Avanade: How to be an AI-first CEO – with Pamela Maynard 

The AI-first CEO has arrived – an exciting and transformational change in modern leadership. But what is an AI-first CEO? And what does AI leadership look like in practice?  

To answer this, Pamela Maynard, Chief Executive Officer of Avanade, joins DWG’s Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Paul Miller, for the latest episode of Rewilding Work with Paul Miller. Avanade, a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture, is a leading digital innovator with more than 60,000 employees. 

“When I think about being an AI-first CEO, for me it absolutely starts with starting that company-wide AI strategy and establishing and thinking about how I can establish AI fluency in the organization; how I can build that culture of trust.” 

Pamela Maynard, Chief Executive Officer at Avanade 

Using AI to disrupt norms across the organization is encouraged by Pamela. She is keen to harness AI both in terms of the services Avanade delivers to its clients, but also in how the company operates – and she wants to do this in a way that puts people first. The appointment of Avanade’s first Chief AI Officer confirms Pamela’s commitment to a future underpinned by AI. 

Together, Paul and Pamela discuss AI guardrails and ethics, responsible practices, and real-life examples of how AI is changing working practices. The conversation took place just after the world’s first AI security summit held this autumn at Bletchley Park, further evidence of how industry and governments are firmly focused on navigating and preparing for an AI-led world.  

Adding their thoughts are expert commentators Nancy Goebel, Chief Executive Officer of DWG, and Iveta Hajdakova, a cultural anthropologist and Associate Director at Stripe Partners. 

Rewilding Work helps give focus to the view that, if we change the world of work, we can change the wider world. So, with the AI transformation already underway, do we want to be disrupted or to be the disruptors? For a timely conversation that considers this and more, watch today. 

Categorised in: Artificial intelligence and automation, Future of work, Leadership