AI Playbook from San Francisco CDOs: Build Talent, Standardize Risk, Prove Value Safely
SF AI leaders shared how CDOs deliver: build talent in-house, standardize risk with NIST/EU, and pair value with safety via a council and a board scorecard. Faster reviews, audits.
San Francisco Leadership Breakfast: AI Success Strategies for CDOs
On September 17 at the Omni Hotel, senior data, analytics, and AI leaders from San Francisco gathered for a focused breakfast on how CDOs lead with clarity, ship real outcomes, and manage risk without slowing momentum.
The discussions zeroed in on building AI talent from within, aligning vision to a clear operating model, and putting governance in place so innovation is auditable, defensible, and fundable.
The AI operating model: Three pillars executives can execute now
- Build talent, don't just buy it.
- How: Stand up AI academies, rotational programs, and responsible-AI enablement.
- What: Showcase flagship initiatives that attract and retain senior builders.
- Why: Sustains long-term capability instead of competing endlessly in a scarce talent market.
- Standardize the risk backbone.
- How: Anchor to proven frameworks such as the NIST AI RMF (official resource) and align with EU AI Act requirements (EUR-Lex).
- What: In financial services, map critical models to SR 11-7, OCC model risk guidance, and third-party risk policies.
- Why: Makes innovation auditable and builds investor, regulator, and customer trust.
- Treat value and safety as inseparable.
- How: Create a firmwide AI Council across Tech, Risk/Legal, Product, and Finance.
- What: Own quarterly reprioritization; publish a one-page AI Value Scorecard showing value delivered, pipeline, and risk posture.
- Why: Ensures the board and CFO see upside and safeguards in one view.
Leaders' perspectives
Prasad Suravarapu, BMO Vice President, Enterprise Data Management, noted the value of candid exchanges on AI adoption, talent development, and the tension between risk management and innovation.
Anthony Losanno, CDO Magazine SVP, Sales, highlighted the strong turnout and the city's energy for practical conversations on AI adoption, governance, and risk.
Stephen Harris, ThoughtSpot N.A. Field Chief Data & AI Officer, shared that the breakfast introduced a fresh format for connecting Bay Area data and AI leaders. The session coincided with ThoughtSpot's "Boundaryless Intelligence" launch-an approach centered on moving beyond legacy analytics to agentic AI and enabling flexible, anytime interaction with data, customers, and teams.
Why this matters for executives
- Tie AI investments to a scorecard the board can read in under five minutes.
- Reduce risk-review cycle time by standardizing model inventory, lineage, and controls.
- Institutionalize learning so capability scales with demand, not with hiring cycles.
Special thanks to ThoughtSpot and CodeSignal for partnering to make the event a success.
*Harnalli DeepaSwamy is a member of the CDO Magazine Global Editorial Board.
Attending executives
- Ayush Agarawal, Intuit Director, Product Management
- Mark Clare, Quest Diagnostics Chief Data Officer
- Brian Dempsey, Robert Half VP, Managed Technology Solutions
- Taiwo Egunjobi, TKSPD Data Analytics & AI Consultant
- Kehinde Egunjobi, School of MBA Course Creator & Instructor
- Harnalli DeepaSwamy, Fintech Executive (CDO/CTO/SVP)
- Ercan Kamber, Agoroma.ai Chief AI Officer & Founder
- Murali Nanduri, Aviation Head, Data
- Bharath Narayan, Data Roadmaps Founder and Strategic Advisor and Data Strategy AI Roadmaps and Program Leadership
- Anirudh Reddy Pathe, Glassdoor Sr. Director and Head of Decision Science and ML Science
- Jake Petersen, Vanta Head, Data & Analytics
- Rachna Shah, Asana VP, Data & Analytics
- John Shields, ETR Director, Data Strategies & Insights
- Tigran Sloyan, CodeSignal Co-founder & CEO
- Prasad Suravarapu, BMO VP, Enterprise Data Management
- Lilly Zoltak, JPMorgan Wealth Management Private Client Advisor & VP, Investments
- Stephen Harris, ThoughtSpot N.A. Field Chief Data & AI Officer
- Nathaniel Hamby, ThoughtSpot Enterprise Account Executive
- Mike Lassalle, ThoughtSpot Enterprise Sales
- Marco Magnano, ThoughtSpot VP, Enterprise Sales
- Mark Scharrenberg, ThoughtSpot Enterprise Sales
- Anthony Losanno, CDO Magazine SVP, Sales
- Corey Maxner, CDO Magazine Director, Client Success & Digital Operations
Next step for CDOs and senior leaders
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