How a 2X Founder is restructuring product & engineering for the AI Era | CPO @Instrumental

Why most IT teams don't drive growth | Insights from a Chief Information Officer

In this episode, Mala sits down with Sumit Johar, CIO of BlackLine, for an insightful conversation on AI transformation, enterprise IT, finance technology, cybersecurity, and what it takes to drive change inside highly regulated organizations. Sumit leads technology at BlackLine, a SaaS company serving finance organizations across the world. In this conversation, he shares why AI adoption in finance is especially challenging, because hallucinations, vague outputs, and “almost accurate” results simply do not work in environments where trust, predictability, auditability, and governance matter. The conversation traces Sumit’s journey from growing up in Kurukshetra, India, to working with consulting companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro, then moving into technology leadership roles at TIBCO, MobileIron, Automation Anywhere, and BlackLine. He explains how he moved from engineering into IT leadership, how he became a CIO without a perfectly planned path, and why solving business problems became the turning point in his career. Mala and Sumit also discuss what it means for IT to become a change agent instead of a cost center, how CIOs can influence product roadmap, how to create small transformation teams, how to fund innovation under budget constraints, and why AI adoption must be balanced with security, governance, and discipline. This episode is especially useful for CIOs, founders, enterprise SaaS leaders, AI builders, cybersecurity teams, product leaders, and anyone selling into conservative or highly regulated enterprise environments. __________________________________________________ Timestamps 00:00 – Introducing Sumit Johar, CIO of BlackLine 00:20 – What BlackLine does and why finance customers are different 00:52 – The challenge of AI where hallucinations are unacceptable 01:25 – Sumit’s journey from Kurukshetra, India, to global technology leadership 02:08 – Early career at TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and the move to the U.S. 02:42 – Choosing IT over engineering at TIBCO 03:15 – Falling in love with solving real business problems 04:05 – Moving from director and VP roles into the C-suite 05:36 – Learning cybersecurity by becoming customer zero 06:25 – How internal IT started influencing product roadmap 07:30 – Becoming a CIO by expanding impact beyond IT 08:35 – What organizations really expect from a CIO 09:35 – Automation Anywhere, CIO branding, and selling to other CIOs 11:15 – How IT can stop being seen as only a cost center 13:35 – Balancing AI innovation with AI governance and security 14:50 – Creating a small internal transformation team 16:10 – Working across departments to fund innovation 17:30 – Why AI transformation increases work in the short term 18:45 – Why AI is essential for survival, not just productivity 20:05 – Managing AI adoption, cybersecurity, and employee access 21:00 – Building disciplined AI usage in a regulated company __________________________________________________ 🔗 Connect with Sumit Johar → https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumit-johar/ 🔗 Connect with Mala Ramakrishnan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaramakrishnan 🎧 Subscribe to the podcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL3D6aI60R-cCvypFIkh4A Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NIDE4cT5fuVjC3HaGbCDK?si=eoSTNmhqQNKHQl9d1Jx0UQ Apple Podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/talking-to-the-leaders-of-ai-the-ceo-series-with-mala/22ad2bae-502b-4eb1-aa74-53bc79754db7 Visit our Website: https://malaramakrishnan.com [https://malaramakrishnan.com] | https://founderscreative.org [https://founderscreative.org] #MalasPodcast #SumitJohar #BlackLine #CIO #AITransformation #EnterpriseAI #FinanceTechnology #FinTech #SaaS #Cybersecurity #AIGovernance #EnterpriseIT #TechLeadership #DigitalTransformation #ResponsibleAI #AIAdoption #ProductLeadership #BusinessTransformation #StartupFounders #EnterpriseSoftware

What it takes to make AI work in enterprises | Head of Product Strategy ⁨@rackspacetechnology⁩

What does AI strategy look like inside industries that are still catching up to cloud? In this episode, Mala speaks with Madhavi Rajan, Head of Product Strategy for Rackspace’s Private Cloud business, about her journey from NASA-funded research to enterprise infrastructure and AI strategy. Madhavi shares hard-earned lessons from 20+ years in deep tech, including how to move from engineering to product, why enterprise customers adopt technology slowly, and how leaders should think about private cloud, responsible AI, security, and business outcomes. This episode is especially relevant for founders, product leaders, infrastructure builders, enterprise SaaS teams, cloud strategists, AI operators, and anyone building for industries that move slowly but matter deeply. ________________________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:05 – Madhavi Rajan’s journey into cloud and AI strategy 01:34 – Early career in semiconductors and networking 02:36 – The cancelled project that changed her career 04:13 – Moving from technical execution to strategy 05:07 – Breaking into product management 06:04 – What private cloud means for enterprise customers 07:45 – Private cloud, public cloud, and regulated industries 08:55 – How AI workloads fit into private cloud 09:41 – AI sandboxes for sovereign and enterprise customers 10:52 – Why security is horizontal across AI and infrastructure 12:39 – Technology waves, enterprise laggards, and the reality of infrastructure adoption 15:26 – Responsible AI, GPUs, CPUs, and business outcomes 17:48 – Enterprise AI for efficiency vs revenue generation 20:10 – Why Copilot adoption is not the same as an AI strategy 24:26 – Infrastructure partnerships, ecosystems, and what real AI adoption will require 26:07 – Rapid fire with Madhavi 28:07 – Leading through ambiguity in AI strategy ________________________________________________________ 🔗 Connect with Madhavi Rajan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhavi-rajan/ 🔗 Connect with Mala Ramakrishnan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaramakrishnan 🎧 Subscribe to the podcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL3D6aI60R-cCvypFIkh4A Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NIDE4cT5fuVjC3HaGbCDK?si=eoSTNmhqQNKHQl9d1Jx0UQ Apple Podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/talking-to-the-leaders-of-ai-the-ceo-series-with-mala/22ad2bae-502b-4eb1-aa74-53bc79754db7Visit our Website: https://malaramakrishnan.com | https://founderscreative.org #MalasPodcast #MadhaviRajan #Rackspace #PrivateCloud #AIstrategy #EnterpriseAI #CloudComputing #Infrastructure #ProductStrategy #WomenInTech #TechLeadership #ResponsibleAI #HybridCloud #DataCenters #AIInfrastructure #ProductManagement #EnterpriseTechnology #CloudStrategy #Founders #DeepTech

Inside AI Implementation at a $1B Company | With Chief AI Officer ⁨@Buildops⁩

In this episode of Mala’s Podcast, Mala sits down with Duncan Grazier, a seasoned technology leader who has helped scale companies from early-stage teams to major exits, including ShopKeep’s $550M sale to Lightspeed Commerce and Weedmaps’ public-market journey. Duncan is now Chief AI Officer at BuildOps, a unicorn transforming the commercial contracting industry with software and AI.   This conversation goes deep into what it actually takes to scale engineering teams, build trust in AI, and bring automation into industries that still rely heavily on paper-based workflows. Duncan shares how BuildOps is helping electricians, HVAC technicians, contractors, hospitals, data centers, and large commercial operators move toward smarter, faster, AI-enabled operations. Mala and Duncan also explore the future of the Chief AI Officer role, why every leader will eventually need to become AI-native, how AI can improve billable hours and reduce operational errors, and why small language models and edge AI may be the next major shift. This is a practical, honest conversation for founders, operators, product leaders, CTOs, AI builders, and anyone thinking about how AI will reshape the physical world. _______________________________________________ Timestamps 00:05 Duncan Grazier’s startup journey 00:40 Scaling ShopKeep to a $550M exit 00:51 Taking Weedmaps public 01:27 Becoming Chief AI Officer at BuildOps 01:44 What BuildOps does 03:00 Internal vs external AI transformation 03:18 Getting traditional industries to trust AI 04:09 AI product opportunities in commercial contracting 05:19 BuildOps as CRM, dispatch, invoicing, logistics, and compliance 06:28 Selling AI through outcomes 07:25 Proving AI ROI through the bottom line 08:39 What breaks when teams scale 09:31 Hiring, trust, and growing leaders internally 13:04 The future of the Chief AI Officer role 17:12 Agents, small language models, and the future of AI at the edge _______________________________________________ 🔗 Connect with Duncan Grazier → https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsmeduncan/ 🔗 Connect with Mala Ramakrishnan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaramakrishnan 🎧 Subscribe to the podcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL3D6aI60R-cCvypFIkh4A Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NIDE4cT5fuVjC3HaGbCDK?si=eoSTNmhqQNKHQl9d1Jx0UQ Apple Podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/talking-to-the-leaders-of-ai-the-ceo-series-with-mala/22ad2bae-502b-4eb1-aa74-53bc79754db7Visit our Website: https://malaramakrishnan.com | https://founderscreative.org #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #StartupScaling #Leadership #EngineeringLeadership #BuildInPublic #AITransformation #FutureOfWork #EnterpriseAI #Founders #ProductLeadership #TechLeadership #Automation #Startups #Innovation

The hard truth about business turnarounds | CFO @Fullproof.ai

Shannon Power started in a bunny suit doing semiconductor manufacturing at Motorola and Intel. An industrial engineer turned finance executive, today she's a fractional CFO and COO who gets called in at inflection points — when companies are changing business models, scaling after a big raise, or preparing for an exit. In this fireside chat with Mala Ramakrishnan, Shannon breaks down why CFO turnover has doubled in the last year, why finance and operations roles are merging at companies like Salesforce, and how she actually evaluates AI tools — including her honest take on why most companies are getting AI investment wrong. Spoiler: cutting headcount to fund AI infrastructure isn't growth. It's something else entirely. If you're a founder selling into finance teams, an operator thinking about how AI is reshaping the C-suite, or anyone curious about what real business turnarounds look like, this one's worth your time. _________________________________________________ Timestamps 00:00 Meet Shannon — from semiconductor engineer to fractional CFO 01:07 Getting tapped for strategy and finance projects at Intel 02:08 The MBA pivot and finding her niche in operational finance 03:11 Why finance is the story of the business, not just the books 04:56 Why the engineer-to-CFO jump isn't as drastic as it sounds 06:29 What it takes to be a CFO today 07:32 Why CFO turnover has doubled in the past year 09:24 Measuring CFO performance beyond the numbers 10:48 The CFO as risk owner in the age of AI 12:27 How AI is reshaping the CFO role globally 14:09 Balancing guardrails without killing innovation 15:24 The AI tools Shannon is actually using 17:05 Advice for founders pitching enterprise CFOs 18:48 The real reason companies are cutting headcount for AI 20:42 Is the CFO role industry-specific? 23:28 Why CFO and COO roles are merging 25:38 Where governance, data, and AI fit in the org chart 27:31 When a company actually needs a CFO — full-time vs fractional _________________________________________________ 🔗 Connect with Shannon Power → https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonlynnpower/ 🔗 Connect with Mala Ramakrishnan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaramakrishnan 🎧 Subscribe to the podcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL3D6aI60R-cCvypFIkh4A Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NIDE4cT5fuVjC3HaGbCDK?si=eoSTNmhqQNKHQl9d1Jx0UQ Apple Podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/talking-to-the-leaders-of-ai-the-ceo-series-with-mala/22ad2bae-502b-4eb1-aa74-53bc79754db7 Visit our Website: https://malaramakrishnan.com [https://malaramakrishnan.com] | https://founderscreative.org [https://founderscreative.org] #CFO #Finance #Founders #AI #BusinessTurnaround

How a 2X Founder is restructuring product & engineering for the AI Era | CPO @Instrumental

Scott Sundvor is a three-time founder with a path most people don't take. He started Nima at MIT — a sensor that lets you test food for allergens in under two minutes — built it, scaled it, sold it. Then he pivoted into cannabis, ran that company through a regulated landscape with no banking access, and exited again. Now he's the Chief Product Officer at Instrumental, a Series C company helping NVIDIA, Meta, and others detect manufacturing defects in real time. In this fireside chat with Mala Ramakrishnan, Scott talks about why hardware is still hard even with AI, what's actually driving the current robotics and physical-AI boom, and why he made the call to sell his cannabis company instead of grinding through a decade of pain waiting for federal change. He's also direct about AI-native company building. His worry isn't big competitors. It's the two-year-old startup that's AI-native from day one and moving three times faster. Instrumental is restructuring entire teams around that reality — fewer product managers, tighter pods, every engineer working in an AI-orchestrated environment. If you're a founder evaluating hardware ideas, a leader thinking about how to actually rebuild your team for the AI era, or just curious what it takes to start three companies and keep going, this one's worth your time. _______________________________________________ Timestamps00:00 Meet Scott — MIT, three companies, immigrant founder 00:32 Nima — building food allergen sensors from a personal need 01:42 First principles thinking when every expert says no 03:03 Selling Nima and how users keep bringing it back to market 04:21 Why hardware is still hard, even with AI 05:22 Evaluating hardware startups as an investor 07:20 The current hardware boom — GPUs, defense, robotics 08:33 Pivoting from MIT engineer to cannabis founder 09:46 Marketing a product you're legally forbidden from advertising 11:12 The federal bet that didn't pay off and the call to exit 14:04 Joining Instrumental as Chief Product Officer 14:48 Improving manufacturing yields by 10–20 points 17:13 What it actually costs to deploy on a manufacturing line 20:31 Why GPU compute servers became the focus 22:25 Rebuilding teams to be AI-native, not AI-bolted-on 26:09 Founder mindset advice — ambiguity and chewing glass 28:15 The leadership lessons that stuck — focus and never lie _______________________________________________ 🔗 Connect with Scott Sundvor → https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssundvor/ 🔗 Connect with Mala Ramakrishnan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaramakrishnan 🎧 Subscribe to the podcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL3D6aI60R-cCvypFIkh4A Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NIDE4cT5fuVjC3HaGbCDK?si=eoSTNmhqQNKHQl9d1Jx0UQ Apple Podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/talking-to-the-leaders-of-ai-the-ceo-series-with-mala/22ad2bae-502b-4eb1-aa74-53bc79754db7 Visit our Website: https://malaramakrishnan.com [https://malaramakrishnan.com] | https://founderscreative.org [https://founderscreative.org] #Founders #Hardware #AINative #Manufacturing #StartupLessons