Sebastian Chedal has spent 25 years guiding organizations through digital transformation. These days, the question at the center of his work is one every executive is starting to ask: how do you minimize the risks of your AI system so you can actually trust it?

This week, Kyle and Anne dig into AI testing, implementation risk, and what it takes to build systems you can stand behind.'

Sebastian is the CEO of Fountain City, where he leads AI transformation and digital implementation engagements, and co-founder of TestFox.ai, a platform built specifically for AI testing. Over his career he has guided organizations including Heineken, Sony, Nike, and MITCO Tires through technology strategies that produce measurable outcomes.

If you're an executive or team lead who's been handed an AI initiative and told to figure it out, this conversation gives you a grounded way to think about risk, reliability, and what responsible AI implementation looks like in practice.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽:

• How to evaluate whether your AI system is ready to trust before it touches your operations

• How to approach AI testing so you're not discovering problems after launch

• How to reduce liability exposure without slowing down your AI adoption

• How to distinguish between AI that sounds promising and AI that performs

• How to build a case for leadership when the question is "how do we know this is safe?"

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁:

• 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: https://fountaincity.tech/

• 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺: https://testfox.ai/

• 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗔𝗜: https://she-leads-ai.mn.co/

• 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻: https://aisalon.mn.co/

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: https://ruready4ai.com/

𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲, 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲

Catch a new episode of The AI Readiness Project every Wednesday at 3pm (PST), co-hosted by Anne Murphy of She Leads AI and Kyle Shannon of The AI Salon. Want to meet others navigating this new terrain with humor and humanity? Visit The AI Salon or She Leads AI to find your people.

In a world saturated with content, the difference between a global hit and a digital ghost is creative that's backed by data. We sit down with Ben Jones to explore how AI doesn’t replace the "soul" of an ad but finally gives us the tools to measure why it works.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

𝗕𝗲𝗻 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀, the Founder and CEO of 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀, is leading a shift in how brands think about creative. With a background that spans global leadership for brands like Apple and Disney, Ben now focuses on the intersection of human artistry and machine precision. Through Sundogs, he’s helping brands like L’Oréal and Google unlearn traditional advertising to embrace a creator-first model. By using AI-driven diagnostics to score video content, Ben is proving that the future of work isn't about human vs. machine—it’s about how machines can help us understand what makes us human.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽

• 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: Combine raw human creativity with AI diagnostic scoring to reduce risk in creative decisions

• 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀: Find out why the biggest brands are moving away from "polished" ads toward high-performing creator content.

• 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹: Use AI to analyze thousands of creative variables without stripping away the authentic voice of the creator.

• 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀: Shift your focus from "did this work?" to "why did this work?" using Sundogs' AI-driven insights.

• 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁 𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁: See why the most human content often requires the most sophisticated AI to optimize at scale.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁

• 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀: https://sundogs.io/

• 𝗖𝗼𝗻n𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗻: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iambenjones/

• 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲: Forbes: How L’Oréal Unlearned Advertising (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiegut...)

• 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗔𝗜: https://she-leads-ai.mn.co/

• 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻: https://aisalon.mn.co/

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: https://ruready4ai.com/

𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲, 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲

Catch a new episode of The AI Readiness Project every Wednesday at 3pm (PST), co-hosted by Anne Murphy of She Leads AI and Kyle Shannon of The AI Salon. Want to meet others navigating this new terrain with humor and humanity? Visit The AI Salon or She Leads AI to find your people.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦'𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘴." That's by Derek Sivers. This speaks to where we're at right now and how knowledge and information have zero value. It is all very much how we get creative and what we do with that information. - 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

We are currently drowning in AI "news," but starving for AI 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Most professionals are stuck in a cycle of random experimentation that leads to "shadow AI" and organizational risk. Kate Marshall joins us to explain why the secret to AI readiness isn't more data—it's better systems.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

Kate Marshall, Founder of 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗶 (pronounced "The Gray"), spent 20 years in the high-stakes world of cybersecurity training at the SANS Institute. She’s seen how people react to emerging threats, and she’s applying those lessons to the AI revolution. Whether she’s writing children’s books to simplify complex tech or 3D printing her own household items, Kate is obsessed with the bridge between the machine and the human. Her new book, 𝘈𝘐 𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬, is the result of that obsession—a step-by-step guide for the non-technical professional who is ready to move past the hype and start building.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽

• 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: Stop looking for magic words and start building repeatable workflows that actually save time.

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁: Accept that knowing things is no longer a competitive advantage; doing things with AI is the new gold standard.

• 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆: Use Kate’s cybersecurity-first lens to implement AI without exposing your company to unnecessary risk.

• 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀: Don't buy the software until you’ve identified the specific low-joy task it’s meant to replace.

• 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗘𝗿𝗮: Why thinking about 3D printed shoes and household robots helps you develop the mental flexibility needed for the next 5 years of work.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗶: https://thegr.ai/

• 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 (𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸): https://www.amazon.com/Work-Step-Step...

• 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗔𝗜: https://she-leads-ai.mn.co/

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻: https://aisalon.mn.co/

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: https://ruready4ai.com/