AI & Data Governance Insights · Mary Hartwell The questions nobody is asking about AI. Yet.

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Enterprise Data Podcast, full episode. Billy Thomas Podcast: Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas laughing together, side by side
Full episode · 47 min · Aug 2026

AI Will Not Fix the Data Problems You Never Solved

Enterprise Data Podcast with Billy Thomas

AI governance and data governance are related, but they are not interchangeable. We talk about data ownership, quality, accountability, institutional knowledge, shadow AI, hallucinations and regulatory exposure.

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Clips from the episode 12 short clips, newest first

Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: Why replace the engine? (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 15, 2026 Why replace the engine? Why do organizations settle for replacing the engine when preventative maintenance is 10x less costly? Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: Sanctioned AI vs. shadow AI (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 14, 2026 Sanctioned AI vs. shadow AI “Sanctioned” AI, even if procurement approved it, may still lack proper governance. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: Hallucinations inside your organization (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 13, 2026 Hallucinations inside your organization An AI headshot with an extra limb is a reminder of the silent “hallucinations” happening inside organizations. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: AI cant govern without defined ownership (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 12, 2026 AI can’t govern without defined ownership If you can’t define who owns the data, how can you expect AI to make reliable decisions? Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: Start your AI journey right (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 11, 2026 Start your AI journey right An AI journey hinges on robust data governance and effective organizational change management. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: Data governance is non-negotiable (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 10, 2026 Data governance is non-negotiable Data integrity and high data quality are ongoing necessities, not one-time projects. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: Data governance: not a restriction, but trust (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 9, 2026 Data governance: not a restriction, but trust Its true purpose is to build trust, so you can make high-value decisions with confidence. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: AIs Wild West: setting the standards (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 7, 2026 AI’s Wild West: setting the standards Without clear standards and ethical frameworks, we risk unchecked growth and unintended consequences. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: What do enterprise execs really want from AI? (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 7, 2026 What do enterprise execs really want from AI? The AI era demands clear standards and a deep executive understanding of the implications. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: How many top-1000 companies have good governance? (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 6, 2026 How many top-1000 companies have good governance? Fortune 1000 companies with a truly robust governance program? A resounding none. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: Data governance vs. AI governance (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 5, 2026 Data governance vs. AI governance Two distinct disciplines: data governance is about ownership, stewardship and trusted data foundations. Watch on LinkedIn → Podcast clip with Mary Hartwell and Billy Thomas: AI prompts left in client decks (opens on LinkedIn) Clip · Aug 4, 2026 AI prompts left in client decks Leaving AI prompts visible and skipping the fact-check can turn a client presentation into an embarrassment. Watch on LinkedIn →

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The Disclaimer Is Small. The Responsibility Isn't. — speech bubbles of common AI cautions (opens LinkedIn post) Post · Oct 15, 2026

“I’ll Ask for Forgiveness Later”

If asking permission to use an AI tool means a long wait or an automatic no, that’s how shadow AI happens.

Leaders should ask themselves: Do people trust us enough to tell us what they’re using? Can they ask a question without getting a lecture? Have we given them a workable option?

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Deep Thoughts with Chat — a phone chat about what AI implementation experience really means (opens LinkedIn post) Post · Oct 11, 2026

Hiring to Lead AI Transformation?

Great candidates are getting weeded out before they get a chance. Are you asking the right questions?

Experience in machine learning, predictive analytics and automation matters. But lumping all of that together with generative AI and AI agents makes it harder to understand what someone has actually delivered.

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The AI Bill Is Coming Due — infographic on what boards will ask and what regulators will want (opens LinkedIn post) Post · Aug 18, 2026

Does Anyone Know What “Deploying AI” Means?

Organizations aren’t asking the right questions or building the foundation their AI initiatives need.

To a lot of people AI is this magical beast that is supposed to make everything better, easier, faster, but most people can’t even articulate what it actually means to deploy AI in their organizations.

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Who's Minding the Data? infographic: when data governance is weak versus strong (opens LinkedIn post) Post · Aug 4, 2026

AI Governance Is Not Replacing Data Governance

They aren’t competing priorities, they’re symbiotic. Without Data Governance, there is no responsible AI.

Data Governance ensures the information AI consumes is accurate, trusted, secure, and fit for purpose. The problem often is, organizations put all the effort into making sure the data is clean once and then forget about it.

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Who's Minding the Model? infographic on governing the AI model layer (opens LinkedIn post) Series: Who’s Minding the… Post · Jul 30, 2026

Who’s Minding the Model?

Why AI Governance Has Become a Leadership Problem

Say companies do everything right. They keep experienced people, capture the knowledge and govern the data properly… There’s still something sitting underneath it…

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Who's Minding the Farm? infographic on keeping experienced people as AI scales (opens LinkedIn post) Series: Who’s Minding the… Post · Jul 27, 2026

Who’s Minding the Farm?

How do we use AI to amplify the knowledge and judgment that make this organization valuable?

If you hired a firm because of its expertise, would you expect them to tell you if much of the work was now being performed by less experienced resources augmented by AI?

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“Efficiency without that foundation isn’t transformation. It’s cost reduction with a knowledge deficit.”

From Who’s Minding the Farm?
It Is 10:00 PM, Do You Know Where Your Data Is? — shadow AI poster (opens LinkedIn post) Post · Jul 23, 2026

It Is 10pm, Do You Know Where Your Data Is?

You cannot secure what you cannot see. Visibility is the first step to governance.

People aren’t trying to cause a breach, they’re just being told to be more efficient. But chasing efficiency without foundations leads to shadow AI creeping in.

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Every Panic Precedes Progress — Mary Hartwell on the tech panic cycle, from Y2K to today's AI panic (opens LinkedIn post) Post · Jul 15, 2026

Every Panic Precedes Progress

It isn’t you, it’s all part of the Tech Panic Cycle.

If you’ve been impacted by AI, laid off, displaced (as my friends now call it, Hartwell’d)… Sometimes you don’t need someone to solve your problems, you just need someone who gets it.

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