Ellen Choi, founder of Edgefield Group and former Awin chief product officer, breaks down what actually separates firms making real AI progress from those stuck experimenting. She walks through her firm maturity scorecard, why "return on investment" is harder to pin down than most partners assume, and why the biggest AI decisions have to start at the top. The conversation also covers token costs, on-prem alternatives, and why an outdated AI policy might be a bigger risk than no policy at all.

• (00:00) - Podcast intro
• (00:38) - Meet Ellen Choi
• (02:22) - Meditation and retreats
• (05:07) - Who Edgefield serves
• (08:19) - AI adoption shifts
• (11:40) - What triggers change
• (13:21) - How firms implement AI
• (16:43) - Cutting through AI noise
• (22:03) - Edgefield AI Foundations
• (23:41) - AI maturity scorecard
• (27:20) - Vendor ROI hype
• (28:16) - ROI Investment Reality
• (29:24) - Hidden AI Enablement Costs
• (30:16) - Turning Time Into Revenue
• (31:43) - Measuring Qualitative Returns
• (33:03) - Why 20 Minutes Daily
• (36:50) - Big Firm Spending Headlines
• (39:31) - Rising AI Costs And Tokens
• (42:21) - Open Source On Prem 2.0
• (44:26) - Where To Start With AI
• (45:51) - Copilot First And Policy
• (47:02) - Who Owns AI Rollout
• (49:22) - Keeping The Human Touch
• (51:04) - Final Takeaway And Wrap

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