AI adoption is accelerating faster than most organisations can control and the result is growing chaos.

In this episode of IoT and AI Leaders, Nick Earle is joined by Santosh Kaveti, CEO of ProArch, and Jim Spignardo, Director of Cloud Strategy and AI Enablement, to explore why ‘AI-first’ thinking without foundational discipline is creating serious operational, security, and governance risks.

Rather than chasing hype, ProArch argues for a foundation-first approach: slow down, define processes, establish governance, and build trust before embedding AI into workflows, especially as IoT expands the data surface dramatically.

The conversation covers:

Why cheap, accessible AI tools are amplifying organisational chaos
How weak processes and governance cause most AI failures
Why regulated industries are feeling the pressure first
How IoT could increase enterprise data sources by 50x
Why boards must take accountability for AI risk and reputation
What ‘operationalising AI’ means beyond chatbots
Why trust, auditability, and explainability matter more than intelligence

Episode Highlights

00:02:15: Introduction to ProArch

00:04:30: Realising the potential of AI

00:06:45: What are the 'unknown unknowns' of AI?

00:12:20: The "Donald Rumsfeld era" of AI

00:18:00: ERP/MRP analogy

00:22:15: Balancing visibility and control with innovation

00:28:45: The "trust layer" or "truth layer"

00:35:30: Real-world power plant example

00:42:15: Ontology mapping

00:48:30: Three board-level risks identified

00:52:00: Final takeaways