The Alldus Podcast - AI in Action

Today's guest is Paul Collins, Regional Information Security Officer, Europe at U.S. Bank. Founded in 1863, U.S. Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in the United States, providing a broad range of financial services to individuals, businesses and organizations. With a strong focus on innovation, digital banking, payments and customer experience, U.S. Bank serves millions of customers across the U.S. and internationally, including through its global payments business, Elavon.Paul is an experienced Information Security leader with over 35 years in IT and cybersecurity, including more than 20 years in CISO and senior security roles within international financial services. He has worked closely with financial regulators and industry bodies across Europe and the U.S. Currently part of the U.S. Bank Information Security Services leadership team, Paul is responsible for information security across all U.S. Bank business lines in Europe. He is passionate about cybersecurity, collaboration and knowledge sharing.In the episode, Paul talks about:
0:00 His 35 year journey of tech evolution and cybersecurity insights
2:56 How curiosity drove his cybersecurity career as internet security evolved
4:09 His role at U.S. Bank Europe within payments security and operations
5:11 Seeing financial cyber threats focus on money, ransomware, suppliers and regulation
7:30 Underestimating supplier risk in banking cybersecurity
8:46 How AI is accelerating cyber attacks and lowering the barrier for threat actors
11:24 The need for training, vigilance and realistic phishing awareness
14:03 How organized cybercrime forces security to balance friction and experience
16:38 Global security leadership relies on daily collaboration and communication
19:38 Cyber careers need experience, internships and practical skills over certifications

Today's guest is Clare Hickie, Chief Technology Officer, EMEA at Workday. Founded in 2005, Workday is a leading enterprise software company that provides cloud-based solutions for human capital management (HCM), finance, planning and AI-powered business operations. Workday serves more than 11,500 organizations worldwide, including over 65% of the Fortune 500. Workday helps businesses streamline operations, improve workforce management and make faster, data-driven decisions through its secure, intelligent cloud platform.
In her role with Workday, Clare partners with senior business and technology leaders to help organizations transform how they manage people, finance and AI. With more than 30 years of experience in enterprise technology, Clare began her career on the customer side, spending 15 years at GSK before joining Workday in 2018. She is a recognized leader in responsible AI, cloud transformation and enterprise innovation, with a strong focus on building trusted, human-centered AI solutions that deliver measurable business impact.
In the episode, Clare discusses:
0:00 How AI conversations evolved from skepticism to agentic productivity
5:51 Co-creating with customers to deliver proven AI outcomes
7:19 How Workday’s AI agents deliver significant productivity gains
9:06 Creating consistent AI experiences built on a unified platform
12:46 Responsible AI requires governance, transparency and risk management
17: 33 How trust and responsible AI drive lasting customer adoption
To find out more about all the great work happening at Workday, check out the website www.workday.com

Today's guest is Wessel van Enk, two-time ServiceNow MVP and Tech Lead ServiceNow HR at KLM. Founded in 1919, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the national airline of the Netherlands and the world’s oldest airline. As part of the Air France–KLM Group and the SkyTeam alliance, KLM connects passengers to hundreds of destinations worldwide through its hub at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, offering passenger, cargo and engineering services with a strong focus on customer experience and more sustainable aviation.
Wessel is a two-time ServiceNow MVP (2025 & 2026) and ServiceNow Rising Star (2024) with more than a decade of experience helping organisations transform manual processes into efficient, automated workflows. Combining strategic business insight with deep technical expertise, he delivers practical solutions that improve operations and employee experiences. Wessel excels in global environments, bringing cross-cultural collaboration, calm leadership and a pragmatic approach to complex ServiceNow implementations.
In the episode, Wessel talks about:
0:00 His journey from service desk agent to Employee Workflows specialist
2:38 Joining KLM to help lead its Employee Workflows transformation
4:12 Earning two MVP awards through community leadership and content creation
7: 04 Giving back to the ServiceNow community through knowledge sharing
8:27 How Hands-on learning and scripting skills accelerated career growth
9:45 Navigating complex global HR transformations across countries and cultures
11:44 How AI accelerates ServiceNow adoption and empowers teams
13:56 Excited about AI making ServiceNow more human-centered and efficient

Today's guest is Martin Duffy, Head of GenAI at PWC Ireland. Founded in 1866, PwC Ireland is one of the country's leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting, deals and technology services. By combining deep industry expertise with a global network, PwC helps organisations drive transformation, solve complex business challenges and create sustainable value in an increasingly digital world.
Martin is a senior data and analytics consultant with over 30 years of experience helping organisations harness data to drive better business outcomes. He specialises in analytics strategy, building high-performing analytics functions and advancing organisational analytics maturity. With extensive experience across the financial services, public sector and manufacturing industries, Martin helps organisations unlock the full value of their data and make smarter, data-driven decisions.
In the episode, Martin discusses:
0:00 His journey from early neural networks to modern GPT scale AI evolution
2:08 How their Client Zero AI journey shifted to human-centric trust approach
3:42 Their focus on automating tasks to drive AI adoption and trust
7:05 How Personal AI wins drive adoption and organisational growth choices
9:48 Top AI leaders combine governance, responsibility and growth mindset
11:00 How AI success blends leadership and grassroots adoption
12:01 Irish firms lag due to caution, process redesign and operating model maturity
13:21 The need to choose mindset, lead visibly and prioritise people change

Today's guest is Sumeet Vaidya, Co-Founder and CEO at Crafting. Founded in 2021, Crafting is an AI infrastructure platform that enables engineering teams to deploy autonomous coding agents in secure, production-like environments. Designed for enterprise organizations, the platform allows AI agents to write, test, validate and ship software using real infrastructure, data and dependencies. Crafting helps businesses accelerate software delivery while maintaining enterprise-grade security, reliability and operational control.
Sumeet is an experienced engineering leader and entrepreneur focused on solving complex challenges that improve productivity. He has built and scaled high-performing teams across developer tools, consumer products, marketplaces and enterprise integrations. As an angel investor and advisor, he helps founders achieve product-market fit, strengthen their technology and business strategies, and build scalable companies. Sumeet is passionate about enabling teams to solve meaningful problems and create lasting impact.
In the episode, Sumeet talks about:
0:00 His journey from big tech roles to startup founder
2:27 Crafting’s shift from improving developer tooling to now enabling AI agents
4:43 Betting on AI agents despite industry skepticism
7:36 Building an enterprise-first AI agent infrastructure for scaling globally
11:57 Why Agents need real testing capabilities to succeed
15:43 Why engineering leaders are caught between AI hype and practical execution pressure
19:46 The need for engineers to focus on outcomes and founders to understand motivationTo find out more about all the great work happening at Crafting, check out the website www.crafting.dev