In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Mariana Hebborn, Global Head of HR AI & Data Governance at Merck, to explore what it really takes to move AI from experimentation into the enterprise.

With a background in computational linguistics and semantics, Mariana has spent her career at the intersection of data, technology, and business. Today, she is applying that experience to one of the most sensitive and consequential areas of enterprise data: HR, where, as she puts it, the data describes someone.

Together, they explore:

• Why enterprise AI requires more than access to powerful models

• The difference between everyday AI and enterprise AI (and why adoption looks very different for each)

• How Merck is using AI agents to simplify complex HR processes

• Why data quality, governance, privacy, and security need to evolve alongside AI

• How organizations can give employees room to experiment with AI without losing control

• Why transparency can help organizations move faster with sensitive data

They also discuss why AI is becoming a business capability rather than simply a technology, the challenge of governing a growing ecosystem of employee-created agents, and why understanding the value of enterprise data remains as important as ever.

🎧 Tune in for a practitioner-led conversation on moving beyond AI experimentation and building enterprise AI that people can actually use, trust, and govern.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.