New York City. Austin. Rome?

On AI, Leadership, and a New Pope Named Leo

I recently hit the road for two very different events—Reuters Momentum AI in New York City and CREW ELEVATE! in Austin. From Manhattan skyscrapers to a Texas public library, I moderated, keynoted, and (technically) graduated, all within five days. Different cities, different conversations. But the same themes kept showing up.

Let’s rewind.

📍 Reuters Momentum AI, New York City

I had the privilege of moderating three diverse sessions at one of the most important and impactful AI conferences on the enterprise calendar, Reuters MOMENTUM AI New York 2025. Data and AI leaders from some of the top enterprise and finance companies shared real-world case studies showing how they’re using AI to deliver real results..

Session #1: Maximizing AI ROI: Balancing Fiscal Prudence with Innovative Value Creation

Panelists: Meaghan Ferrigno , CFO & CDAO, Destination Canada and Tom Hale, CEO, ŌURA

Whether empowering individuals or entire industries, ŌURA and Destination Canada showed how AI becomes transformative when paired with purpose. For ŌURA, that means using data to drive behavior change—helping users understand their health and act on it. For Destination Canada, it meant turning post-Covid recovery into national strategy—building an AI-powered platform that guides an entire country with real-time intelligence. The throughline? When AI is embedded into the infrastructure—of our bodies or our economies—it doesn’t just inform. It moves people.

The best tool for AI transformation? A great case study.

Karin Kimbrough, Chief Economist, LinkedIn

Session #2: Quantifying AI Success: Metrics That Matter to the C-Suite

Panelists: Don Vu , CDAO, New York Life, Vrinda Menon , CTO, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Brian Buchwald , Global Chair, AI & Product, Edelman and Sam Ramachandran , CSO, Tiger Analytics

We moved past “AI maturity” buzzwords and into the guts of what executives are actually measuring, and how they’re aligning that data with enterprise value. The most telling shift? These leaders aren’t just tracking performance—they’re tracking perception. Because they know: if your people aren’t bought in—if they don’t feel the value—your AI initiative is DOA. Sentiment isn’t a soft metric; it’s a leading indicator. Comfort, clarity, and trust in the tools are what ultimately determine whether adoption scales or stalls.

Session #3: Real World AI Use Cases in Financial Services

Panelists: H. David Wu , Head of AI Strategy, Morgan Stanley, Peter Hahn , CDATO, Vantage Risk Companies, Ethan Ding , Co-Founder, TextQL and Harveer Singh , CDO, Truist

These four powerhouse leaders showed us what it looks like when AI delivers real value. H. David Wu showed how Morgan Stanley is boosting advisor productivity with LLM-powered tools, Peter Hahn shared how Vantage Risk is slashing cyber underwriting time with document automation, Harveer Singh walked us through how Truist is using AI to turn customer sentiment into strategy, and Ethan Ding showed how TextQL is helping clients surface seven figures in hidden fraud—fast. These weren’t hypotheticals. They were proof points. And the message was clear: when AI is focused, embedded, and user-led, it works.

Main Conference Takeaways: The key to successful AI transformation isn’t just tech—it’s trust. Trust across teams, leadership, and most importantly, end users. The message was clear: AI must move from the margins of an organization to its cultural core. That starts with solving real human problems, including the people who’ll use the tools, and designing with diverse voices to confront bias from the ground up.

Also, the tech isn’t the bottleneck—we are. As Marco Argenti of Goldman Sachs put it, “The limit is not what AI can do, but how people can adapt to it.” Adoption demands more than deployment—it takes a clear vision, real investment, and a culture where education isn’t a one-off but a way of operating. Because smart risk management isn’t about saying no, it’s actually about knowing how to say yes.

A VERY special thanks to the incredible Erika Musso for the invitation to take part in such a stellar event and to the entire Reuters team for putting on one of the best AI events I've attended to-date.

📍 Keynote Address at CREW Austin’s ELEVATE!, Austin, TX

From New York to Austin overnight. My keynote, “Elevating Humanity (and Places) in the Age of AI”, was an invitation to rethink what we’re really building—and who it’s for.

I was honored to be invited by CREW Austin to pose the question: What does a human-centered, AI-augmented future look like in commercial real estate?

This talk tackled head-on how the time has come for commercial real estate to evolve from its post-industrial, asset-maximizing mindset to people-centric, in actual service of humans.

We explored:

• The shift from asset-centric to people-centric design

• AI-driven personalization in workplace and space planning

• The evolving skillsets of the modern built-world professional: creativity, empathy, adaptability

• And why women can—and must—lean into this transformation

A very special thanks to the entire CREW Austin community for the most hospitable welcome! Of note, Jennifer Jarl McCombs Kelly Hewitt Miller, RID and Jennifer Martin, you know how to make a girl feel welcome (and can't wait to come back)! The Ranch Waters and tacos were an added bonus.

🎓 Later That Day: My Renegade Accelerator Graduation

Oh and that keynote? It overlapped with something else: my graduation from the Renegade Accelerator, a leadership program founded by the incomparable and incredible, Amy Jo Martin.

Amy Jo and I first met in 2023, after her keynote at CREW Boston. After hearing her speak, I tracked her down. A few minutes later, she told me, “You’re a Renegade. Come join us.”

[I almost didn’t join the Accelerator. It kicked off just two days after my father passed away, and “acceleration” felt like the last thing I needed. But something told me to say yes and I’m so glad I did. Amy Jo, the Renegade team, and my fellow cohorts were exactly what I needed: ambitious, authentic women unafraid to, as Amy says, “go deep and fast” and ask, “why not now?” We carried each other through grief, growth, and everything in between—with grit, strength, and humor.]

Two years later, I gave my keynote in her hometown, Austin, smack dab during my graduation.

That night, I celebrated with several local Renegade cohorts at the home of Amy Jo's good friend, Sam Goodner. When I told Sam that I had to miss graduation to keynote in Amy Jo's town, he smiled and said, "there's no such thing as coincidences."

I think he might be right.

A special and grateful shoutout to: Cate Jarrett Brooke Weinstein Meredith DeMalia Genevieve Martin Sabrina Zahn Patti Kelly, APR Rebecca (Becki) Bell-Stanton Rachel LaFera Katie Arnholt Kim, CCIM Evanthia Aldrich Martha Underwood Sabrina A Wilson, MBA Shahriela Ganjoor DMD Pam Paziotopoulos, Esq. Michelle Oryschak Lauren Winstead

🙏 And Then… Pope Leo and AI

Yes, we now have a new Pope: Pope Leo XIV. Pope Leo intentionally chose his name after Pope Leo XIII, who led from 1878 to 1903 during the height of the Industrial Revolution. That Leo issued Rerum Novarum, a radical encyclical for its time, advocating for labor rights, just wages, and ethical industrial progress.

Pope Leo understands he’s leading through a moment as transformative as the Industrial Revolution, and he’s looking to the past for guidance. His embrace of AI as a humanistic challenge and opportunity feels… aligned. This is not just about faith or tech. It’s about the moral questions we can’t outsource, and the leadership required to face them.

💡 Final Thought

Weeks like this remind me that alignment often masquerades as chaos.

The metrics matter. The markets matter. But the moments, the ones that connect purpose, place, and people are what shape the future.

Because yes, it’s about AI, metrics, and digital twins. But it’s also about missed graduations, meaningful conversations, and the possibility that even Rome is starting to ask: what does it mean to build wisely, now?

💬 For speaking, advising, or if you’re rethinking AI + human systems, let’s talk, reach out at nadine@ezzieco.com