Who’s Accountable When AI Goes Wrong? Governance, Agents & Cyber Risk with Kate Marshall

AI adoption is moving faster than most organizations can govern it. In this episode of the AI Visibility Podcast, Jason Todd Wade speaks with Kate Marshall, Founder of TheGrai, Fractional Chief AI Officer, SHRM AI Instructor, and author of AI at Work. They discuss the growing accountability gap around AI agents, what the Workday litigation could mean for employers, and why non-technical leaders are increasingly being asked to manage systems they did not build and may not fully understand. Kate explains why successful AI adoption requires more than buying tools. Organizations need clear policies, controlled testing, trained employees, approved-tool lists, incident-response plans, and defined human ownership. The conversation also explores: Why many AI pilots remain stuck in experimentation Where organizations can begin with lower-risk use cases Human accountability for autonomous systems Change management and employee fear Data quality and organizational readiness Cyber-insurance requirements for AI adoption Kill switches, authorization controls, and incident response Privacy risks from wearables and always-on recording devices Balancing innovation against security and compliance The central question is no longer whether companies will use AI. It is whether they can use it quickly without losing control of risk, accountability, and trust. Jason Wade, Founder BackTier.docxDOCX Kate Marshall is the Founder of TheGrai, a Fractional Chief AI Officer, AI adoption strategist, SHRM AI Instructor, and author of AI at Work. After nearly two decades at the SANS Institute, she now helps executives, HR leaders, and teams implement AI through practical training, governance, workforce readiness, and responsible adoption. Jason Todd Wade is the Founder of BackTier and host of the AI Visibility Podcast. He helps organizations become understood, trusted, and recommended by AI systems through stronger entity authority, machine trust, and AI Visibility. Kate Marshall katemarshall.ai TheGrai thegr.ai BackTier backtier.com AI Visibility Podcast Spotify