Session: Building AI Teams and Strategies at scale
In an era where AI dominates the innovation landscape, building a capable and impactful AI organization is both an art and a science. In this talk, I will share my journey of creating and scaling an AI enablement organization within GoodLeap, a high-growth FinTech startup. From defining the AI vision, strategy and aligning it with business goals to driving cross-functional collaboration between engineering, product management, and leadership, the road to successful AI adoption is as much about people as it is about technology.
This session will cover:
* How to identify high-impact opportunities for AI and align them with business goals.
* Strategies for hiring, budget allocation, and making informed build vs. buy decisions.
* Architecting Gen AI as a foundational platform to enable other teams in building and scaling AI-powered applications.
* Real-world challenges in balancing R&D with AI application development and navigating the complexities of productizing and launching AI solutions.
* Setting up an AI governance council to ensure legal and security compliance, identify risk factors, and prioritize low-risk use cases.
* Effective forums and processes to foster adoption, including regular updates, strategic roadmaps, comprehensive documentation, AI guilds, training programs, and initiatives designed to empower everyone in the organization to harness AI effectively.
* The importance of setting measurable business outcomes and iterating based on data-driven insights.
I’ll also share lessons learned from spearheading initiatives like implementing AI-driven tools, designing scalable chatbot platforms, and enabling innovation through hackathons and partnerships with global engineering teams.
Attendees will walk away with practical frameworks and actionable advice for leading AI transformation efforts in their own organizations. Whether you're an engineering leader curious about AI or an executive driving strategic transformation, this session will inspire and equip you to build a thriving AI org and strategy that delivers real business value.
Bio
Rashi is the Head of Engineering for AI Application Development at GoodLeap, a high-growth FinTech startup. She leads initiatives to integrate AI solutions into business-critical processes, promoting synergy across engineering, product, and leadership teams. With a unique blend of strategic vision and technical expertise, Rashi has developed scalable chatbots, agentic AI platforms, and innovative tools that deliver measurable business value. Previously, she led AdTech engineering teams at Yahoo, building large-scale applications leveraging machine learning. An active member of the engineering leadership community, Rashi combines her passion for technology with a love for adventure, having explored over 40 countries and counting.