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How Sunrun Found $80M in Hidden Costs by Finally Understanding Its Data
Adam Schwartz, Co-founder and CEO of Parable, explains why most enterprise AI initiatives fail before they ever touch the P&L. Drawing on firsthand work with Fortune 500 and private equity–backed companies, he breaks down how hidden operational inefficiencies block real transformation—and what leaders must measure to unlock durable AI-driven value.
You’ll Learn
- Why executives consistently misjudge how teams actually spend their time—and how that blind spot derails AI strategy
- How “keep-the-lights-on” work and operational debt quietly consume 50–70% of enterprise capacity
- Why data warehouses and dashboards lack the context required for effective AI agents and decision-making
- How mapping work at the activity level enables AI use cases to be prioritized by ROI, not intuition
- What Sunrun uncovered when it quantified technical and operational debt—and how that led to $80M+ in savings
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:33 Why leaders lack visibility into real work
05:12 The hidden cost of “keep the lights on” work
09:10 Why data warehouses fail at operational understanding
13:20 What a contextual work graph actually looks like
18:29 Measuring AI impact beyond adoption
23:46 Operational debt and resource allocation
30:01 Sunrun case study: uncovering $80M in inefficiencies
35:43 AI vs. process change—what to automate and why
41:57 The mindset shift leaders need for AI at scale
Links
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zDDspYqT_7o
- Connect with Adam Schwartz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamgregoryschwartz/
- Explore more interviews: https://www.justcurious.io/articles/how-sunrun-found-80m-in-hidden-costs-by-finally-understanding-its-data
Just Curious is the content and podcast brand of Pluris, helping leading operators and investors cut through a noisy AI market and find the right partners — from strategy and assessments to full-stack AI development. Our network of applied AI experts spans generative and agentic AI, workflow automation, and custom AI-powered software, helping teams turn curiosity into measurable value.
Explore more interviews and connect with experts at https://www.checkpluris.com
Subscribe to our newsletter at https://just-curious-ai.beehiiv.com
View all episodes
By Stuart WillsonAdam Schwartz, Co-founder and CEO of Parable, explains why most enterprise AI initiatives fail before they ever touch the P&L. Drawing on firsthand work with Fortune 500 and private equity–backed companies, he breaks down how hidden operational inefficiencies block real transformation—and what leaders must measure to unlock durable AI-driven value.
You’ll Learn
- Why executives consistently misjudge how teams actually spend their time—and how that blind spot derails AI strategy
- How “keep-the-lights-on” work and operational debt quietly consume 50–70% of enterprise capacity
- Why data warehouses and dashboards lack the context required for effective AI agents and decision-making
- How mapping work at the activity level enables AI use cases to be prioritized by ROI, not intuition
- What Sunrun uncovered when it quantified technical and operational debt—and how that led to $80M+ in savings
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:33 Why leaders lack visibility into real work
05:12 The hidden cost of “keep the lights on” work
09:10 Why data warehouses fail at operational understanding
13:20 What a contextual work graph actually looks like
18:29 Measuring AI impact beyond adoption
23:46 Operational debt and resource allocation
30:01 Sunrun case study: uncovering $80M in inefficiencies
35:43 AI vs. process change—what to automate and why
41:57 The mindset shift leaders need for AI at scale
Links
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zDDspYqT_7o
- Connect with Adam Schwartz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamgregoryschwartz/
- Explore more interviews: https://www.justcurious.io/articles/how-sunrun-found-80m-in-hidden-costs-by-finally-understanding-its-data
Just Curious is the content and podcast brand of Pluris, helping leading operators and investors cut through a noisy AI market and find the right partners — from strategy and assessments to full-stack AI development. Our network of applied AI experts spans generative and agentic AI, workflow automation, and custom AI-powered software, helping teams turn curiosity into measurable value.
Explore more interviews and connect with experts at https://www.checkpluris.com
Subscribe to our newsletter at https://just-curious-ai.beehiiv.com