Scaling Global Trade with AI Powered Tools for SMBs - with Kuo Zhang of Alibaba.com

Global sourcing has long been a barrier for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Language differences, compliance challenges, logistics hurdles, and trust issues can overwhelm even the most determined entrepreneurs. In this episode of the AI in Business podcast, Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com, shares how new technologies—including Alibaba’s agentic AI system Accio—are streamlining procurement and unlocking opportunities once reserved for enterprises. Drawing on examples from thousands of SMBs worldwide, Zhang details how AI is transforming sourcing from a months-long, manual process into an automated workflow that delivers results in hours. He also discusses how Alibaba.com is embedding AI into every layer of its platform, from search to supplier engagement, and how organizations of any size can begin adopting these systems with minimal lift. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! Join enterprise leaders at Emerj’s Vision to Value AI Infra Summit to explore strategies for building, securing, and scaling AI infrastructure. Reserve your free spot today: emerj.com/infrasummit2.

Clinical trials are growing more complex, and nowhere is that more evident than in oncology and obesity research. As sponsors push for reliable, real-time patient data, the role of electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOAs) has never been more critical. These tools determine not only how patients report on their quality of life but also how sponsors capture the endpoints that drive regulatory approval. In this episode of the AI in Business podcast, Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello speaks with Anthony Mikulaschek, Vice President of Commercial Strategy at IQVIA Technologies. Anthony unpacks the evolution of eCOAs, from their early days on Palm Pilots to today’s AI-enabled platforms. He explains how thoughtful design reduces patient and clinician burden, why cultural and linguistic nuance matters for global trials, and what digital libraries and compliance automation mean for faster, more resilient studies. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!

In this episode, Pavlé Sabic, Senior Director in Generative AI Solutions and Strategy at Moody’s, joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to discuss how agentic AI is redefining workflows in financial institutions. Pavlé explains why large enterprises are turning to AI-driven automation to overcome persistent challenges — from fragmented data and manual inefficiencies to evolving regulatory demands. He shares practical examples, including credit memo automation that reduces production time by 60%, portfolio monitoring tools that detect emerging risks earlier, and sales intelligence workflows that deliver highly targeted client insights. Pavlé also outlines why proprietary data is a strategic advantage in regulated industries and how leaders can implement agentic AI without losing human oversight. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! This episode is sponsored by Moody’s. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

In this episode of the AI in Business podcast, host and Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello speaks with Yunke Xiang, Global Head of Data Science for Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Quality at Sanofi. Together, they examine how generative AI and reasoning models are evolving from simple automation to high-impact copilots across pharmaceutical operations. Yunke shares examples of how AI is enabling “talk to your data” use cases, automating regulatory reporting, and accelerating knowledge transfer for new employees. He also highlights how agentic AI systems may soon extend beyond copilots to function as digital teammates, orchestrating tasks across complex supply chains and ERP migrations. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!

The ‘AI in Business’ podcast connects enterprise leaders with the best insights on how AI is driving measurable impact across regulated industries. In this episode, we highlight Prudential Financial’s perspective on scaling AI in customer experience, an area facing both significant opportunity and unique regulatory challenges. By featuring Abhii Parakh, VP and Head of Customer Experience at Prudential Financial, this episode links directly into ongoing conversations with financial services leaders about digital transformation, customer trust, and the rise of agentic AI. Listeners will gain actionable context for how insurance companies can responsibly adopt AI, improve employee and customer outcomes, and prepare for a rapidly changing future of customer interaction. This episode is sponsored by Cognigy. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!

As AI adoption accelerates in financial services, governance leaders face the challenge of keeping oversight processes aligned with innovation. OneTrust provides data governance and risk management tools, serving over 14,000 customers worldwide across privacy, security, third-party, and AI domains. Traditional data governance models, often designed for structured databases, are not built to manage today’s dynamic, unstructured AI workflows. Without clear frameworks, organizations risk compliance gaps, inconsistent oversight, and even internal conflict over ownership of AI decision-making. In this episode, Shane Wiggins, Director of Product at OneTrust, explores how enterprises can build governance models that not only mitigate risk but also support innovation. He explains why visibility into unstructured data is essential, how to align compliance and product teams through self-service governance, and the importance of making governance “invisible to developers but visible to auditors.” Wiggins also details best practices for staying ahead of regulatory change, from embedding flexible policies to creating system cards that clarify model purpose and limitations for clients. The discussion highlights how governance, when done right, can accelerate time to market, reduce compliance costs, and even create a competitive advantage. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show! This episode is sponsored by OneTrust. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

Banks face some of the highest stakes when it comes to IT reliability. Even small disruptions can ripple into regulatory exposure, reputational harm, and major financial losses. Yet many financial institutions still rely on reactive monitoring systems that chase alerts without addressing the root causes of outages. On today’s episode of the ‘AI in Business’ podcast, Dale Skeen, CTO and Co-founder of Vitria Technology, explains how AI and agentic systems are reshaping IT operations in financial services. Vitria Technology is a global leader in AI-driven operations platforms, helping enterprises move from data analysis to automated action with its flagship VIA AIOps solution. Built for scale, VIA AIOps delivers total ecosystem observability and intelligent automation, reducing downtime, improving customer experience, and accelerating ROI. Dale’s appearance goes into great detail on how knowledge graphs improve explainability and trust, how automation is already reducing time to resolution for common failures, and how AI copilots are helping teams tackle the most complex system outages. Dale also shares a roadmap for financial leaders looking to reduce downtime, cut manual toil, and scale toward self-healing IT systems—one sprint at a time. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! This episode is sponsored by Vitria Technology. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

As enterprises scale their AI initiatives, leaders face mounting challenges in balancing compute demands, sustainability goals, and hybrid cloud strategies. Many organizations rush to secure GPUs and cloud resources without accounting for hidden costs, data bottlenecks, and sustainability trade-offs. In this episode of the AI in Business podcast, Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello speaks with Jason Hardy, Chief Technology Officer of AI at Hitachi Vantara, about the realities of scaling AI infrastructure at the enterprise level. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Hitachi Vantara is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. that provides data infrastructure foundations that help leading innovators manage and leverage their data at scale. Through data storage, infrastructure systems, cloud management and digital expertise, the company helps customers build the foundation for sustainable business growth. To learn more, visit www.hitachivantara.com. Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show! This episode is sponsored by Hitachi Vantara. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

As universities and enterprises both turn to large-scale digital learning, the challenges of scaling education look remarkably similar across sectors. From managing data pipelines to ensuring learners feel a sense of connection, success depends on more than just technology. In this Pure Storage-sponsored episode of the ‘AI in Business’ podcast from Emerj, Norma Scagnoli, Chief Learning and Innovation Officer at the Illinois Institute of Technology, discusses how higher education institutions are navigating cultural resistance, accreditation hurdles, and governance demands while scaling MOOCs and degree programs. She also shares lessons enterprises can apply as they build partnerships with universities and adopt AI-driven personalization for workforce training. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show! This episode is sponsored by Pure Storage. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

The consumer goods and retail industries face an overwhelming challenge: too much fragmented data and too little clarity. From mismatched retailer reports to legacy systems that can’t keep up with today’s SKU volumes, many organizations find themselves bogged down in “data indigestion” instead of actionable insights. Today’s guest is Henrique Wakil Moyses, Vice President of Data Science at Crisp. Crisp is a data platform designed for the consumer goods ecosystem, helping brands, retailers, and distributors harmonize fragmented data from multiple sources. By providing real-time visibility into sales, inventory, and supply chain signals, Crisp enables faster, data-driven decisions that reduce waste and improve business outcomes. Henrique joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to break down how CPG and retail leaders can cut through this complexity. He explains why building a data-driven culture is the first barrier to overcome, how to align AI adoption with ROI, and where brands are already seeing the biggest payoffs—such as supply chain optimization, inventory forecasting, and personalized retail experiences. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business’ podcast! This episode is sponsored by Crisp. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.