On the 54th episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Max Chan, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Avnet. Avnet is a $20 billion global technology distribution company that plays a critical role in the electronics supply chain, supporting the design, production, and delivery of devices worldwide. In this episode, Max shares how Avnet is utilizing generative AI to transform the way work is done across product design, quoting, customer service, and IT. He outlines their strategic maturity model for AI adoption and why CIOs must lead with experimentation.

Quick Hits from Max:

On evolving IT’s role: "[We] moved away from the monolithic type of solutions into a more cloud-first, digital-centric composable architecture. That change truly helped with driving any and every innovation that we are talking about today.”

On framing enterprise AI: "We bucket [AI use] into three types. First, we talk about out-of-the-box generative AI tools… The second bucket is what we like to call embedded AI… Last is truly custom AI solutions."

On generative design: "The engineers, instead of coming with three designs [and having] the customer look at it, come back with some recommendations or questions, [and then] they go back to the drawing board; now they can immediately get in front of a customer [and] say, 'hey, look, these are the things that we can do if this is what you want [and] these are the parameters that you're changing.'"

Recent Book Recommendation: Competing in the Age of AI by Karim Lakhani. "A great cheat sheet for CIOs and CDOs on how to get started and what to avoid."

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Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience.

Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 53rd episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Sineesh Keshav, Chief Technology Officer at Prologis. With over 1.3 billion square feet under management and over 8 billion in revenue, Prologis is the world's largest logistics real estate company. In this conversation, Sineesh shares his perspective on how Prologis drove 95% company-wide adoption of generative AI through personal productivity use cases. He also discusses the future of SaaS as enterprises begin to take greater ownership of their data and AI models, and how AI is enabling a shift from static infrastructure to dynamic, self-optimizing supply chains.

Quick hits from Sineesh:

On understanding build vs. buy with AI: "If everyone has access to the latest, greatest models, which should be our assumption, then the only thing that differentiates your company is your data, and how you use it. And anything that touches proprietary data should be built internally.”

On the importance of enterprise AI strategy: "This isn't something you can afford to sit out. There's a minimum investment every company needs to make—don't skimp on licenses; don't wait to see how it shakes out. Make it accessible, find champions, and start now.”

On how AI empowers employees: "At the most basic level, it's a productivity driver. Some people use it to proofread emails, others use it to summarize a 40-page memo, or draft that memo entirely. Every employee can use it in completely different ways—and that's exactly the point.”

Recent Book Recommendation: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

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Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience.

Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.

On the 52nd episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, host Evan Reiser (Abnormal AI) talks with Sastry Durvasula, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating, Information, and Digital Officer at TIAA. Serving the investment and retirement needs of over 5 million customers, TIAA is a Fortune 500 financial services company with $40 billion in revenue and over $1 trillion in assets under management. In this conversation, Sastry shares his perspective on how AI enables large-scale transformation within a 100-year-old institution, why everyone should have a secure AI assistant, and the cultural components that will unlock the next wave of enterprise AI adoption.

Quick hits from Sastry:

On using AI to enhance security awareness training: “We used to send static phishing emails. Now we use generative AI to create training campaigns that are more realistic—and way harder to spot.”

On AI’s strategic impact for legacy enterprise: “AI will play the biggest role in the operational aspects of large, old companies, like digitization did 15 years ago.”

On the importance of leadership: “We talk about platforms, processes, and people. But one of my mentors told me: it’s people, people, people.”

Recent Book Recommendation: Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella, Jill Tracie Nichols, and Greg Shaw

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Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Each episode covers the real-world applications of AI, from improving products and optimizing operations to redefining the customer experience.

Find more great insights from technology leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Josh Meer.