From the CIA to leading AI industry solutions: Sezin Palmer on the breakthroughs yet to come

In this episode of Catalyst, Tammy is joined by Sezin Palmer, AI Solutions Leader at NTT DATA. Sezin wins the award for most unconventional career path of a Catalyst guest in recent memory. She’s been a CIA analyst, submarine warfare researcher, built the National Health Mission area at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and led health AI at EY. Tammy and Sezin discuss the power of AI in the hands of many and the predicament of enterprises trying to decide what not to pursue.

Highlights from the episode include:

• Focus on flexibility. When working with clients, Sezin's priority is flexibility. She warns against making large technology investments with the assumption that nothing will change. Instead, think in terms of continuous improvement and modular design. Flexibility makes it easier to swap things out as better options emerge.
• Deciding what not to do is the hardest part. With AI now accessible to nearly everyone inside an organization, the number of pilots and proofs of concept has exploded. That makes prioritization the central leadership challenge right now. And while it’s tempting (and perhaps even feasible) to chase every possible idea, it’s far more powerful to choose a few and focus.
• AI to AI and the end of the current model. Using healthcare claims as an example, Sezin points to a near future where providers and insurers are both using AI to handle their respective sides of the claims process. At some point, that back-and-forth becomes unnecessary and the entire workflow gets reworked. It’s easy to see that same pattern playing out across industries.

Check out the full episode to learn more about why NTT DATA shines bright like a diamond. And to not learn more about Sezin’s work at the CIA, because it’s classified.

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Please note that the views expressed in this episode may not necessarily be those of NTT DATA.