Why Most AI Pilots Fail — And How Jim Palermo at Red Hat Turned Experiments into Impact

In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we talk with Jim Palermo, former Global CIO of Red Hat, where he helped lead massive transformation efforts across hybrid cloud, FinOps, and enterprise AI — all while staying rooted in Red Hat’s open-source DNA.Jim shares a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how one of the world’s most influential tech companies scaled innovation — and what it really takes to build experiments into enterprise culture.🧠 How Red Hat created an AI Center of Excellence without slowing teams down🛡️ Why a lightweight governance model beat traditional command-and-control💬 The power of open decision frameworks and inclusive experimentation⚙️ Why IT must become business translators, not just tech service providers💡 How “quarterly experiments” helped Red Hat fail faster — and smarterThis is a masterclass for CIOs, transformation leaders, and enterprise teams wrestling with scale, complexity, and the human side of innovation.Thanks for tuning in to Breakthrough Innovation! Want to subscribe to the podcast? Have feedback to share? Connect with us on Spotify or iTunes and leave us a review—we’d love to hear from you!