From the CWX Cloud Club: AI For Acceleration
This week, Statement Co. teamed up with CWX, NetApp, Striim, and Google Cloud, for an incredible artificial intelligence (AI) mixer at Soho House Portland in support of We Believe in Portland powered by Adopt One Block. It was a deep dive into the practical application of AI, with a live panel, real-world case studies, and a lot of lively discussion. Our main theme for the night was all about harnessing the power of AI for business acceleration.
Moderated by the insightful CWX Co-Founder and President Betsy Reed, our panel featured a fantastic lineup of industry leaders:
Neil Gariepy, VP of Engineering & Information Security at Airship
James “Jimmy” Healey, former Head of Digital Product at Nike and Amazon
James Gurganus, CIO/CTO Technology Strategist at George Fox University
Will Jennings, Data Solutions Architecture at ZoomInfo
The conversation was buzzing with insights and questions, and a few key themes kept coming up throughout the discussion and in our networking sessions. Here are some of the biggest takeaways our team captured from the event:
The New Partner: AI in the Spotlight
For years, AI has worked quietly in the background, powering everything from our email spam filters to our personalized streaming recommendations. At the mixer, it became clear that this has changed dramatically. We're no longer just passively using AI; we're actively collaborating with it across every aspect of our work. The real breakthrough lies in recognizing AI as a versatile partner—not just a tool for automation, but a force for augmentation. As big fans of efficiency, we see AI as a powerful ally. But as believers in quality, we know that the true magic happens when AI's speed and analytical power are combined with essential human judgment, creativity, and strategic oversight. The future of work is not AI replacing people, but people and AI working together to achieve far more than either could alone.
Unlocking Potential: The Right AI for the Right Job
A crucial part of our discussion was identifying the right AI solution for a specific business need. It’s not about adopting AI for AI's sake; it's about problem-first thinking. Many talked about identifying a specific productivity bottleneck—whether in marketing, finance, or operations—and then finding an AI tool that directly addresses it. This approach ensures your investment delivers real value, moving beyond a simple proof-of-concept to a scalable, productive reality.
Breaking Down Silos: The Cross-Functional Imperative
Another key insight was that AI is not a project for a single department. Many companies treat AI as an isolated initiative, placing all the responsibility on the IT or data science team. This "silo" approach is a recipe for failure. To truly integrate AI and increase productivity, it must be a cross-functional effort. For AI to be effective, every part of the business—from marketing to finance to operations—needs to be involved. When business leaders, technologists, and end-users all work together, they can deploy solutions that are not only technically sound but also strategically aligned with the company’s goals.
The Data Challenge: You Can't Train AI Without It
Data is the fuel that powers AI, and a recurring issue we heard about was the lack of available, clean training data within organizations. For many companies, data is scattered, incomplete, or not in a format that can be used to train a model. This fundamental data problem can stop even the most promising AI projects in their tracks.
Beyond Automation: The True Power of Agentic AI
Many people confuse AI with basic robotic automation. They’ll implement a simple automation tool but stop short of using more advanced capabilities like agentic AI, which can make independent decisions and solve complex problems on its own. This is a missed opportunity. While automation handles repetitive tasks, true AI goes further. It can analyze complex data, adapt to new information, and drive strategic decisions. To get the most out of it, companies need to move beyond simple automation and explore how AI can enhance their entire workflow, from data analysis to creative problem-solving.
The ROI Gap: Why Many AI Projects Disappoint
Many people shared stories of companies investing heavily in AI only to be disappointed with the results. A big reason for this, we learned, is a failure to properly calculate or even track return on investment (ROI). Companies often spend a lot of money on AI solutions, expecting a "miracle" outcome without a clear plan for measuring success. Without a solid ROI framework, it’s impossible to know if an AI initiative is truly working or where adjustments need to be made.
The mixer was a fantastic reminder that the journey to leveraging AI for acceleration is a marathon, not a sprint. The evening wrapped up with a special spirit and wine tasting, followed by a VIP concert on the Soho House rooftop featuring the iconic Portland music legend, Curtis Salgado.
A big thank you to our partners at CWX for their support in making this event a success.
At Statement Co. we help businesses with comprehensive go-to-market solutions through a blend of strategy, product, design, operations, change, and marketing. We are excited to be part of the next phase of AI innovation in business. We’ve led workshops and strategies in this space to help executives pinpoint the use cases to make them successful using new technologies. If you’re struggling to bring a new capability to market with or without AI, reach out to us at hello@statementco.io.
Statement Co.llab contributors: Sarah Cargill, Manni Bojnordi, Michele “MJ” Jordan, and Courtney Vogelaar