Getting the Buy-In and Downstream Impact from AI Initiatives, Sefa Soybir EY

Everyone's running AI pilots, but how many are actually delivering real business impact? In this episode, we're joined by Sefa Soybir, Senior Manager and Agentic GBS Lead at EY, where he helps organisations move beyond the hype and embed agentic AI into real business processes.  We get into what separates a genuinely compelling AI use case from one that just looks good in a demo, and the criteria Sefa recommends before greenlighting any agentic initiative. We also tackle one of the hardest parts of AI transformation — realising the downstream impact. Automation rates and productivity stats are one thing, but how do those numbers actually translate into business value? And what do you do with the headcount you've released? We'll also cover the human side: smoothing out change management, bringing employees on the journey, and securing executive buy-in for something as ambiguous and fast-moving as agentic AI. If you're trying to build credible AI initiatives that stick, this one's for you.