In this episode of the CAIO Connect Podcast, host Sanjay Puri sits down with Dr. Bijoy Sagar, Chief Information & Digital Transformation Officer at Bayer, to explore how one of the world’s most iconic life sciences companies is reimagining itself with AI. 

What you’ll learn: 

• How Bayer launched MyGenAssist, a secure GenAI platform for 50,000+ employees. 
• Why pharma & agriculture are ideal testbeds for AI innovation. 
• The rise of agentic AI – shifting from tools to enterprise-wide decision velocity. 
• Balancing compliance, governance, and innovation in highly regulated industries. 
• The future of synthetic data, quantum compute, and digital twins in life sciences. 

👉 Watch now to hear how Bayer is driving “Health for All, Hunger for None” with AI-first strategies. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bijoysagar/ 

⏱️ Timestamps: 

0:00 Podcast Highlights & Introduction  

1:36 Why pharma and agriculture are ideal for AI  

4:34 Bijoy’s "aha moment" with Gen AI  

6:49 AI as a driver of decision velocity  

10:03 Convincing the board and the bottom-up approach to Gen AI adoption 

13:20 Differentiating between Gen AI and agentic AI use cases  

17:43 The role of AI agents in life sciences and the concept of "transition points"  

21:45 Defining AI agents: autonomous decisions and outcome-driven goals  

26:13 Model selection and the importance of compute and token optimization  

28:57 Rethinking the intranet as a living AI interface  

33:56 Balancing AI innovation with regulatory compliance  

37:16 Protecting data and the ethical use of black-box models  

40:17 The future of synthetic data, digital twins, and a hybrid approach  

47:50 The role of TPU accelerated compute in scientific innovation  

50:25 The war for AI talent and attracting mission-driven employees  

53:46 The importance of diversity in AI development and addressing the digital divide  

59:18 AI's role in sustainability and food security  

1:01:55 The importance of C-suite and board support for AI transformation  

1:04:18 Lightning Round of Questions  

1:06:09 Key advice for peers: be prepared to be wrong  

1:07:16 Conclusion and farewell 

In this episode of the CAIO Connect Podcast, host Sanjay Puri sits down with Dr. Debarag Banerjee, Chief AI & Data Officer at L&T Finance, to explore how AI is reshaping financial services. With a Stanford PhD, 15 patents, and leadership roles at Flipkart, Jio, Agoda, and Intel, Dr. Banerjee shares practical frameworks on building enterprise-scale AI. 

Highlights from this episode: 

• Why RODI (Return on Data Investment) is a must-have framework for the C-Suite. 
• How Cyclops, L&T Finance’s ML underwriting engine, processes loans in under 4 seconds. 
• Agentic AI adoption: where chatbots and underwriting converge. 
• Managing a multi-LLM strategy (OpenAI, Gemini, Llama, OSS models). 
• The talent war in AI: hiring beyond FAANG. 

👉 Subscribe to CAIO Connect for more conversations with global Chief AI Officers. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debarag/ 

⏱️ Timestamps: 

0:00 Podcast Highlights & Introduction 

02:23 - 02:40 - I've been in the AI from way before it was cool. 

04:23.301 - 04:44 - the world's first generative AI-based fashion designs. This was way before GIGPD. 

09:12 - 10:41 - A hands-on boot camp for the C-suite and board. 

13:56 - 14:13 - The concept of "Return on Data Investment" (RODI). 

58:53 - 59:13 - a big part of what we call software engineering was actually a profession that we made a mistake creating. 

1:01:03 - 1:01:04 - Preference for "cautious" agents. 

1:01:36 - 1:01:38 - Gen.AI in production in "months, ideally weeks." 

In this episode of the CAIO Connect Podcast hosted by Sanjay Puri, we sit down with Vishal Gupta, Lexmark’s Global CTO, CIO, and SVP of Connected Technology — to discuss how he’s scaling AI-led transformation at a global level. 

In this episode: 

• Why the “push” AI model is over — and the board is now driving the pull 
• How Lexmark is embedding AI into key products and business functions 
• The 4 big changes AI brings compared to past tech cycles 
• Building AI strategies that create tangible enterprise value 
• Vishal’s philosophy on talent development and “AI as a superpower” 

💡 A must-watch for any technology or business leader thinking long-term about AI. 

📺 Watch now and subscribe for more insights from top CAIOs and CIOs. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal-gupta-046149/ 

⏱️ Timestamps: 

0:00 Podcast Highlights & Introduction  

3:19 Vishal’s journey from engineering to C-suite and the importance of solving the right problems  

5:58 The CIO/CTO role: a shift from a push to a pull model for AI  

8:10 The democratization of AI and the unprecedented interest in the technology 

9:48 The hype cycle: AI as both an opportunity and a distraction  

11:31 The critical role of change management and prioritizing use cases  

14:23 How to prioritize use cases with a steering team  

18:16 An overview of Lexmark's business and its technology roots  

19:10 Real-world AI use cases at Lexmark (extending product life, automated proposals, customer support)  

24:12 ROI of AI and building trust with business leaders  

25:04 The secret sauce: developing talent internally to get buy-in and drive results  

31:15 The war for AI talent and the importance of enabling existing employees 34:31 The Technology Rotation Program (TRP) for college hires  

37:22 The changing role of the CIO and the inevitability of change  

39:07 Driving productivity gains across the enterprise  

41:35 Defining and implementing agentic AI  

45:59 The security of AI: trust but verify  

55:33 The importance of an AI ethics board and responsible AI development  

58:48 Lightning Round of questions  

59:53 Final thoughts and farewell 

What happens when agents start shaping organizations instead of just executing tasks? 

Frank Schmid explores: 

• Why human oversight remains non-negotiable for AI agents 
• How AI agents differ from traditional RPA tools 
• Governance, telemetry, and insider threat mitigation 
• Why AI agents may redesign workflows—and even organizations—on their own 
• The real reasons no agent is in production (yet) at Gen Re 

🔍 Watch now to dive deep into the future of enterprise workflows and the promise—and peril—of AI agents. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.genre.com/us/knowledge/contributors/frank-schmid?page=1&facet=all 

⏱️ Timestamps: 

0:00 Podcast Highlights  

1:06 Frank's career journey and an overview of General Reinsurance  

3:46 The experience of incorporating AI into a legacy company  

4:42 The role of AI as a transformative general-purpose technology  

7:09 Overcoming skepticism and fostering AI adoption  

14:03 The three levels of GenAI adoption: task, workflow, and organizational redesign  

17:04 The shift from application-centric to data-centric thinking  

20:39 The strategy for using proprietary and hyperscaler models  

24:01 Competing for AI talent  

28:39 Increasing AI literacy among underwriters and actuaries  

30:26 The J-curve effect and measuring productivity gains  

34:03 Defining and approaching AI agents  

41:19 The role of AI in cybersecurity and the new threat of AI agents  

46:33 Lightning Round of Questions  

48:03 Final thoughts and farewell 

Explore how TD SYNNEX CIO Kristie Grinnell is revolutionizing enterprise AI through her vision of an “agentic AI factory” and “bot factory.” Learn how she’s scaling innovation securely while enabling a hybrid workforce. 

In this episode: 

• What an “agentic AI factory” actually means 
• No-code to pro-code AI implementation at scale 
• Why AI must be governed like your human workforce 
• The CIO’s role in leading AI transformation 
• Building secure sandboxes for experimentation 

🎧 Watch now to understand the real architecture behind enterprise AI success. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiegrinnell/ 

Welcome to another episode of CAIO Connect! In this powerful conversation, Sanjay Puri is joined by Peter Zornio, CTO of Emerson, to explore how AI is transforming industrial automation at a foundational level. Peter reflects on his 40-year career and shares the evolution from traditional process control to generative AI. 

🔍 Key Insights: 

• Why Emerson was using AI decades before it became mainstream 
• Peter's definition of “Boundless Automation” and what it means for the future 
• Real-world examples of AI in action: from predictive maintenance to sustainability 
• How Emerson balances explainability, determinism, and trust in AI systems 
• The role of venture capital and innovation in shaping Emerson's future 

👀 Watch this episode to understand how deep domain knowledge and AI strategy intersect in the industrial sector. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/emerson   

https://www.facebook.com/EmersonCorporate/  

https://x.com/Emerson_News    

Peter Zornio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterzornio/ 

In this groundbreaking episode of the CAIO Podcast, host Sanjay Puri sits down with Claudionor Coelho Jr., Chief AI Officer at Zscaler, to explore the revolutionary future of enterprise AI. With three decades of experience spanning formal methods, machine learning, and enterprise AI, Claudionor shares his unique perspective on why the future of AI will be agentic, neuro-symbolic, and secure. 

Key Topics Covered: 

• The critical limitations of Large Language Models (LLMs) with NP-complete problems and discrete reasoning 
• Why enterprise AI leaders must understand the difference between discrete and probabilistic reasoning 
• The revolutionary concept of "Bring Your Own Agents" (BYOA) and agent-to-agent communication 
• Security challenges in multi-agent systems and data protection across enterprise perimeters 
• How Zscaler processes half a trillion daily transactions using AI at massive scale 
• The emergence of neuro-symbolic AI as the solution to current AI limitations 
• Practical guidance for Chief AI Officers on selecting the right AI use cases for maximum ROI 
• Global implications of AI implementation across different regulations and infrastructure 

About the Guest: Claudionor Coelho Jr. is the Chief AI Officer at Zscaler, one of the world's leading cybersecurity firms. He holds a PhD from Stanford University and has held leadership positions at Google, Palo Alto Networks, and Advantest. He serves on World Economic Forum working groups on AI and cybersecurity. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudionor-coelho-jr-b156b01/ 

In this powerful episode of CAIO Connect, host Sanjay Puri dives deep with Gaia Bellone, Chief Data & AI Officer at Prudential Financial Financial for Emerging Markets. Gaia shares her inspiring journey from Carnegie Mellon to transforming global financial services with AI. 

🔍 What you'll learn: 

• How Gaia moved from stochastic calculus to executive AI leadership 
• Challenges in balancing AI innovation with responsible governance 
• Why starting small matters: practical steps for enterprise AI rollout 
• How Prudential Financial ensures measurable ROI on AI initiatives 
• Advice for aspiring AI professionals in finance 

👉 Watch Now and discover the mindset behind global AI transformation! 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaiabellone/ 

In this episode of the CAIO Connect Podcast, we dive into how AI is revolutionizing talent and workforce solutions at scale.

Ganesh Ramakrishnan, CIO of ManpowerGroup,

shares:

· How AI helps match millions of resumes to jobs with machine learning

· The concept of the “Talent Agent”: a 24/7 virtual career coach

· How Manpower is turning decades of data into a strategic moat

· The cloud migration that laid the foundation for AI acceleration

🎧 A must-watch for anyone in HR tech, AI, or enterprise transformation.

Resources Mentioned:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ganesh-ramakrishnan-b523092/

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction to the CAIO Podcast

01:30 – Ganesh’s Career Journey: From IIT to Global CIO

04:25 – Building Banks from Scratch in Eastern Europe

06:40 – The Changing Role of CIO in the AI Era

10:45 – CIO as a Business Transformer, Not Just Tech Leader

14:30 – Essential Skills for Future CIOs and CAIOs

18:55 – How ManpowerGroup Uses AI to Match Talent with Jobs

23:45 – Introducing the Virtual Talent Agent

29:40 – Why Companies Must Start Small and Dream Big

31:20 – Prioritising AI Initiatives: Avoiding the Pilot Purgatory

34:00 – Building the Right AI Data Foundation

36:15 – Hiring AI Talent & Creating an Innovation Culture

42:55 – AI Ethics and Bias Mitigation at Scale

46:15 – Measuring AI ROI and Communicating Value

48:30 – Why Diversity is Essential in AI Teams

50:45 – Why Leaders Must Keep Learning AI

53:30 – How AI Will Reshape the Future of Work

56:10 – Emerging AI Trend to Watch: Agentic AI

57:24 – ⚡ Lightning Round: Ganesh’s AI Preferences

59:31 – Closing Thoughts & Message to AI Leaders

AI is reshaping global governance, humanitarian aid, and policy implementation. In this episode, Lambert Hogenhout, Chief of Data & AI at the United Nations, joins Sanjay Puri to discuss:

· How the UN is using AI for crisis response, supply chain logistics, and disaster relief.

· The challenges of implementing AI in a vast multinational organization.

· Why AI governance is critical for ensuring global stability and trust.

· Lessons for AI leaders from deploying AI across international operations.

🚀 Watch now and learn how AI is shaping the future of global governance! 🔔 Subscribe for more enterprise AI discussions!

Resources Mentioned: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lamberthogenhout/