Podcast
Pondering AI
Hosted by Kimberly Nevala, Strategic Advisor - SAS · EN
How is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) shaping our human experience?
Kimberly Nevala ponders the reality of AI with a diverse group of innovators, advocates and data scientists. Ethics and uncertainty. Automation and art. Work, politics and culture. In real life and online. Contemplate AI’s impact, for better and worse.
All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
AI Literacy Is Not All We Need with Mel Sellick
1w ago00:48:53Tap to summarizeMel Sellick readies for AI by going beyond literacy to address the psychological, cognitive, and relational capacities required to ensure AI works for humans. Mel and Kimberly discuss AI literacy vs. human readiness; the contours of human vulnerability; AI as a social actor; collective understanding and emotional regulation; instrumental AI dependency; the non-reciprocal nature of AI; the spectrum of relationality; human flourishing; attention, agency and alternate futures; positive friction in human systems; supportive social structures; cognitive offloading and debt; self-reflection and calibrating human needs.Mel Sellick is an applied psychologist specializing in Human-AI interaction. The Founder of the Future Human Lab, her Human Readiness Framework has shaped conversations in IEEE, UNESCO, Oxford, MIT, Harvard and beyond.Additional Resources:Future Human Lab: https://www.futurehumanlab.com/ IEEE Organizational Readiness for Human-AI Interaction (Chair, SA-P7023) https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/7023/12394/Oxford AI in Education Hub (AIEOU): https://aieou.web.ox.ac.uk/ Harvard AI for Human Flourishing Council: https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/ai-human-flourishing A transcript of this episode is here.
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The Human Premium with Drew Burdick
Apr 1500:48:11Tap to summarizeDrew Burdick designs AI systems to multiply human capacity, prioritizes great experiences, and values the serendipitous magic of human connection and collaboration. Kimberly and Drew discuss building with badass teams; curiosity and innovation; building momentum with AI; human relationships and rapport; proprietary knowledge and expertise; long-term thinking; AI agents as teammates; pricing in human experiences; designing for humans vs. bots; regulation and accountability; societal guardrails; the mid-market squeeze; actions companies should take now; investing in people; and keeping community front and center.Drew Burdick is the founder of StealthX and the CLT Startup House. Drew parlays his deep background in design and solution development to help companies deliver exceptional experiences with AI.Additional Resources:Building Great Experiences (podcast): https://stealthx.co/resources/podcast CLT Startup House: https://cltstartuphouse.com/ A transcript of this episode is here.
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Minding Our Minds with Helen and Dave Edwards
Apr 100:59:11Tap to summarizeHelen Edwards and Dave Edwards are in awe of AI and passionate about course correcting to preserve human authorship and ensure AI systems are for, not from, people. Kimberly, Dave and Helen discuss human authorship; AI as a cultural technology; generative AI as a cognitive tool; biological imperatives and cultural as a countervailing force; cognitive pairing; metacognition and why perception matters most; diverse intelligences; precautionary design principles; AI as a co-evolutionary factor; human finitude; changing AI’s course; creating minds for our minds; designing for the unknown; kindness and hopeful rebellion. Helen Edwards and Dave Edwards are the co-founders of the Artificiality Institute, a nonprofit organization shaping the future human experience of AI. Their longitudinal research program The Chronicle tracks how people actually experience AI in their work and lives. Additional Resources: Staying Human: Authoring Your Mind in the Age of AI (digital book): https://journal.artificialityinstitute.org/tag/book-two/ The SaaS Apocalypse Is A Category Error (article): https://journal.artificialityinstitute.org/the-saas-apocalypse-is-a-category-error/ A transcript of this episode is here.
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Prioritizing Public Interest with Afua Bruce
Mar 1800:47:22Tap to summarizeAfua Bruce explains that public interest tech is about solving complicated problems with real impact for real people, not just fuzzy feelings and philanthropy. Afua and Kimberly discuss misconceptions about Public Interest Tech (PIT); PIT beyond philanthropy; why tech for good isn’t always; purposeful productivity; “solving” non-profits; tech funding traps; PIT design principles; cross-sector career paths; participatory (vacation) design; the messy middle; focusing on impact; responsible investment; and knowing we still have time. Afua Bruce is the founder and CEO of ANB Advisory Group. An author and leading public interest technologist, Afua works with philanthropic institutions, tech companies, and nonprofits to develop and use responsible technology. Additional Resources:The Tech That Comes Next (book): https://thetechthatcomesnext.com/ Dr. Catherine Nakalembe Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_nakalembe_why_can_t_we_better_prepare_for_extreme_weather Humane Intelligence (non-profit): https://humane-intelligence.org/ A transcript of this episode is here.
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A Student’s Perspective with Seth Rabinowitz
Mar 400:39:17Tap to summarizeSeth Rabinowitz uses AI with intent by studiously prioritizing learning, actively resisting dependency, promoting ethical practices, and seeing people in the data. Seth and Kimberly discuss his shift from fearing AI to fearing (some) people using AI; expertise and critical thinking; how different cohorts use AI; resisting dependency and intentional use; the role of educators; developing soft skills; not confusing AI’s learning with your own; stewarding AI; business ethics and data privacy; prioritizing AI fundamentals and putting people first.Seth Rabinowitz is pursuing a Master’s degree in Data Science and Business Analytics at UNC Charlotte. A transcript of this episode is here.
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Orchestrating Public Sector AI with Taka Ariga
Feb 1800:56:53Tap to summarizeTaka Ariga hits all the right notes for AI at scale: clarity of purpose, strong foundations, sustainable innovation, engaged ownership, and a confident workforce. Taka and Kimberly discuss going beyond novel AI prototypes; the limits of automation; context building; data sovereignty and integrity; the unstructured data deluge; the unique sensitivities and needs of public agencies; valuing ownership and viable ways to scale; plagiarizing for good; foundations for AI success; wanting innovation without change; rethinking governance; enabling confident AI use; making space for reinvention; and being a skeptical AI advocate.Taka Ariga is a heretical technologist and the founder of Sol Imagination. He focuses on AI strategy design, implementation, and value capture. Taka served the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as CDO and CAIO and the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) as Chief Data Scientist and Director of the Innovation Lab. Related Resources:Sol Imagination (company) https://sol-imagination.ai/ A transcript of this episode is here.
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Navigating AI in Banking with Theodora Lau
Feb 400:52:20Tap to summarizeTheodora Lau banks on AI becoming our financial GPS and OS but flags required waypoints to protect consumer data rights, maintain trust and close the digital divide.Theo and Kimberly discuss the progression toward a financial GPS powered by AI; consumer data rights and trust; the billion dollar question for 2026; analog identify verification; reducing risk and improving the customer experience; valuing people above transactions; the widening digital divide; upskilling and reskilling; cultivating curiosity and reclaiming time; financial security as the foundation for health; agentic commerce and AI as the financial OS; and always being human.Theodora Lau is the Founder of Unconventional Ventures. A prolific speaker, author and advisor, Theo is an American Banker’s Top 20 Influential Women in FinTech. Recognizing that health and financial security are innately entwined, Theo works to spark innovation in the public and private sectors to meet the needs of underrepresented consumers. Related Resources:Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence (book)One Vision Podcast (RSS feed)Unconventional Ventures (company)A transcript of this episode is here.
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AI Is As Data Does with Gretchen Stewart
Jan 2100:47:03Tap to summarizeGretchen Stewart knows she doesn’t know it all, always asks why, challenges oversimplified AI stories, champions multi-disciplinary teams and doubles down on data. Gretchen and Kimberly discuss conflating GenAI with AI, data as the underpinning for all things AI, workflow engineering, AI as a team sport, organizational and data siloes, programming as a valued skill, agentic AI and workforce reductions, the complexity inherent in an interconnected world, data volume vs. quality, backsliding on governance, not knowing it all and diversity as a force multiplier.Gretchen Stewart is a Principal Engineer at Intel. She serves as the Chief Data Scientist for the public sector and is a member of the enterprise HPC and AI architecture team. A self-professed human to geek translator, Gretchen was recently nominated as a Top 100 Data and AI Leader by OnConferences. A transcript of this episode is here.
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An AI Assessment with Chris Marshall
Jan 700:57:00Tap to summarizeDr. Chris Marshall analyzes AI from all angles including market dynamics, geopolitical concerns, workforce impacts, and what staying the course with agentic AI requires.Chris and Kimberly discuss his journey from theoretical physics to analytic philosophy, AI as an economic and geopolitical concern, the rise of sovereign AI, scale economies, market bubbles and expectation gaps, the AI value horizon, why agentic AI is harder than GenAI, calibrating risk and justifying trust, expertise and the workforce, not overlooking Rodney Dangerfield, foundational elements for success, betting on AIOps, and acting in teams. Dr. Chris L Marshall is a Vice President at IDC Asia/Pacific with responsibility for industry insights, data, analytics and AI. A former partner and executive at companies such as IBM, KPMG, Oracle, FIS, and UBS, Chris’s mission is to translate innovative technologies into industry insights and business value for the digital economy.Related ResourcesData and AI Impact Report: The Trust Imperative (IDC Research)A transcript of this episode is here.
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Perspectives and Predictions: Looking Back at 2025 and Forward to 2026
Dec 2400:23:34Tap to summarizeA retrospective sampling of ideas and questions our illustrious guests gifted us in 2025 alongside some glad and not so glad tidings (ok, predictions) for AI in 2026.In this episode we revisit insights from our guests and, perhaps, introduce those you may have missed along the way. Select guests provide sparky takes on what may happen in 2026.Host Note: I desperately wanted to use the work prognostication in reference to the latter segment. But although the word sounds cool it implies a level of mysticism entirely out of keeping with the informed opinions these guests have proffered. So, predictions it is.A transcript of this episode is here.
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