Enterprise AI adoption is moving beyond copilots and isolated pilots toward agentic AI embedded across business workflows.
In this Channel Insider Featured Interview, Rima Safari, PwC Partner and US Data, Analytics and AI Practice Leader, joins Victoria Durgin to discuss how enterprise AI strategies are changing, what companies need to move AI into production, and how PwC’s expanding alliance with OpenAI is helping organizations rethink business processes.
Safari explains why security, governance, enterprise data, operating-model change, and executive sponsorship are increasingly critical as organizations pursue measurable returns from AI. She also discusses the growing importance of modular AI architectures, token economics, AI-native workflows, and ecosystems built around humans working alongside agents.
The conversation also explores PwC’s work with OpenAI across finance, customer service, cybersecurity, software engineering, and industry-specific AI use cases — and what enterprise AI adoption could look like heading into 2027.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Why enterprise AI adoption requires more than technology
01:03 – How the enterprise AI market is changing
02:14 – Four barriers to scaling AI into production
04:08 – Moving from AI tools to AI-driven business operations
05:38 – Why AI time savings are not always becoming cost savings
07:02 – PwC’s evolving relationship with OpenAI
08:09 – From AI assistants to redesigned workflows
08:35 – Why the PwC-OpenAI alliance matters
10:26 – Building AI architectures for rapid technology change
11:09 – Data modernization, governance and AI ROI
14:00 – The gap between AI innovation and enterprise adoption
15:52 – Why executives need to see production AI in action
16:29 – What enterprise AI adoption could look like in 2027
17:23 – Humans and AI agents reshape enterprise ecosystems
18:28 – Why token economics could become a CIO discipline
19:59 – PwC and OpenAI expand their partnership
20:24 – How the OpenAI center of excellence will support production AI