Guidewise Presents: Implementors

About Guidewise Presents: Implementors

We get it. Ideas are easy, but implementation is hard. Presented by Guidewise, the Implementors podcast connects you to the insights, stories, and lessons learned of individuals who have mastered implementation. Through intimate interviews with entrepreneurs, business leaders, changemakers, and other Implementors, Guidewise CEO and Implementors' host, Ted Wolf, guides the audience through engaging, entertaining analyses of how implementation can make or break your company. Join us as we uncover the secrets of successful implementation, so you can conquer your implementation struggles.

Publisher

Guidewise

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Mar 2023

Latest episode

31 May 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 72 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   31 May 2026

   AI in Private Equity: Why Relentless ROI Wins | Frank Gauld, Poppulo (Vista Equity Partners PortCo)

   95% of AI pilots fail. Welcome to the Implementors podcast, where we reveal what it takes to join the 5% that succeed. Learn how to make implementation smarter, faster, and more human. Subscribe to lead the change. Join host Ted Wolf, Co-Founder & CEO of Guidewise, for a candid conversation with Frank Gauld, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Poppulo, a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company. In this episode, Frank brings a rare dual perspective to enterprise AI — drawing on his current seat inside a PE-backed SaaS leader, his prior experience as CEO of an AI and synthetic data startup, and decades of global product and technology leadership at NCR and Virgin Money. He unpacks what makes private equity-backed companies fundamentally different from privately held ones: a relentless focus on ROI, an unforgiving cadence of transformation, and an operating discipline that turns AI from a science experiment into a measurable value creation lever. Frank argues that AI isn't technology for technology's sake — it must earn its keep by creating real business value, and the companies that win are the ones that identify high-impact use cases, organize their data to support them, and monetize AI in ways that respect both economics and culture. The conversation explores the evolution of AI through three historic booms, how to surface valuable AI use cases inside an organization, and the emerging role of worker agents and adversarial agents in building AI systems that think critically rather than simply execute. Frank also shares hard-won lessons on managing change in a PE environment and his advice for new graduates entering the AI field. This episode is essential listening for PE operating partners, portfolio company executives, founders preparing to scale toward PE acquisition, and any leader who wants to understand how AI creates durable value under the pressure of a PE timeline. ABOUT FRANK GAULD: Frank Gauld is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Poppulo, a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company and global leader in employee communications, customer experience, and workplace experience solutions. At Poppulo, Frank leads global product and technology teams across SaaS platforms that leverage AI and agentic systems to transform how enterprises communicate and operate at scale. Prior to Poppulo, Frank served as CEO of Smart Data Foundry and its AI startup aizle.ai, where he led the development of a synthetic data engine designed to accelerate innovation without compromising privacy. Earlier in his career, Frank was Corporate VP of Digital First Banking at NCR, where he ran a $1B+ revenue stream across 160 countries, and CIO for Change and IT Development at Virgin Money, leading a 900-person organization through transformational change. Frank brings a unique combination of enterprise scale, startup agility, and PE-backed operating discipline to every conversation about AI in business. ABOUT GUIDEWISE: Guidewise helps private equity firms and their portfolio companies turn AI into a durable value creation lever. We partner with PE operating teams and portfolio executives across the full lifecycle of value creation — from AI strategy and use case prioritization, to agentic system design and implementation, to change management, talent enablement, and ongoing performance optimization. Our Changeworks methodology equips PE-backed companies and growth-stage businesses preparing for PE acquisition with the systems, skills, and execution discipline required to scale AI under pressure, withstand diligence, and compound value across the hold period. Learn more: https://www.guidewise.ai/contact/. SOCIAL:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@implementorspodLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/implementorspod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/implementorspodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/implementorspodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/implementorspod/

2. 

   17 May 2026

   AI Is Strategy, Not a Product: The Mindset Executives Need Now | Michael Pompey, Arrow Electronics

   95% of AI pilots fail. Welcome to the Implementors podcast, where we reveal what it takes to join the 5% that succeed. Learn how to make implementation smarter, faster, and more human. Subscribe to lead the change. Join host Ted Wolf, Co-Founder & CEO of Guidewise, for a candid conversation with Michael Pompey, Chief AI Strategist and AI Evangelist at Arrow Electronics. In this episode, Michael challenges the prevailing executive mindset around AI, arguing that the technology is not a product to buy but a strategy to operate by — and that the companies winning today are the ones with the courage to begin before they feel ready. He reframes governance not as a brake on innovation but as the very mechanism that allows organizations to move at speed, much like the brakes on a Formula One car enable it to take corners safely at 180 miles per hour. The conversation explores the critical differences between efficiency tools like Microsoft Copilot and transformation platforms like IBM Watson X, the surprising McKinsey finding that frontline staff are using AI three times more than their CEOs realize, and the deeply human work of building trust across leadership, middle management, and the frontline. Michael also shares his philosophy that "technology is never the hero — people are," and explains why the most important work in any AI implementation happens ten inches from the keyboard. This episode is essential listening for CIOs, CEOs, and operating leaders who want to cut through the hype, navigate governance and culture with intention, and build AI-enabled organizations that people trust, adopt, and grow with. ABOUT MICHAEL POMPEY: Michael Pompey is the Chief AI Strategist and AI Evangelist at Arrow Electronics, where he helps organizations demystify artificial intelligence and translate it into actionable strategies that drive measurable business value. With more than 20 years as a Chief Information Officer across mission-driven organizations, Michael brings a practitioner's lens to enterprise AI adoption — bridging the gap between vision and execution through executive workshops, tailored use cases, and real-world demonstrations. His career began in juvenile justice, where he built data-driven applications to improve outcomes for young people, and later included guiding national consulting initiatives on youth workforce systems and large-scale employment programs for the City of Philadelphia. Recognized as an expert in enterprise IT strategy, vendor management, and business intelligence automation, Michael has been featured in CIO Magazine, Philadelphia Business Journal, and the Business Intelligence Journal. He was named an IBM Champion for 2026, serves on multiple CIO advisory boards, and is a sought-after keynote speaker at IBM Think, IBM TechXchange, The Channel Company, and numerous executive forums. ABOUT GUIDEWISE: Guidewise is building the operating infrastructure for human–agent collaboration at enterprise scale. Our platform, Skytop, serves as a unified control plane for AgentOps and PeopleOps, giving leaders real-time visibility into how AI agents and human teams actually perform together. Skytop enables enterprise-grade evaluation, behavioral and performance analytics, policy enforcement, and continuous governance across agents, workflows, and decision systems. Paired with our Changeworks methodology, Guidewise helps organizations design, build, deploy, and sustain AI-enabled operating models that people trust and adopt. We equip leaders with the systems, skills, and execution discipline required to move from experimentation to durable, high-performance collaboration between humans and intelligent agents. Learn more: https://www.guidewise.ai/contact/. SOCIAL:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@implementorspodLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/implementorspod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/implementorspodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/implementorspodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/implementorspod/

3. 

   26 Apr 2026

   Why Leaders Struggle With Change | Willie Pietersen on Strategy, Psychology, and Making Change Stick

   Why do so many leaders struggle to drive meaningful, lasting change? In this episode of Ideas That Matter, Professor Willie Pietersen breaks down why even well-designed strategies fail to take hold inside organizations. Drawing on decades of leadership experience and real-world examples, Willie explores the critical role of psychology, storytelling, and disciplined focus in turning strategic intent into sustained results. He explains why strategy is not just a plan—but a set of deliberate choices—and why execution depends on more than operational alignment. Leaders must address the emotional and psychological barriers that shape how people perceive, resist, and ultimately adopt change. Willie also introduces a practical framework for overcoming resistance—highlighting the importance of dissatisfaction, vision, and process in outweighing the perceived costs of change—while emphasizing the need for adaptive learning systems in an increasingly volatile world. Key themes explored in this conversation: 🔹 Why strategy is about choices and focus—not just planning 🔹 The difference between operational and psychological barriers to change 🔹 How leaders can overcome resistance using a practical diagnostic framework 🔹 Why storytelling and metaphors are essential for alignment and action 🔹 The role of adaptive learning in navigating uncertainty 🔹 Why leadership modeling is critical for embedding change 🌐 Willie Pietersen’s Website: https://www.williepietersen.com 📚 Connect with Willie Pietersen: ►LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-pietersen/ Subscribe to follow the series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEftzD2cyVmspjONQ__4UGg 🎙️ Implementors Podcast (Presented by Guidewise): ►Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@implementorspod ►Podcast Homepage: https://www.guidewise.ai/podcast/►Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6uliK2fpHOOgjLDgUv1pNF?si=6520239306224710&nd=1 ►Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/implementors/id1678368738 ►Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8fcf7ddd-bf82-47cf-9339-efc29a75500d/implementors 📱 Connect with Guidewise: ► Homepage: https://www.guidewise.ai/ ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@guidewiseai ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/guidewiseai ► X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/guidewiseai ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guidewiseai ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guidewiseai ABOUT GUIDEWISE: Guidewise is pioneering the future of human–agent collaboration at enterprise scale. Skytop, our unified control plane for AgentOps and PeopleOps, provides real-time observability across every agent and workflow — along with enterprise-grade evaluations, performance testing, behavioral analytics, policy enforcement, and continuous governance. Paired with our Changeworks methodology, we equip organizations with the intelligent systems, skills, and infrastructure required to orchestrate high-performance human–agent collaboration in the AI Era. Learn more: https://www.guidewise.ai/contact/ 👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more leadership insights rooted in timeless global wisdom.

Inside a recent episode

Why Trust Determines AI Adoption & Leadership Effectiveness | COO Kim Bohr | Measuring the Invisible

Published 30 Jan 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Yes. So when we set out to do this research, we believed we could actually that trust could be measured and we were able to prove that. And we listeners can get the report and see that for themselves. The performance index is based on five particular domains. And those domains then that I'll mention here in a moment had specific questions related to them. And so that was the foundation of being able to measure. Okay. So we're sorry. So let's go through the five if we can, the five points. And the first one I think is strategic clarity. Correct. So really trying to have strategic clarity is like what I say and what we set the north star to be that everybody understands it and they understand where they fit into that plan and why their work matters. […]

Who has been a guest on Guidewise Presents: Implementors

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ted Shelton
• Willie Pietersen
• business and education leaders
• Baris Sen
• Dominik Lambersy

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

3,588,978

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 58 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

62

Social presence

90

YouTube

93

Engagement

0

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