Why Most AI Strategies Fail Before They Even Start ft. Zoher Karu
April 16, 2026
AI is everywhere but many organizations are still getting it wrong. In this episode of Bringing Data and AI to Life, hosts Amy Horowitz and Nick Dobbins sit down with Zoher, a seasoned data and AI leader, to unpack why AI is the business accelerator today. From messy data foundations to misguided “AI-first” thinking, Zoher breaks down why companies rush into AI without clarity on the problem they’re solving, and how that leads to wasted effort and poor outcomes. He emphasises thinking backwards from the business problem, not forward from the technology.
AI is everywhere but many organizations are still getting it wrong. In this episode of Bringing Data and AI to Life, hosts Amy Horowitz and Nick Dobbins sit down with Zoher, a seasoned data and AI leader. From his experience across banking, healthcare, and retail, Zoher explains why data is the true foundation of AI success and why most organizations underestimate the complexity of organizing, and governing it. He also dives into the common traps companies fall into, from chasing AI use cases without clear business problems to optimizing processes that shouldn’t exist in the first place.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why AI is just another tool and not the strategy
- The biggest mistake companies make when starting their AI journey
- How poor data foundations lead to faster bad decisions
- Why redefining business processes matters more than automating them
- Challenges of scaling AI across industries like healthcare and retail
- What aspiring professionals should focus on to succeed in the AI space
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This podcast is brought to you by Informatica, the leader in enterprise cloud data management.
Links:
Zoher LinkedIn
Informatica: https://www.informatica.com/
Amy Horowitz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyhorowitz/
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Previous guests include:
Salema Rice host of Data Governance and Data Integration Solution Sales, Willem Koenders of ZS Associates, Tanja Ubert of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Graeme Thompson of Informatica
Check out our Top episodes:
Bringing Data and AI to Life Guest and Audience Feedback
Leave us a voice note!
Previous guests include:
Salema Rice host of Data Governance and Data Integration Solution Sales, Willem Koenders of ZS Associates, Tanja Ubert of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Graeme Thompson of Informatica
Check out our Top episodes:
- Why Do We Still Struggle to Trust AI? with Graeme Thompson from Informatica
- Data Quality Over Quantity and the Human Element, with Tanja Ubert from Rotterdam University
- The Power of Data Governance and Responsible AI with Salema Rice, Chief Executive Officer at CDO Today