Catalog & Cocktails: The Honest, No-BS Data Podcast AI Appetite Is Easy, Digestion Is Hard with Diana Wu David
May 1, 2026
Diana Wu David, Director of Futures at ServiceNow and futurist on strategic foresight and human-centered AI. She challenges tool-first thinking and spotlights human agency, redesigning workflows, and deciding which decisions belong to machines. Talks include foresight for exponential change, governance and data sovereignty, team experiments, and measuring new value beyond simple adoption metrics.
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Decide Which Decisions Machines Should Make
- Do map which class of decisions should belong to machines and which should stay human before embedding AI into workflows.
- Diana recommends defining decision rights and rethinking your fundamental value proposition to guide organizational redesign.
Cost Focus Limits AI Transformation
- Short-term cost-cutting by replacing people with AI is common but limited and risky.
- Diana highlights the danger of a perpetual focus on efficiency that sacrifices transformation and long-term relevance.
Retailer Rebuilt Experience By Mapping Day In Life
- A large retailer consolidated brands and redesigned day-in-the-life customer flows to create synchronous experiences across holdings.
- Diana used customer-centered workshops to reimagine tech spend and restructure how five brands interact with the same customer.
