EP 10 - Talbot West's Jacob Andra on Why AI Czars Need Systems Optimization

The MIT study showing 95% of AI projects fail to deliver meaningful ROI isn't about the technology, it's about scoping. Jacob Andra, CEO & Founder of Talbot West, treats AI deployment as an organizational systems problem, not a technology implementation. AI solutions should become force multipliers for a process redesign, not the primary intervention itself.

Jacob also shares his definition of agentic AI: systems making independent decisions as part of larger orchestrations, with quality control agents that must sign off before processes advance.

Topics discussed:

• Why 95% of AI projects fail to deliver ROI due to inadequate scoping of organizational adjacencies and dependencies
• Differentiating AI capabilities across three categories: no human precedent tasks, force multipliers, and autonomous decision-making within orchestrations
• Applying digital transformation methodology that combines business systems optimization expertise with full-spectrum AI and machine learning capabilities
• Identifying revenue opportunities through process redesign before deploying AI solutions as force multipliers for customer-facing teams
• Clarifying agentic AI definitions from digital employees and autonomous systems to decision-makers within orchestrated workflows
• Implementing quality control agents with specific validation criteria that must approve outputs before processes advance to next stages
• Building human-in-the-loop oversight systems where agent managers monitor multiple AI assistants