The AI Forecast: Data and AI in the Cloud Era

AI is reshaping how sales teams find prospects, build relationships, and close deals. Frank O’Dowd, Cloudera’s Chief Revenue Officer, joins to discuss Cloudera’s approach to AI in the sales function.  Frank details his philosophy, which is that rather than replacing the human touch, AI is helping sales professionals work smarter, offering insights, personalization, and efficiency at scale. It’s a complementary tool that can help sales teams make themselves relevant to their target audience.  As Frank says in the episode, “The person with the most information always wins.”  Stay in touch with Frank:  Frank O’Dowd on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/frank-o-dowd-262508  +++ Follow and subscribe to The AI Forecast for more conversations with the innovators shaping the future of enterprise AI.

One common cause of concern around AI is how its computing may negatively impact the environment. In this episode of The AI Forecast, Julie Kae, VP of Sustainability and Social Impact at Qlik and Executive Director of Qlik.org, joins host Paul Muller to reframe the conversation: when designed intentionally, AI isn’t a threat to ESG: it can be one of its most powerful enablers. Drawing on more than 15 years leading data-for-good initiatives, Julie explains how AI and analytics can help organizations reduce waste, lower emissions, and create measurable social impact, without sacrificing profitability. She shares real-world examples from global nonprofits, climate initiatives, and purpose-driven enterprises, illustrating how better data, not perfect data, is often the key to progress. The conversation also explores how by integrating sustainability, diversity, and social impact into AI as core infrastructure, businesses can create meaningful change that extends beyond profit.  Stay in touch with Julie:  Jessica Hammond on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekae/  Qlik’s website: https://www.qlik.com/us  +++ Follow and subscribe to The AI Forecast for more conversations with the innovators shaping the future of enterprise AI.

Jessica Hammond, Senior Director of Product Management for GenAI at Protegrity, blends product, engineering, security, and compliance expertise. She discusses risks of user inputs leaking sensitive data, the need for field-level protection and policy controls embedded in AI pipelines, and how consistent governance works across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The AI Forecast welcomes back John Santaferraro, host of The Digital Analyst Podcast and CEO of Ferraro Consulting, for a candid  look at what’s really coming next for AI in 2026. John argues that despite nonstop headlines, most organizations are still dabbling with AI, not truly using the technology. He predicts that 2026 will be defined by AI literacy, strategic adoption, and a shift away from trivial use cases toward executive-level decision support. John and host Paul Muller explore why private AI will become essential for protecting intellectual property, how asking the right questions may soon matter more than having the right answers, and why agentic AI is poised to fail loudly before it succeeds. The discussion also dives into data and agent governance, the coming wave of platform and data unification, and why causal AI—not just GenAI—may unlock the next leap in predictive power.  If you’re planning your AI strategy for 2026, this conversation will help you separate signal from noise and prepare for what’s next. Stay in touch with John:  John Santaferraro on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsantaferraro/  The Digital Analyst Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLivd8WaRu-XkJsuP8YAtk8T1QYRYlEkD5   Ferraro Consulting: https://www.ferraroconsulting.com/  +++ Follow and subscribe to The AI Forecast for more conversations with the innovators shaping the future of enterprise AI.

In this episode of The AI Forecast, Anu Jain, founder and CEO of Nexus Cognitive, joins host Paul Muller to introduce a transformative idea: AI doesn’t have a last-mile problem. It has a first-mile problem. While AI models and algorithms can scale instantly through the cloud, their success still depends on the quality, provenance, and readiness of the data that feeds them. Drawing from his career spanning MicroStrategy, Deloitte, IBM Watson, Think Big Analytics, and now Nexus Cognitive, Anu explains why so many enterprise AI initiatives stall before production — not because of model complexity, but because data remains chaotic, siloed, and treated as an afterthought.  Anu explores the shift from data as “exhaust” to data as a strategic asset, the rise of composable architectures, and why he believes every piece of data needs a “digital birth certificate” to anchor trust, context, and lineage. Stay in touch with Anu: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anujain/  Nexus Cognitive: https://www.nexuscognitive.com/  +++   Follow and subscribe to The AI Forecast for more conversations with the innovators shaping the future of enterprise AI.

Cloudera Chief Marketing Officer Mary Wells helped spearhead the launch of Cloudera’s Women Leaders in Technology initiative, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. To honor this milestone, Mary joins this special edition of The AI Forecast to reflect on the impact of this program so far. Mary Wells and host Paul Muller embark on an inspiring conversation on leadership, allyship, and navigating one of the most transformative moments in technology. Mary reflects on more than three decades in the industry—spanning the rise of client/server, the dot-com boom, IoT, big data, and now the explosive acceleration of AI—and shares how each era shaped her leadership philosophy. She discusses why kindness is a strength, how to build teams rooted in trust and accountability, and why allyship—not exclusivity—is the secret to sustainable progress for women in tech. The two also dive into how AI is reshaping the marketing function, from generative content and personalization to the organizational change required to keep teams confident and empowered. Mary offers candid advice for CMOs navigating AI’s demands, and for leaders everywhere looking to build culture, resilience, and relevance in a world that’s moving faster than ever. To learn more about Cloudera’s Women Leaders in Technology, join the LinkedIn community and visit the home page. LinkedIn Community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13104138/  WLIT Website: https://www.cloudera.com/about/women-leaders-in-technology.html  And to stay in touch with Mary, follow her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryhwells/    +++   Follow and subscribe to The AI Forecast for more conversations with the innovators shaping the future of enterprise AI.

GenAI may have captured the spotlight. But according to Dr. Jake Trippel, co-founder and CTO of Codename 37, the real disruption is still ahead. Jake joins the podcast to explain why today’s LLM-centric stacks will hit architectural limits and how “AI fabrics” and shared memory meshes can unlock agent-to-agent collaboration across data silos. From untangling decades of technical debt to the surprising move of model training back on-prem, Jake lays out pragmatic playbooks. He also shares how he runs “100 AI employees” today, what SaaS might look like in a bot-first world, and why education must embrace hyper-personalized learning while guarding against AI-enabled shortcuts. Stay in touch with Jake: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtrippel/  Codename 37: https://codename37.ai/    +++   Like and subscribe to The AI Forecast to stay up to date on the latest episodes. You can watch the video version of this episode on The AI Forecast YouTube page.

Turning complex, siloed medical data into accessible, actionable insight isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a human one.  In this episode of The AI Forecast, Luz Erez, physicist-turned-entrepreneur and CTO of MDClone, explores how synthetic data is transforming the way we use medical information for research, innovation, and patient care. Erez explains how MDClone’s platform manages tens of millions of patient records across hospitals worldwide—safely turning real data into synthetic datasets that preserve statistical accuracy while protecting privacy. He reveals how this breakthrough enables hospitals, researchers, and AI developers to collaborate without regulatory roadblocks, accelerating discoveries that can improve outcomes and reduce clinical workload. Stay in touch with Luz: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erezsoft/    +++ Like and subscribe to The AI Forecast to stay up to date on the latest episodes. You can watch the video version of this episode on The AI Forecast YouTube page.

Enterprise leaders are racing to deploy generative AI, but most overlook a critical foundation: data readiness. Despite bold ambitions, less than one-third of technology leaders believe their data is prepared to support AI at scale.  Marcela Vairo, IBM’s Vice President of Data and AI for the Americas, joins The AI Forecast to explore one of the most persistent challenges in enterprise AI: why strong data foundations remain the exception, not the rule. Drawing on more than 25 years at IBM, Marcela shares how organizations can close the gap between aspiration and execution through effective data governance, integration, and trust. She explains why governance isn’t a checkbox—it’s an enabler—and how companies can scale AI responsibly by building the right architecture, managing bias, and embracing data quality as a strategic asset.   Stay in touch with Marcela: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcela-vairo/    +++   Like and subscribe to The AI Forecast to stay up to date on the latest episodes. You can watch the video version of this episode on The AI Forecast YouTube page.  

AI is transforming not only the way we work, but what we value as work. Success in this new era won’t come from chasing efficiency alone, but from cultivating cultures where AI empowers people, strengthens purpose, and drives innovation with trust at the center. In this episode of The AI Forecast, Teddra Burgess, founder of Chasing Outcomes, joins host Paul Muller to explore how AI is reshaping not just work, but what we value about work. Teddra lays out a practical path to building an “AI-anywhere” culture: start with outcomes (not tools), empower every function (not just IT), and lead with trust, purpose, and adaptability. Teddra shares how leaders can navigate uncertainty like a “navigator”—aligning people around a clear North Star while evolving skills, roles, and mindsets.  Stay in touch with Teddra: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddrathomasburgess/  +++ Like and subscribe to The AI Forecast to stay up to date on the latest episodes. You can watch the video version of this episode on The AI Forecast YouTube page.