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Building An Enterprise AI Innovation Lab: A Master Class with Humza Teherany, Chief Strategy Officer of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment

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Jan 21, 2026

Humza Teherany, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, discusses his unique journey from hands-on AI immersion to strategic leadership. He emphasizes the necessity for leaders to actively engage with AI, as it fosters credibility and smarter decision-making. Humza highlights MLSE's innovative 'build in a day' approach, which accelerates prototype development and democratizes idea generation through the IdeaGen system. Additionally, he shares insights on harnessing AI for real-world problems and his personal project, Story World, a bedtime story app for kids.

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ANECDOTE

Return To Technical Roots

Humza reconnected with his technical roots during a vacation and spent hours daily learning AI tools hands-on.
That immersion led him to build prototypes and regain developer fluency that informs his C-suite work.

ADVICE

Progress From Consumer Apps To Dev Tools

Master consumer AI apps first to learn strengths and limits before moving into developer tools like VS Code and CLI.
Use chatbots as tutors to ask basic how-it-works questions and build practical understanding.

ADVICE

Leaders Should Invest Time In Hands-On Learning

Spend personal time learning AI even as a leader; short daily practice compounds into capability to prototype and lead.
Use agentic development to rapidly prototype full-stack apps with proper engineering review and security controls.

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In this episode, Humza Teherany breaks down how he bridges deep technical fluency with strategic leadership at MLSE, home to the Raptors, Maple Leafs, and more. He shares how a vacation turned into an AI reawakening and how that hands-on immersion led to a fundamental shift in how his organization builds and experiments.

Humza walks through MLSE’s build in a day practice, their internal AI platform, and why speed to prototype now unlocks more than just efficiency. It changes who gets to shape the future. He, Jeremy, and Henrik explore the limits of traditional enterprise AI rollouts and how to build spaces for superusers that enable company-wide transformation. The conversation covers how technical literacy impacts credibility, why idea execution is the new differentiator, and how Humza’s five-year-old inspired a bedtime story app powered by AI.

Whether you're a CTO, a founder, or just figuring out where to start, Humza makes a compelling case. The best leaders don’t delegate this moment. They build.

Key Takeaways

Leaders should not delegate the AI moment
Humza, Henrik, and Jeremy agree that this is a moment for leaders to be hands-on. The ones who build and explore the tools themselves are the ones unlocking real impact.
Technical fluency builds credibility and better decisions
Humza’s return to his technical roots has changed how he leads. Understanding how AI works helps leaders earn trust and make smarter, faster choices.
Speed enables inclusion
MLSE’s build in a day model allows more people to contribute ideas and see them turned into real prototypes. Moving fast isn’t just efficient - it changes who gets to participate.
Empower your superusers first
Rather than starting with enterprise-wide training, Humza focuses on enabling the small group already eager to build. That early energy helps drive broader culture change.

MLSE: mlse.com
LinkedIn: Humza Teherany - LinkedIn

00:00 Intro: Humza Teherany and MLSE
00:27 The Role of C-Suite Leaders in AI
01:08 Reconnecting with Technical Skills
02:08 Diving Deep into AI Tools
03:03 The Importance of Hands-On Learning
04:25 Progression from Consumer to Technical AI Tools
07:28 Building a Business Case for AI
10:03 Creating a Culture of Innovation
14:00 Implementing AI in Business Operations
21:05 Challenges and Strategies in AI Adoption
26:17 Organizational Structure for AI Success
32:02 The Importance of Reviewing and Planning Code
33:01 The Future of Solo Developers and New Technologists
34:58 Reimagining Company Structures with AI
38:55 Key Skills for Future Technology Leaders
41:19 Personal AI Experiments and Innovations
46:52 Encouraging Creativity in Children with AI
49:11 The Debrief

📜 Read the transcript for this episode: building-an-enterprise-ai-innovation-lab-a-master-class-with-humza-teherany-chief-strategy-officer-of-maple-leaf-sports-and-entertainment/transcript

For more prompts, tips, and AI tools. Check out our website: https://www.beyondtheprompt.ai/ or follow Jeremy or Henrik on Linkedin:

Henrik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/werdelin
Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyutley

Show edited by Emma Cecilie Jensen.