprise. The question is how quickly the enterprise can change itself. Support for this episode provided by: Cohesity [https://www.wwt.com/partner/cohesity] The AI Proving Ground Podcast leverages the deep AI technical and business expertise from within World Wide Technology's one-of-a-kind AI Proving Ground, which provides unrivaled access to the world's leading AI technologies. This unique lab environment accelerates your ability to learn about, test, train and implement AI solutions.  Learn more about WWT's AI Proving Ground [https://www.wwt.com/atc/ai-proving-ground/overview]. The AI Proving Ground is a composable lab environment that features the latest high-performance infrastructure and reference architectures from the world's leading AI companies, such as NVIDIA, Cisco, Dell, F5, AMD, Intel and others. Developed within our Advanced Technology Center (ATC) [https://www.wwt.com/service/atc/overview], this one-of-a-kind lab environment empowers IT teams to evaluate and test AI infrastructure, software and solutions for efficacy, scalability and flexibility — all under one roof. The AI Proving Ground provides visibility into data flows across the entire development pipeline, enabling more informed decision-making while safeguarding production environments.

AI Is Having Its Dropbox Moment

Remember when employees started using Dropbox before IT approved it? AI agents feel a lot like that moment. People are building them because they're useful. Not because they were told to. The surprise isn't that agents are showing up across the enterprise, it's how quickly they're multiplying. In this episode of the AI Proving Ground Podcast, Softchoice's Craig McQueen and Stephanie Donahue discuss Microsoft's answer to a problem many organizations are only beginning to see: AI adoption is outpacing governance. We explore Microsoft 365 E7, the rise of shadow AI and why organizations are starting to think differently about identity, visibility and accountability in a world where agents can take action on their own. The challenge isn't getting employees to use AI, it's figuring out what they've already built. Support for this episode provided by: HP Poly [https://www.wwt.com/partner/hp-poly/overview] More about this week's guests: Craig McQueen [https://www.wwt.com/profile/craig-mcqueen] is Vice President of Digital Acceleration at Softchoice, where he helps shape the company's technology strategy and go-to-market vision. He leads the development of customer-focused services and solutions that help organizations securely adopt and scale emerging technologies across cloud, data center, collaboration and the digital workplace. Working closely with customers and partners, Craig focuses on turning technology innovation into measurable business outcomes. Stephanie Donahue [https://www.wwt.com/profile/stephanie-donahue] is Director of AI Business Solutions at Softchoice, where she helps organizations adopt and scale AI-powered ways of working. Her focus includes Microsoft 365, Copilot, agents and the broader technologies shaping the future of work. A Microsoft Regional Director and MVP, Stephanie works closely with customers to turn emerging technologies into practical business outcomes while helping organizations navigate AI adoption, governance and workforce transformation. The AI Proving Ground Podcast leverages the deep AI technical and business expertise from within World Wide Technology's one-of-a-kind AI Proving Ground, which provides unrivaled access to the world's leading AI technologies. This unique lab environment accelerates your ability to learn about, test, train and implement AI solutions.  Learn more about WWT's AI Proving Ground [https://www.wwt.com/atc/ai-proving-ground/overview]. The AI Proving Ground is a composable lab environment that features the latest high-performance infrastructure and reference architectures from the world's leading AI companies, such as NVIDIA, Cisco, Dell, F5, AMD, Intel and others. Developed within our Advanced Technology Center (ATC) [https://www.wwt.com/service/atc/overview], this one-of-a-kind lab environment empowers IT teams to evaluate and test AI infrastructure, software and solutions for efficacy, scalability and flexibility — all under one roof. The AI Proving Ground provides visibility into data flows across the entire development pipeline, enabling more informed decision-making while safeguarding production environments.