Episode notes
What happens when a small team inside a $1.5 trillion bank has to turn cutting-edge AI and quantum research into governed, production-grade outcomes? Kristin Milchanowski, Chief AI & Quantum Officer and Founding Director of the BMO Institute for Applied AI & Quantum, joins the show to explain how her lean team drives operating leverage at scale... without adding headcount.
Kristin shares how BMO measures every AI initiative against business value before a single dollar is budgeted, why trust inverts with generative AI (your system's best month can become your most dangerous), and how scheduling doubt is now a leadership discipline she's brought to the U.S. Army. From a peer forum of 18 Chief AI Officers to the principle that governance is the steering wheel — not the brake — this episode is a playbook for anyone running a focused team inside a massive org.
What you'll learn:
- How BMO converts AI research into trusted business value with a small team inside a $1.5T organization
- Why trust inverts with generative AI — and why your system's best month can become your most dangerous
- The principle that governance is the steering wheel, not the brake, and how embedded governance actually accelerates adoption
- Why Kristin schedules doubt as a discipline, and how challenging agreement is now a leadership essential
- How BMO's peer forum of 18 Chief AI Officers is creating shared responsible AI principles across the banking sector
Links:
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