#38. Trust, AI, and Digital Operations

Live from the opening day of the 2026 Baker Hughes Annual Meeting in Florence, Josh Lowrey and Richard Rodriguez sit down with Laura Van Beers and Aravind Yarlagadda to unpack Baker Hughes’ “Energy Equation” and the real challenges behind scaling digital in industrial operations.From the shift toward problem-driven solutions to the role of AI in modern operations, this conversation explores how companies are building trust in digital systems, while keeping humans firmly in the loop.00:00 Live From Florence00:29 Show Energy And Passion01:19 Meet Laura And Aravind06:24 IT Meets OT08:50 From Products To Problems12:16 Services And Domain Context14:16 Human In The Loop18:24 Bridging Generational Change19:34 Training and Change20:01 Integration Without Tool Sprawl21:05 Two Product Paths23:17 Breaking Data Silos25:14 Contextualizing Asset Data27:29 Innovation With Safety29:07 Hype Versus Reality31:32 Experimenting With New Tech33:47 Scaling IT Into OT36:33 Trust and Closing Thoughts