This three-part Expert Exchanges series, hosted by Constance Sayers from ERP Today, explores how organizations are navigating AI-led transformation in partnership with Oracle Cloud and IBM Consulting.
Across the episodes, a consistent set of themes emerges: AI is elevating traditionally back-office functions — HR, supply chain, and cloud infrastructure — into strategic enterprise priorities. IBM’s “Client Zero” approach, where IBM applies AI solutions internally before bringing them to clients, serves as a through-line across all three conversations, lending credibility and real-world lessons to the advice being shared. Experts consistently emphasize that successful AI transformation starts not with technology, but with clean data, simplified processes, and a clear vision of where AI can deliver measurable value. The series makes clear that organizations which invest thoughtfully in the right cloud foundations, data architecture, and agentic workflows today will be best positioned to compete in the years ahead.
Meet the experts
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Kankayan SenguptaIBM Consulting |
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Luis E. SanchezIBM Consulting, Global Oracle Supply Chain Lead |
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Jen BascoIBM Consulting, Global Lead for Oracle HR |
Episode 1 — Making Cloud Infrastructure Strategic with Kankayan Sengupta
Kankayan Sengupta from IBM Consulting explains how cloud infrastructure has evolved from a back-end technical concern into a defining element of enterprise AI strategy. He walks through how AI has changed every layer of the infrastructure stack — compute, networking, storage, governance, and cost modeling — and shares IBM’s Client Zero results, including an “Ask HR” solution that resolved 94% of employee queries autonomously and reduced HR operational costs by 40%. The conversation covers key decision frameworks around cloud topology, data readiness, and the organizational and operating model changes that cloud adoption demands. Kankayan closes with a forward-looking view spanning intelligence orchestration, AI memory, small language models, multimodal AI, and edge AI — trends that will reshape enterprise infrastructure over the next three to five years.
Episode 2 — Building Resilient, Intelligent Supply Chains in the Age of AI with Luis E. Sanchez
Luis E. Sanchez, IBM Consulting’s global Oracle Supply Chain lead, discusses how supply chain networks were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and how organizations pivoted to more resilient ways of structuring and thinking, especially with the introduction of AI tools and frameworks. He frames supply chain balancing challenges as fundamentally math problems that AI can efficiently attack by increasing the speed of execution for simulation and trade-off recommendations thus allowing professionals to spend more time focusing on orchestrating complex decisions. Drawing on IBM’s own complex supply chain and client zero use case, Luis advises organizations to resist investing in broad AI initiatives as a starting point, but rather focus on high-impact use cases, operationalize them quickly, and use those wins to build internal momentum for a longer capability roadmap.
Episode 3 — Reimagining HR and the Future of Work with Jen Basco
Jen Basco, IBM Consulting’s global lead for Oracle HR, discusses how AI is repositioning HR from an administrative function to a genuine strategic partner. She walks through IBM’s eliminate, simplify, automate methodology and explains why process clarity must come before AI deployment. Talent management and employee experience are among the areas seeing the most meaningful impact today, with AI agents becoming part of the natural flow of work and removing friction from everyday HR interactions. Jen also shares how IBM’s own AI transformation unlocked 4.5 billion dollars in productivity, giving IBM a uniquely grounded perspective when working with clients. She closes with a forward-looking view on how HR will shift from reactive to proactive, with organizations that invest in the right data, governance and leadership alignment best positioned to lead the way.
