Stop the AI Chaos: How to Start Where It Actually Matters with Sciata CEO, Michelle Tinsley

In this episode, Tonya sits down with Michelle Tinsley, CEO of Sciata, to cut through the noise and finally get honest about what it really takes to do AI right inside a modern organization. With 30 years of experience across Intel, startups, private equity, fundraising, M&A, and deep technical leadership, Michelle brings one of the most grounded, practical, and operationally experienced perspectives you’ll hear in the AI conversation today. Instead of hype, Michelle offers a playbook for how IT leaders can start small, sequence smart, and build AI initiatives that actually move the business—without adding chaos, panic, or unrealistic expectations. From the “basement-hoarder” data problem to the fears employees bring into AI transformation, Michelle pulls back the curtain on what’s actually slowing organizations down—and how to fix it. You’ll also hear real examples from the field, including how one AI deployment cut noise by 90% and saved millions, and how another turned into a brand-new revenue-generating company. And she shares a powerful framing for 2025–2026: IT leaders don’t need to be the smartest person in the room anymore—they need to be the most adaptable. This is a must-listen for anyone navigating board pressure, resource constraints, legacy systems, employee skepticism, or the overwhelming mandate to “go do AI.” In this episode, they dig into:Why AI initiatives stall—and what leaders can do to reverse the 80% failure rateThe basement-hoarder data problem and how to fix it without boiling the oceanWhy the best AI use cases are high-frequency, high-volume tasks hiding in plain sightHow to shrink risk by running monthly AI “sprints” instead of one giant moonshotWhat leadership behaviors differentiate tinkering with tools from true transformationWhy smart sequencing—not big bets—is the new competitive advantageHow to help your teams feel safe, supported, and excited rather than threatenedWhat the next wave of generative and agentic AI means for IT governanceWhy adaptability—not certainty—is the top leadership competency going into 2026 Important Links:https://app.technologymatch.com/solutions/on-demand-technology-specialistshttps://app.technologymatch.com/solutions/project-design-implementationhttps://app.technologymatch.com/solutions/data-science-as-a-serviceHttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-tinsley/