Businesses are transforming at a breakneck pace. Leaders need to know the latest, but more importantly they need to understand which developments actually matter (and which don’t). Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin have brought their combined expertise to companies ranging from the Fortune 100 to innovative startups. Together they’re digesting the biggest developments in tech, data, AI, and beyond to bring you the strategy-focused insights you need to position your business for an unpredictable future. This is Pure Signal. Brought to you by the experts at Credera.
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October 28, 202646 min
Where to Start When AI Won’t Scale
Plenty of AI proofs of concept work. Far fewer ever reach scale. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin sit down with Mackenzie Knapp, Managing Director, AI Products & Agentic Systems at Credera, to talk about what’s really holding AI back. They cover why AI needs the right foundation to scale, how to map the way your company actually runs, and how leaders can stay close to the work as AI changes it. You’ll also hear why Mackenzie believes fixing the system matters more than replacing the people in it. For leaders wondering where to start, the first step is simple: write down how your company works today, and the bottlenecks will show you what to fix first. — Quotes “It’s not about people being bad. I think people are inherently good. I think systems are designed to continue that behavior.” - Mackenzie Knapp “Too many times people forget about the purpose of the work they’re doing, and they get distracted by the output.” - Mackenzie Knapp “Everyone thought you had to have everything perfectly documented, but the moment you sit down and document, things change.” - Mackenzie Knapp — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (02:52) Why strong AI pilots stall before scale (04:10) Defining the AI operating system (07:53) Mapping how your company really works (14:29) Getting the C-suite hands-on with AI (24:28) Fixing systems, not people (32:02) Purpose over output (41:00) Where to start first (43:33) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Mackenzie Knapp Learn more about Credera
October 7, 20261 hr 3 min
What Every CFO Needs to Know About Planning for AI
Every AI pitch looks great on the showroom floor. The hard part comes when someone asks what it costs. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin sit down with Dennis Schumacher, Chief Financial Officer in the Professional Services and Technology industries, to talk about how AI actually shows up in the budget. They cover why hours saved isn't the real ROI metric, how to turn AI savings into dollars for experimentation, and whether AI spend belongs in investment or operating expense. You'll also hear Dennis explain why the CFO may matter now more than ever. For executives planning budgets with AI in them, the real test is simple: your costs should level off while your results keep growing. — Quotes “The goal is always to make sure that your non-billable costs don't grow in a linear fashion with revenue because it becomes unsustainable, right? It should grow in more of a plateaued fashion like SG&A does.” - Dennis Schumacher “Make sure you understand the levers that you have as a leader, and that those levers are consistent with the executive team's strategy.” - Dennis Schumacher “I think AI in and of itself is making us ask questions about where do we house that in a budgetary or forecasting cycle, and then how do we validate it in an operating cycle?” - Dennis Schumacher — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (04:23) First reactions to AI in the boardroom (08:07) The lag between cost cuts and returns (13:42) Where AI ROI shows up in the P&L (16:48) Turning AI savings into experimentation dollars (24:24) Budgeting for agentic labor (40:39) Shadow IT and the rise of the CFO (50:41) Advice for executives right now (01:01:11) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Dennis Schumacher Learn more about Credera
September 23, 202625 min
Where to Start with AI in a Regulated Industry
Every week brings another call for AI companies to slow down and add guardrails. Banks and insurers have been living under exactly that kind of scrutiny for decades. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin sit down with Gail Stout Perry, a Managing Director at Credera, to talk through what AI adoption actually looks like inside Financial Services and Insurance. They cover why banks keep their data siloed, who actually owns your financial data once a fintech app sits on top of it, and why trust and explainability matter more in AI-driven underwriting than almost anywhere else. You'll also hear them debate whether every business, regulated or not, should be operating with that same discipline. For leaders inside compliance-heavy industries, this episode pushes back on the idea that caution only means moving slower. The real skill is knowing where to start. — Quotes “If you start to apply AI to underwriting, and an underwriter looks at the outcome and doesn't agree, then you don't have the trust, right?” - Gail Stout Perry “ You need to enable the use of AI, especially in a regulated industry; you've got to go slow to go fast.” - Gail Stout Perry “It always comes back to: is the data any good? The defined processes, and where can you start to implement? And then bringing people along.” - Gail Stout Perry — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:13) Why regulated industries are different (03:33) How banking and insurance have transformed (05:07) Who owns your financial data (08:25) Trust in AI-driven underwriting (09:55) The Wells Fargo consent decree (11:35) Why insurance may be more AI-ready (15:45) Should every industry regulate AI? (19:54) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Gail Stout Perry Learn more about Credera
September 9, 202648 min
The AI Arms Race: How to Compete When You’re Not One of the Big Five
NVIDIA doubled its earnings year over year and the stock still slipped, because doubling wasn’t enough. That’s the moment this episode starts from: an AI arms race where four or five companies set the tempo for the entire market, and everybody else has to decide how hard to chase them. On this episode of Pure Signal, hosts Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin work through what the arms race looks like from the executive seat. They get into market concentration and the volatility that comes with it; the fight over data centers, land, and water; eroding trust as an underrated competitive advantage; and how to tell real innovation from AI washing. Along the way they talk through why every business from a donut shop to the Big Five feels obligated to have an AI strategy, when we finally drop “AI” as a prefix, and the uncomfortable truth that AI isn’t taking anyone’s job but the person using it is. Ryan frames the whole thing as a marathon. Most companies aren’t racing to win or racing not to lose; they’re trying to finish the race in good shape. Kevin and Jake close with the questions actually on their minds: how you grow gray-haired experts when AI obviates the apprenticeship model, how a business signals trust, how personal AI productivity becomes enterprise-scale productivity, and why real efficiency takes more time, not less. — Quotes “Are you racing to win, or are you just racing not to lose?” - Ryan Medellin “If you’re an individual employee working for a company and you’re not using tools that are driving that, you literally can’t have a job. So it’s not so much that AI took your job, someone else took your job.” - Kevin Erickson “One of the first things I learned in consulting a long, long time ago is that you either wow with intellect or you bury with BS. What I think is interesting now is that the amount of BS that can come from AI-driven tools is so much. So then it comes back to, well, how do I understand the intellect in the midst of all the data and the noise?” - Kevin Erickson “In a world where trust is eroding because of AI, trust becomes a competitive differentiator for businesses. So then the question is how do you go grow trust, and how do you signal trust if you’re a business?” - Jake Carter “Everyone’s measured on efficiency, and I think that actually to be efficient, you have to have more time. You have got to pound a lot of miles going relatively slow to be effective in the race.” - Kevin Erickson — Timestamps 03:08 The NVIDIA news and the AI arms race 04:28 Why Hugging Face was the bigger story 04:46 Market concentration and structural risk 08:44 Data centers, land, and water 11:57 How exposed the market is to AI 13:49 Back to fundamentals: customers, employees, advantage 14:42 Eroding trust and the Edelman Trust Index 15:48 Why every business feels it needs an AI strategy 18:59 When do we drop the "AI" label? 20:23 AI didn't take your job, someone using AI did 23:39 Racing to win vs. racing not to lose 29:26 Punch cards, prototypes, and the end of the pitch 31:27 Real innovation vs. AI washing 33:51 Wow with intellect or bury with BS 36:56 Why clients are asking for gray hair 41:10 Jake's three: experts, trust, and enterprise-scale productivity 42:55 Kevin's three: structural change, learning, and boundaries 46:43 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Learn more about Credera
August 27, 202640 min
The Biggest AI Lessons From 2026 So Far
Companies walked into this year with a plan to increase efficiency with AI. Fewer walked in with a plan for what comes after. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin, Kevin Erickson, and Jake Carter look back at the predictions everyone made at the start of the year to see which ones actually came true. They cover the shift from efficiency to growth, why the CFO now has a bigger say in AI decisions, and why people, not technology, still decide whether AI actually works. You'll also hear them talk through what's really driving competitive advantage right now, and who should be on the hook when AI moves faster than expected. For enterprise leaders separating what's real from what's just hype, this episode is a candid gut check from three people who've spent all year listening for the signal. — Quotes "You should be able to back it up with proof. You should be able to be able to understand what you did. You should be able to explain the rationale. Otherwise, it's just luck." - Kevin Erickson "The data is right, but really what we mean by that is data and data readiness. Because you can have all the data in the world, if we can't get it to the systems that we need it to be wired into, it's not that valuable." - Jake Carter "Pilots are out, MVPs are in. I don't want something that we're gonna just throw away. We want something that can grow and sustain." - Ryan Medellin — Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:11 Setting up the year in review 03:20 The efficiency to growth debate 07:29 The CFO's growing role in AI decisions 09:05 The maturity curve: efficiency, productivity, growth, innovation 15:43 The human element of AI 26:21 Is data still the ultimate competitive advantage? 29:38 Elasticity in leadership 37:07 Who bears the risk as AI speeds up delivery? 39:26 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Learn more about Credera
August 5, 202642 min
From Efficiency to Growth: How Enterprise AI Strategy Is Shifting
The first half of 2026 promised speed with AI, and it delivered. But six months of racing to plug AI into everything has surfaced a harder question: what happens when the pilots don't work the way anyone hoped? On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson and Ryan Medellin sit down with Scott Hensley, Credera's Chief Revenue Officer for North America, for a midyear pulse check on where AI adoption actually stands and where it's headed into 2027. Scott shares why the conversation has shifted from efficiency to growth, how so many AI pilots stalled by bolting new tools onto broken legacy processes, and why the fix is redesigning the work from the ground up. For enterprise leaders feeling the uncertainty of a fast-changing year, this episode offers a grounded case for stepping back before pushing forward. The teams winning right now aren't automating their old ways of working. They're rethinking the work itself. — Quotes “I think a lot of the natural reaction was to take processes as they existed, and to just sort of plug them into the tools and run them automated through the platforms. I think that's the wrong approach. We should have redesigned the entire process. We should have rethought the entire process from the ground up in the context of AI.” - Scott Hensley “ How do you make it so seamless that you don't even realize that it's AI on the other end?... How do we build the right controls, the right governance, the right guardrails? We're in those conversations every single day.” - Scott Hensley — Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:14 Meet Scott Hensley 04:34 From efficiency to growth 07:42 Power, cost, and the macro picture 12:09 Why AI pilots aren't working 21:52 Is AI the villain? 25:28 Making the customer experience seamless 27:12 Muscle memory and better questions 30:59 Why the customer-facing moment matters most 34:31 Three things to watch for the back half of 2026 41:07 People over features and slowing the roll 42:00 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Scott Hensley Learn more about Credera
July 15, 202649 min
Getting Your Data Ready for the Moments That Matter
Every company wants to be ready for its viral moment, but very few are built to act when it arrives. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin sit down with Paul Nichols, Principal, Marketing Solutions at Credera, to talk through what it takes to build a data foundation that turns signals into outcomes. Paul shares why culture and accountability matter more than architecture, how to work backward from a single use case instead of leading with infrastructure, and what the Ticketmaster crash and Ocean Spray's viral-moment win reveal about moving at the speed of the market. If your team is drowning in analysis but starving for action, Paul's advice is refreshingly simple: start small, put a name on every decision, and build the foundation before your moment arrives. Because when it does, you won't have time to get ready. — Quotes "If you have possession and you don't score, it doesn't matter how much possession you have. It doesn't matter how much you know about your business unless you do something about it." - Paul Nichols “ AI isn't going to solve an operational problem. If you have that operational problem, you probably also have a similar issue with how you're using data.” - Paul Nichols “If it takes 30 stakeholders to agree on what the right KPI is, and the other 20 to determine the right metric for when you are reactive to a viral moment, that is evidence that you're probably not going to be able to capture the value that you need in that moment.” - Paul Nichols — Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:16 Paul's path from music production to consulting 04:16 The professional soccer years 10:19 World Cup lessons in organizational change 16:10 Ticketmaster vs. Ocean Spray 20:30 Proactive vs. reactive cultures 26:56 The biggest problems organizations face 29:05 The junk drawer data lake 33:49 What AI changes (and what it doesn't) 35:40 Agentic AI in the enterprise 41:00 The house foundation analogy 42:26 Data strategy as orchestration 44:54 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Paul Nichols Learn more about Credera
June 24, 202650 min
What Enterprise AI Transformation Actually Requires
Most organizations know they need to act on AI, but they're layering agents on top of broken processes and hoping for the best. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin and Kevin Erickson sit down with Beth Anne Wilhelm, Chief Architect & Pre-Sales Lead at Credera, and Aaron Grotzinger, Partner & Energy Sector Lead at Credera, to talk through what it actually takes to orchestrate marketing transformation in an agentic world. Beth Anne and Aaron share why a solid data foundation is non-negotiable before agents can deliver real value, how to govern a growing ecosystem of agents without costs spiraling out of control, and what a FinOps model for AI will need to look like. You'll also hear a candid exchange on why the vision of "do more with less" is the wrong rallying cry and what companies that are actually winning say instead. For marketing and technology leaders navigating the platform versus agent question, this episode offers clear, practitioner-level insights. Agents don't work until the process, the data, and the people are ready. The question is whether you're investing in all three. — Quotes “AI is only going to be as good as the info we're feeding into it and the info that it has available to it. So, having a really good underlying data foundation is going to be key.” - Beth Anne Wilhelm “ The technology is advancing faster than people, organizations can catch up to, and I think your leading companies are, at best, still two to three steps behind the solutions being rolled out.” - Aaron Grotzinger — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (00:58) Beth Anne and Aaron's backgrounds (03:54) Evolution of the marketing tech stack (06:25) Importance of a solid data foundation (09:06) How far behind companies really are (11:40) Platforms vs. agents (13:09) Pricing and cost of agentic AI (17:19) The AI orchestrator and coordinator approach( (23:06) When not to use an agent (28:57) Agent registry and governance (34:45) Mistakes companies are making (36:15) Change management done right (42:22) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Ryan Medellin Beth Anne Wilhelm Aaron Grotzinger Learn more about Credera
June 10, 202647 min
Drive Tech Forward with an Operating-Model First Approach
The biggest barrier to transformation isn't the technology; it's the humans who have to live with it. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin, Kevin Erickson, and Jake Carter sit down with Cale Maxwell, CEO of Credera Oceania, to talk through what leading change really looks like when change fatigue is already setting in. Cale shares why operating model design should come before technology investment, how to build a measurement framework that keeps transformation funded, and what his ongoing master's in neuroscience has taught him about why change initiatives stall. You'll also hear a candid exchange on how the Oceania market approaches AI adoption differently from the US and UK, and whether that caution is a feature or a liability. For leaders navigating AI adoption, organizational integration, or the pressure to move faster than your people are ready for, this episode offers a grounded, globally-informed perspective. Technology doesn't work until people make it work. The question is whether you're investing accordingly. — Quotes "Technology doesn't work until people make it work. Technology only gets you so far. You've actually got to drive real change, change in human behavior, change in the way the organization works." - Cale Maxwell " People can have data to look at, but can a marketer actually act on that data in real time? In most cases, the answer is still no. So I think we’re data rich, we're intelligence poor." - Cale Maxwell "If you're unclear on what the outcome is, what you're measuring on the other side of that, it's hard to build a business case for what is next." - Cale Maxwell — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (00:43) Cale Maxwell's path to Credera Oceania (04:39) Neuroscience and its relevance to transformation (06:18) The Oceania market (08:50) The case for an operating model first approach (12:07) The human side of change (14:08) Budgeting for change management (22:21) Data silos and the intelligence gap (24:21) Getting clear on measurement to unlock further investment (31:06) Leading through uncertainty (36:00) Neuroscience applied to day-to-day (37:33) Why traditional change frameworks still apply (41:32) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Cale Maxwell Learn more about Credera
May 27, 202649 min
Why Your Go-To-Market Strategy Still Needs a Human Story Behind It
Building a go-to-market plan is more than having the right strategy; it’s about having the discipline to see it through. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin, Kevin Erickson, and Jake Carter sit down with Nancy Newell, Head of Public Sector Industry Growth at Credera, to talk through what it actually takes to build something and make it stick. Nancy walks through her five-pillar go-to-market framework, which she’s started implementing in her first months at Credera, and where she has seen companies fall short. You'll also hear a candid exchange on where government agencies sit in the technology adoption curve and whether that gap is really a technology problem or a workforce and trust problem. For leaders navigating new market entry, a practice rebuild, or the pressure to modernize faster than their organization is ready for, this episode offers a practical perspective. Know your strengths, work the plan, and keep moving. — Quotes “You have to constantly reassess where you are. If you're not growing somewhere, pivot. If you don't pivot, you're going to keep going the wrong way.” - Nancy Newell “The way content marketing and branding work right now in the world is constant. You have to have something out there 24/7. And it can't just be AI-generated.” - Nancy Newell “ What I see is people that are getting that true growth, they have technology. You can't just sit back. You're not going to be here in two years if you don't.” - Nancy Newell — Time Stamps (00:00) Intro (02:06) Nancy Newell’s path to Credera (05:10) Growing practices from the ground up (06:06) Nancy's five-pillar go-to-market framework (12:53) Common go-to-market mistakes (16:56) Human connection as the throughline (19:42) Storytelling, AI tools, and keeping your own voice (29:52) When and why companies need to revisit their go-to-market (33:37) Government technology gaps, workforce costs, and agentic AI (44:02) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Nancy Newell Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Learn more about Credera
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