On Wednesday 22 October, UCL School of Management invited Rahul Sood, a Global Business and Transformation Leader at Boston Consulting Group, to Canary Wharf, delivering a keynote entitled ‘From Pilots to Enterprise Value: Making GenAI Work as an Operating Model, Not Just a Plug-In.’ This speech was part of the School’s New Technologies & Innovation Speaker Series, which invites the UCL community and members from the Canary Wharf Connect community to hear insights from leading industry members.
Rahul began the session by leading an interactive discussion on the impact of generative AI, exploring its disruptions, ethical challenges, and the evolving role of human creativity. One attendee highlighted that the graphic design industry was heavily affected, with people moving further away from originality and using the copy-and-paste cheat code. Another noted that the brainstorming element in video creation has also diminished. The discussion quickly turned to trust and accountability in AI, where Rahul posed the question ‘Would you trust AI to write your investor pitch or board presentation?’ The audience debated who should be responsible if AI makes a wrong business decision, agreeing that accountability depends on the context. Participants also discussed how to measure AI’s value, suggesting metrics such as innovation, engagement, cost savings, and even emotional impact in areas like therapy.
Moving on to his keynote, Rahul explored how businesses are moving beyond experimentation to make GenAI central to their operating models. Within this, he highlighted examples of industry, including Salesforce, which has deployed Agentforce 360, a network of autonomous AI agents that have effectively become the company’s business nervous system, Walmart, which has integrated a ChatGPT-style conversation to enhance the online customer experience, and Johnson & Johnson, which has over 900 GenAI pilots and offers a masterclass in scaling discipline.
Referencing a recent BCG report, Rahul noted that only 5% of companies are capturing true enterprise value from AI. He explained that most fall short due to C-suite disengagement, misaligned AI operating models, limited AI fluency, and fragmented data foundations.
He emphasised that successful AI-driven organisations must
- Lead from the top by integrating AI with strategic intent
- Use AI to reinvent processes and reshape how an organisation works
- Embed AI into workflows
- Mobilise talent and unify data and technology
- Reinvest gains to compound long-term value
Rahul described AI transformation as a balance between algorithms (10%), technology (20%), and people and processes (70%), emphasising that human capability remains at the heart of innovation.
Concluding the session, Rahul reinforced that true AI integration stems from utilising the human edge. While technical skills are valuable to any company, offering authenticity, creativity and cultural alignment makes you much more likely to make a significant impact in the workplace.
Want to attend our next Speaker Series event? Keep an eye out on our events calendar for Term 2 dates
