In this episode of Industry Iowa, host Steven C. Wilson (CIRAS/Iowa State University) sits down with Bill Schmarzo for a candid pre-event conversation tied to the 5th Annual Ivy Sales Innovation Summit (Bill’s closing keynote on April 7). Together, they explore why the real power of AI isn’t replacement—it’s amplifying human domain expertise and accelerating professional growth.

Schmarzo breaks down a practical three-phase professional development arc (rookie → mastery → elevating the discipline) and explains how AI can support each stage when leaders adopt an “AND mentality”—AI and people, not AI or people. Along the way, they touch on the risk of losing “tribal knowledge” when organizations treat people as interchangeable, and they tee up a fun metaphor: building your own ethical “AI Yoda” to guide better decisions in context.