Live C-Suite Conversations on AI

Enterprises are deploying AI agents faster than security teams can see or govern them, and those agents inherit user credentials and sessions. Anand Oswal of Palo Alto Networks explains how CISOs can discover, control, and secure agents in the enterprise.

Banks run dozens of AI pilots, but almost no AI agents in production, and the gap is in controls, not models. Former UBS Group CIO Oliver Bussmann outlines the key conditions that must be met before agents can go live.

CIOs and CTOs are increasingly accountable for AI that they do not fully control as it spreads across the enterprise. Andy Baldwin of IBM Consulting explains how observability, governance, and right-sized models turn costly pilots into production.

Most companies, including AI startups, lose their way as they grow, trading their founding mission for short-term profit, says Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup. He explains why this corruption happens and shares the governance structures that keep a company loyal to its purpose.

Although companies spend heavily on AI, few capture its value, according to McKinsey QuantumBlack. Their global leader explains why and shares a repeatable process for enterprise and agentic AI.

Box CEO Aaron Levie joins CXOTalk episode 921 to explain why enterprise AI agents stall in production, how they break existing security models, and what CIOs should fix first.

AI agents have become essential enterprise tools. The platforms companies choose now will decide whether they own their AI or depend on big tech. Mozilla CTO Raffi Krikorian argues that open-source AI agents are the key to real independence.Key points:AI agents act inside your systems, and most enterprises have limited visibility into whose interests they serveBuilding on closed, proprietary platforms means the vendor controls your agent's behavior, data access, and roadmapKrikorian explains the open-source alternative and what enterprise control of AI actually requires 

Agentic AI is changing what CIOs are accountable for. Systems that plan, act, and call tools on their own now operate within workflows the CIO no longer fully owns, while boards expect the same standards of security, risk management, and business value. CXOtalk episode 919 turns that pressure into a practical playbook for leading agentic AI in the enterprise.Key points:The CIO mandate shifts from running systems to governing autonomy, with clear decision rights, agent boundaries, and accountability.Trust, data, and control must be managed together, especially when the middle layer of models, agents, and vendors is opaque, and shadow AI is already inside the business.Human oversight must be designed for machine speed, with explicit roles before, during, and after AI operates, backed by an operating model and culture built for continuous change.