How an AI Council Actually Drives Adoption

What does it take to build and scale AI responsibly inside a major media organization?

In this episode, Amir sits down with Arvind Thinagarajan, formerly Head of Enterprise Data Science & Analytics at Gannett (publisher of USA Today), to unpack how they built a volunteer-driven AI Council that governs, guides, and accelerates AI initiatives across the company.

From prioritization frameworks to cross-functional subcommittees, Arvind shares the inner workings of a model that supports nearly 90 AI use cases — and might just inspire how your org tackles AI at scale.

Key Takeaways

– Gannett’s AI Council is fully volunteer-based and cross-functional, giving every department a voice in how AI gets used.

– New AI ideas bubble up from across the org — the council exists to prioritize and support them, not to own or build them.

– Every pilot starts with a scoped business case, clear success metrics, and a timeline.

– The enterprise rollout phase is intentional — ensuring tech used in pilots aligns with the broader IT stack.

– A separate IT Council works alongside the AI Council to avoid duplicate tools and ensure strategic alignment.

Timestamped Highlights

00:57 – What the AI Council is and how it’s structured

03:54 – How the council started and why it matters in media

06:19 – Subcommittees that cover everything from tooling to compliance

09:40 – Where AI use cases come from (hint: it’s not top-down)

11:39 – Who actually builds the solutions, and how governance plays out

16:55 – 87+ tracked use cases and what happens after a pilot succeeds

Quote of the Episode

“The AI Council exists to make sure there are no silos. We’re here to bring the right skill sets, tool sets, and mindsets together — to solve the right problems, the right way.”

Call to Action

If you’re working on AI in a complex org — or trying to sell into one — this episode will give you the playbook from inside a company doing it right.

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