Why AI Adoption Fails Without an Operating Model | Alex Czurylo, Chief Strategy & Operations Officer at Gen3 Marketing

Alex Czurylo, Chief Strategy & Operations Officer at Gen3 Marketing and former analytics and operations leader at Rakuten Advertising, joins the AI Lab to break down what it really takes to build a successful AI program inside an organization—long before ChatGPT made AI mainstream.In this episode, Alex and Ryan unpack why the most effective AI strategies don’t start with tools, but with clearly defined business problems, strong governance, and internal capability-building.Why starting with a single, measurable business problem is the key to AI ROIHow Rakuten Advertising built one of the earliest enterprise AI programs—years ahead of the curveWhat the “VP of AI Strategy & Operations” role actually owns (and why vision matters more than hype)How to approach AI governance without slowing down adoptionWhy AI training should be treated as a core employee benefitThe hidden risks of outsourcing AI agents without internal ownershipWhat Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) means—and how AI is reshaping marketing discoveryAlex shares hard-earned lessons from leading analytics, data science, and AI initiatives at scale, including how to balance experimentation with operational rigor, and why companies that delay AI enablement risk falling permanently behind.Alex Czurylo is Chief Strategy & Operations Officer at Gen3 Marketing, where AI sits at the center of how the agency drives performance and innovation for clients. Previously, Alex spent over a decade at Rakuten Advertising leading analytics and operations, where he helped pioneer early enterprise AI use cases focused on automation, insight generation, and measurable ROI.Known for his pragmatic, outcome-driven approach to technology, Alex has been an early adopter of language models and AI systems—long before generative AI entered the mainstream. His work bridges data science, strategy, governance, and organizational change, helping companies turn emerging technology into real business impact.→ Connect with Alex Czurylo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexczurylo/We also dive into:Guest BioResources