Calendar of Events

Topic: 

Despite the buzz around AI and its potential to revolutionize industries, a surprising 70-80% of AI projects fail. Why do so many AI initiatives, brimming with promise and potential, end up falling short? In this talk we explore the top reasons for these AI project failures, through real-world experiences and “ripped from the headlines” examples. We’ll share why many AI projects fail, and the practical ways to navigate these challenges for AI project success, highlighting the project manager’s role in AI projects. Furthermore, we’ll explain how emerging approaches to Trustworthy AI are helping to address a wide range of ethical and responsible AI challenges. As a way to avoid these common AI project failures, we’ll present the emerging best practice for AI projects leveraged by successful organizations, the Cognitive Project Management for AI (CPMAI) approach. Attendees will learn how to do AI right by applying a step-wise approach/methodology for AI projects, including an AI project template that gives you a straightforward way to adapt CPMAI methodology to your AI projects, how CPMAI aligns with PMBOK, examples of how PMP and CPMAI enhance each other, and a real-world example.

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding the Common Pitfalls of AI Projects
• Real-World Case Studies of AI Failures
• Approaches for successfully managing AI projects
• Alignment of CPMAI with PMBOK
• Trustworthy AI considerations

Speakers:

Ron Schmelzer

Kathleen Walch

Speakers Bio:

Ronald Schmelzer, Managing Partner and CPMAI Certified Lead Instructor Ron is Managing Partner and Founder of Cognilytica. At Cognilytica, Ron co-developed the Cognitive Project Management for AI (CPMAI) methodology that is in use by Fortune 1000 firms and government agencies world wide to successfully run and manage their AI and advanced data projects. Adopted by dozens of multinational organizations, dozens of government agencies, and NGOs, CPMAI has become the best practices framework and approach for AI project management. Ron is CPMAI+E Certified and is a Lead Instructor on CPMAI courses and training. Learn more at: cognilytica.com/cpmai Ron is a sought-after expert on AI and data best practices and AI project management. He serves as chair for a number of industry groups focused on AI adoption and best practices, helping launch the AI working group at ATARC. Ron is co-host of the AI Today podcast, regular Forbes contributor, TechTarget SearchAI columnist, and SXSW Innovation Awards Judge.

Prior to founding Cognilytica, Ron founded and ran ZapThink, an industry analyst firm focused on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Cloud Computing, Web Services, XML, and Enterprise Architecture, which was acquired by Dovel Technologies in August 2011, which was subsequently acquired by Guidehouse. Ron received a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where his undergraduate advisor was well-known AI researcher Rodney Brooks. Ron also received an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

Kathleen Walch, Managing Partner and CPMAI Certified Lead Instructor  Kathleen is Managing Partner and Founder of Cognilytica. At Cognilytica, Kathleen co-developed the Cognitive Project Management for AI (CPMAI) methodology that is in use by Fortune 1000 firms and government agencies world wide to successfully run and manage their AI and advanced data projects. Adopted by dozens of multinational organizations, dozens of government agencies, and NGOs, CPMAI is quickly becoming the standard methodology for AI project management best practices. Kathleen is CPMAI+E Certified and is a Lead Instructor on CPMAI courses and training. Learn more at: cognilytica.com/cpmai

As an experienced data-focused analyst with a background in marketing, Kathleen’s expertise and experience in project management issues around organizational adoption of data led to the development of the CPMAI methodology. Kathleen is a dynamic presenter, researcher and thought leader on emerging technology best practices. She helped launch the AI-focused working group at ATARC and is the AI working group chair bringing her knowledge, experience, and expertise to help organizations and government agencies apply AI best practices. Kathleen was selected to join OECD’s ONE AI and Expert Group on AI risk and accountability in 2019 at the OECD ONE group launch. She is often invited to present at and keynote industry events. Kathleen is also a co-host of the AI Today podcast, regular Forbes contributor, TechTarget SearchAI columnist, and SXSW Innovation Awards Judge.

Prior to her work at Cognilytica, Kathleen founded tech startup-up HourlyBee, an online scheduling system for home services where she quickly became an expert in grassroots marketing, networking, and employee management. Before that, Kathleen was a key part of the direct marketing operation for Harte Hanks managing large scale direct mail campaigns for clients including Bed Bath and Beyond and BuyBuyBaby. Managing big data analytics, she created efficiencies in the process saving thousands of dollars and days of processing time from each campaign. Kathleen graduated from Loyola University with a degree in Marketing.