IG Talk w/ Robert Smallwood

As AI changes how organizations use information, how can professionals prepare to govern it?Robert Smallwood breaks down three certification paths covering information governance, generative AI governance, and agentic AI governance. He explains what each program covers, who it’s designed for, and how responsibilities across legal, IT, privacy, cybersecurity, and records management fit into the picture.The episode also explores live instruction, mentorship, exam preparation, and ongoing peer learning—giving listeners a practical starting point for choosing a certification that aligns with their role and goals.

Robert Smallwood speaks with cybersecurity and data privacy expert Michael Esola about the growing need for practical AI governance. Michael shares insights from his new book, Governance at the Speed of Autonomy, and introduces the CORE framework—Context, Oversight, Responsibility, and Elasticity—for managing the risks of AI and agentic AI.They discuss shadow AI, data-loss prevention, audit readiness, critical infrastructure risks, and how quantum computing may reshape cybersecurity. The episode also previews Michael’s upcoming sessions at the AI Governance World Conference in Las Vegas, where he will explore AI governance, cybersecurity, and data privacy in greater depth.

Robert Smallwood talks with Kaan Vulcan, founder and CEO of PurgeRot, about why unmanaged file shares have become a critical business, cybersecurity, and AI-governance issue. They explore the rising cost of cloud storage, the risks created by duplicate, outdated, and overexposed content, and why organizations can no longer afford to feed every file into AI tools such as Copilot.Kaan explains how a curated, well-classified data environment can improve AI accuracy, reduce storage and security costs, and limit exposure to emerging risks such as model poisoning and agentic AI misalignment. The conversation also looks ahead at the changing role of information governance professionals, the return of more precise classification, and what it will take to keep data useful, secure, and ready for an AI-powered future.

In this episode, Robert Smallwood of CIGO Association speaks with Chris Surdak of ReLeaf about the accountability gap emerging as autonomous AI agents increasingly initiate transactions and make decisions. They examine why identity verification alone may not establish that a human intentionally authorized a specific action and why that distinction matters for fraud, disputes, auditability, and corporate governance.Chris introduces ReLeaf’s Proof of Intent patent, designed to create a time-bound, independently witnessed record before a digital transaction proceeds. Together, Robert and Chris discuss the limits of existing guardrails, the need for human accountability in automated workflows, and practical ways organizations can strengthen control, recovery, and trust in the agentic web.

In this episode, Robert Smallwood of CIGO Association sits down with Joe Shepley, Senior Director at Triad Executive Advisors, to examine the fast-changing world of AI Governance. They discuss how organizations can move forward amid uncertain federal and state regulation, build on existing Information Governance foundations, and create practical controls for Agentic AI and citizen-developed tools.Joe shares what AI Governance maturity looks like today, why visibility and risk-based intake processes matter, and how responsible governance can enable innovation rather than slow it down. The conversation also explores AI’s impact on work, data-center growth, and the human judgment that remains essential as AI capabilities accelerate.

A conversation with Camilo Artiga-Purcell, General Counsel, and Tim Freestone, Chief Strategy Officer at software provider Kiteworks. Robert discusses the challenges of securing and controlling AI agents with Camilo and Tim, who weigh in on legal and strategic aspects of agentic AI security. Kiteworks is a lead sponsor of AI Governance World Conference 2026 coming up October 12-14 in Las Vegas. Both Tim and Camilo will be presenting at the conference.

Robert Smallwood interviews IG and IT leader Chris Surdak.

Robert and Doug discuss his new 'Data Juice: 101 Stories of How Organizations Are Squeezing Value from Data Assets" book, which is a collection of short stories of use cases where new value has been found. The books has some unique features in the electronic version to make it easier to find cases relevant to your organization.

Robert and ISO Convenor Noureddine Lamriri discuss the process of creating an ISO standard, how a new standard is agreed upon, how often is will be updated and other matters related to Information Governance and the new ISO 24143:2022 standard.

Blockchain & crypto pioneer Ashton Addison, Founder & Host of The Crypto Coin Show defines crypto, discusses its categorization as a commodity vs. security, crypto market swings, the intersection of data monetization and crypto, and Web3 secure portable logins that help preserve privacy.