The race to capture tangible AI value has moved from isolated experiments to the core of enterprise operations. Success now hinges on balancing rapid deployment with unwavering trust, according to Mike Thiessen, U.S. chief clients and markets officer at PwC.
“It comes back to trust and governance,” Thiessen said. “We’re getting asked, ‘How do you set up a framework to make sure that you know what people are using AI for, that it’s trustworthy and that everybody’s doing what we want them to do?’”
To overcome skepticism, Google is deploying engineers directly into client environments. Rebecca Potts, director of North American strategic industries at Google, explained that these forward-deployed engineers develop industry-specific agents within a week or two, using a company’s own data.
PwC recently announced a dedicated Google Cloud AI Center of Excellence, structured around specialized technical talent embedded in client initiatives. This approach reduces friction, accelerates time to AI value, and builds the trust needed for digital transformation.
“What our customers really want to see is a use case that works and will solve a particular industry-focused problem in their business,” Potts said.
CFOs and COOs are now driving the agenda, focusing on unit economics and make-versus-buy decisions. The differentiator is leadership attitude. “You shouldn’t worry about AI replacing your job - you should worry about somebody who uses AI better than you replacing you,” Thiessen warned.