Chad Jackson digs into the growing gap between hardware and software development in engineering organizations — and why the industry's biggest solution providers may be running out of time to close it.

Chad also reflects on his recent conversation with Anand Rangaramu of The Shyft Group, an automotive software supplier applying MBSE to software development rather than hardware. Anand's team works within a unique constraint — they receive the physical chassis from the OEM and own only the software layer — making their systems engineering challenges distinctly different from more hardware-centric guests like Laura Otero Hernandez and Brandon Ramsey. A key takeaway: the team is getting real value from MBSE, but primarily on the software side, which Chad sees as a common pattern of partial vision achievement across the industry.

The conversation also digs into what separates successful MBD/MBE programs from stalled ones: executive alignment, the ability to translate practitioner-level impact into business ROI, and the soft skills that change agents need but rarely talk about.

Finally, Chad puts out an open call to practitioners and leaders actively running MBD or MBE initiatives — if that's you, they want you on the show. The podcast is growing on both audio and YouTube, and there's a real opportunity to share your experience with a community facing the same challenges.

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Lifecycle Insights CEO and Chief Analyst Chad Jackson sits down with Joseph Laurine, PhD, AI Governance Lead at a major healthcare organization and former head of AI Governance and Assurance for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Joseph's career spans cryptologic intelligence, applied statistics, data science, and executive coaching — an unconventional path that's made him one of the more distinctive voices on responsible AI adoption.

The conversation covers a lot of ground, starting with what it actually means to be a change agent in highly technical environments. Joseph argues that trust and usability are equally critical to adoption — and that framing AI governance as an obstacle rather than an enabler is one of the biggest mistakes organizations make. He also speaks candidly about how he deliberately developed his people skills, including earning an executive coaching certification, to bridge the gap between technical depth and organizational influence.

On data, Joseph is direct: "garbage in, garbage out" is a phrase everyone uses but few executives truly understand. He makes the case that data quality is the single most important foundation for effective AI — and that skipping that work in the rush to be first to market is a bet most organizations will regret.

He also offers a memorable framework for thinking about where AI models stand today: LLMs are the social butterfly — great at conversation, not your go-to for engineering or biology. Small language models (SLMs) represent the journeyman level the industry is moving toward, and Joseph predicts that shift will be visible within the next 18 months.

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Are AI virtual companions the future of engineering work? Chad Jackson shares his takeaways from 3D Experience World, where Dassault Systèmes unveiled three AI assistants—each with distinct personalities tuned to different work modes. But what happens when exploration, execution, and expertise each demand a different interaction style?

Plus, a preview of an upcoming conversation on merging Agile prototyping with systems engineering, and why putting imperfect work on the conference room table might be the breakthrough struggling teams need.

In this episode, we sit down with McKray Jones, a Technical Program Manager and Deputy Director of Engineering, to explore the evolving role of the “Change Agent” in modern engineering organizations. McKray shares his unique journey from the Marine Corps to leading complex hardware integration teams, offering a fresh perspective on why the engineering industry is facing a leadership vacuum and how to fill it.

We dive deep into the challenges of transitioning from traditional waterfall models to accelerated, MVP-driven hardware development. McKray explains how to bridge the gap between software agility and hardware reality, the critical role of empathy in technical leadership, and when organizations should make the leap to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE).

Whether you are an engineering leader, a systems architect, or an aspiring change agent, this conversation offers actionable insights on building trust, managing complexity, and keeping the business viable while driving innovation.

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