In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we’re joined by Victor Shilo, SVP of AI and Data Engineering at Solved and author of AI Driven, a practical guide for organizations ready to transform how they innovate. Victor shares his journey from junior developer to executive leader, diving deep into how AI is reshaping the future of decision-making, product development, and business value creation.

Victor offers a refreshingly candid look at what it takes to turn big ideas into production-ready solutions and why most innovation fails to do just that. With stories from his work at Solved, NASDAQ, and Microsoft, Victor unpacks the principles of scalable innovation, practical AI implementation, and how leaders can adapt to a probabilistic world.

Key Lessons Covered in This Episode:

From Software Engineer to AI Strategist:

Discover how Victor climbed from junior developer to AI executive, and how each role shaped his approach to problem-solving and innovation.

What It Means to Be “AI-Driven”:

Learn the real meaning behind Victor’s book title and how organizations can move beyond buzzwords to deploy AI that creates measurable impact.

Probabilistic vs. Deterministic Thinking:

Victor explains why embracing uncertainty is key to leveraging AI and how this shift can drive smarter decision-making across industries.

The Innovation Bottleneck:

Explore why great ideas often die before they reach production, and what businesses can do to ensure their innovations actually get built.

Value Over Vanity:

Victor emphasizes why innovation should be focused on solving problems and creating value not just looking flashy on a slide deck.

How to Start with AI Today:

Victor outlines practical steps for teams and leaders to begin integrating AI into their workflows, no PhD required.

Shipping Is the Strategy:

Uncover why execution not just ideation is the true differentiator for companies aiming to lead in the age of AI.

Key Takeaways:

✅ AI success starts with understanding the problem, not the technology.

✅ Probabilistic systems are the future embrace complexity, don’t fear it.

✅ If innovation doesn’t reach production, it’s just an idea.

✅ Leaders don’t need to be AI experts they need to build AI-ready teams.

Links and resources:

• Victor Shilo on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/victor-shilo
• Website: eastbanctech.com (Company) kublr.com (Company) sympli.io (Company)

Thanks for tuning in to Breakthrough Innovation! Want to subscribe to the podcast? Have feedback to share? Connect with us on Spotify or iTunes and leave us a review—we’d love to hear from you!