How AI, Cloud & Human Creativity Converge | DisrupTV Ep. 118

This week's guests:

  • Bala Rajarama — Fellow and VP, Cloud at IBM
  • Anurag Harsh — CMO at IPsoft
  • Naskah Zada — Host & Producer, Zada Show 

Hosted by R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar

Major Themes & Insights

Cloud as Foundation for Innovation
Bala Rajarama emphasizes how cloud infrastructure isn’t just about scalability or cost-savings; it's a platform that enables rapid experimentation, global collaboration, and agility. Leaders must think beyond “infrastructure as service” to “platform as opportunity.”

Intelligent Automation & AI in Customer Engagement
Anurag Harsh discusses how automation (especially through AI agents) is reshaping how businesses interact with customers. It’s not replacing human creativity, but augmenting it — freeing up humans to focus on higher-order tasks such as storytelling, strategy, empathy.

Storytelling, Content, & Human Connection
Naskah Zada brings up the power of narrative: how content producers can make technical topics resonant through story. In a world saturated with information, authenticity and engaging storytelling are what help cut through noise.

Balancing Technology & Human Experience
Across the conversation, there’s a thread: technology tools (cloud, automation, AI) are powerful only insofar as they support human experience — simplicity, trust, transparency.

Change Management & Culture
Implementing these innovations depends heavily on organizational readiness: leadership, culture, skills, tolerance for experimentation, and failure. Adoption isn’t purely technical; it's socio-technical.

Final Thoughts & Implications for Leaders

  • Invest in dual capabilities: technical (cloud / AI / automation) and creative (storytelling, content, human empathy). One without the other undermines potential.
  • Design for trust: especially when automation behaves autonomously or invisibly, ensuring transparency, ethical guardrails, and accountability matters.
  • Culture & mindset over tools: tools are necessary but not sufficient. Cultivate curiosity, embrace failure, reward experimentation.
  • Storytelling as strategy: Whether for customers, internal stakeholders, or partners, narrative can be a differentiator, especially around complex topics like AI or cloud migration.

Related Episodes

Want more DisrupTV episodes that explore similar intersections of technology, innovation, and human experience?

 

Business Research Themes

Future of Work, Next-Generation Customer Experience, Tech Optimization

Roles

Chief Customer Officer, Chief Digital Officer, Chief Executive Officer, Chief People Officer, Chief Technology Officer