Rewrite the Rules or Be Left Behind 

with May Habib, CEO & Co-founder of Writer 



“This is GenAI’s COVID moment—don’t waste the crisis.” — May Habib 



What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes 

• Why enterprises are still miles away from building real agentic systems 

• How Writer’s Palmyra X5 enables self-evolving AI agents with memory 

• What smaller firms can teach enterprise giants about speed and scrappiness 

• The new formula for promotions in the age of automation 

• Why “loving tech and loving people” is the ultimate success metric 



Guest Snapshot 

May Habib is the co-founder and CEO of Writer, an enterprise-grade LLM platform focused on AI agents that work. From translation tech to leading-edge self-evolving models, Writer’s Palmyra models power agentic AI for the world’s top brands—from Salesforce to Spotify. Habib shares how her early work in machine translation shaped Writer’s agent-first architecture and why the next leap in generative AI isn’t technical—it’s cultural. 



Timestamps:  

00:00 – What Sets Writer Apart 

 02:35 – From NLP Roots to Real-World Agents 

 04:35 – Why Now: AI Urgency & Enterprise Inertia 

 07:45 – Enterprise Adoption: Challenges & Gaps 

 10:31 – Agentic AI in Action (Mars, Prudential, Salesforce) 

 14:27 – The Rise of Digital Personas & AI-Augmented Work 

 18:59 – Redefining Leadership & Recognition in the AI Era 

 22:00 – Scaling Up: Funding, Talent & What’s Ahead 

 27:16 – Culture, Grit & Staying Close to the Customer 



Learn more about Writer: https://writer.com 

Follow May Habib: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayhabib 

Follow Phil Fersht: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pfersht



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May Habib: Why Agentic AI Needs Guts, Grit - and the Human Touch

Hands-On Leadership in the Age of AI

with Pascal Bornet, author of Agentic Artificial Intelligence



“If your C-suite isn’t using large-language models to make decisions, you’re already behind.” — Pascal Bornet



What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes

• Three competencies every leader needs now – AI-readiness, change-readiness, and uniquely human skills

• Why 15–20 % “experiment time” should be baked into every employee’s week

• How AI agents fuse LLM context with automation action—and what that means for ROI

• Taming “AI overwhelm” and choosing the right pilots

• Pascal’s journey from McKinsey & EY to 2 M+ social followers and a #1 Amazon AI bestseller





Guest Snapshot

Pascal Bornet is a former McKinsey and EY partner who built both firms’ intelligent-automation practices. His newest book, Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life (co-authored with Jochen Wirtz, Thomas H. Davenport, Phil Fersht, David De Cremer & others), explores how agentic systems bridge the gap between powerful language models and real-world business automation. The title currently ranks at #1 in Amazon’s Robotics category and top-10 in AI & Semantics.





Timestamps

00:00 — Intro & Pascal’s origin story

02:48 — “Tech is nothing without people”

04:50 — The three future-proof competencies

15:25 — Why CEOs must fund a culture of experimentation

21:58 — Large-language models in the C-suite

28:55 — Agentic AI: the convergence of LLMs + automation

30:40 — Closing & next-step resources



Resources & Links

Book – Agentic Artificial Intelligence → https://a.co/d/9DD7S23



Follow Pascal on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascalbornet/



Follow Phil on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/pfersht/



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Episode 8: Pascal Bornet: Lead with Agentic AI — or Risk Being Replaced

Redesign Your Operating Model — Before AI Redesigns You

with Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient and author of Digital Business Transformation

"What you don't want is faster caterpillars; you want real butterflies." — Nigel Vaz

What You'll Hear in 35 Minutes



- Why AI is a chain of "sequential watershed moments," not a single leap

- The S-P-E-E-D framework (Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, Data & AI) behind Publicis Sapient's transformations

- Tackling the $1.5 – $2 trillion technical-debt mountain and flipping the 80/20 "run vs. change" budget

- How Slingshot and Bodhi bring agentic AI + industry patterns into the SDLC to kill "spaghetti code"

- Moving from "tools" to a digital-workforce mindset (Iron-Man-in-the-suit analogy)

- Culture shift: learn → unlearn → relearn as an executive super-skill



Guest Snapshot

Nigel Vaz has spent 25 years at Publicis Sapient and became global CEO in 2019. His best-selling book, Digital Business Transformation: How Established Companies Sustain Competitive Advantage, introduces the SPEED model that Fortune 200 leaders still use to frame end-to-end digital change. Vaz now spearheads the firm's agentic-AI platforms Bodhi and Slingshot, aimed at collapsing delivery cycles and slashing tech debt for Global 2000 clients.



Timestamps

00:00 — Origins: from early internet banking to CEO

03:30 — "Sequential watershed moments" & the post-Turing era

06:11 — Technical debt: why $2 T blocks innovation

11:00 — Fear vs. action: only 15% of firms truly embracing AI

14:45 — Inside Slingshot: combine-harvester for the SDLC

20:45 — Services-as-software: blending people, products, outcomes

24:55 — Operating-model redesign & the Iron-Man analogy

29:15 — Governance moves from review boards to real-time guardrails

34:30 — Closing thoughts: learning > knowing in an agentic world



Resources & Links



Book – Digital Business Transformation → https://www.publicissapient.com/insights/dbt-book-preview

Sapient Slingshot overview → https://www.publicissapient.com/solutions/sapient-ai/sapient-slingshot

Bodhi agentic platform → https://www.publicissapient.com/solutions/bodhi

Follow Nigel on LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nvaz

Follow Phil on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/pfersht/



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Episode 7. Publicis Sapient CEO Nigel Vaz: Redesign Your Operating Model Before AI Redesigns You

Inflection AI’s CEO, Sean White, takes us behind the scenes to explore why trust is the cornerstone of the AI revolution. With boardrooms and tech leaders demanding an “AI-first” strategy, he reveals how building human-centered, conversational systems isn’t just about technology - it’s about forging genuine trust and empowering people. Drawing parallels to the transformative shifts of the 90s and the rapid innovations seen today, he explains how agentic systems and AI-driven insights are reshaping everything from customer service to enterprise data analysis.

Ep 6. Inflection AI’s CEO on Why Trust Is the Future of AI

In this conversation, Phil Fersht and Todd Lohr discuss the evolving landscape of technology consulting, particularly in the context of AI and ecosystems. Todd shares insights on KPMG's strategic shift towards ecosystem partnerships, the impact of AI on business models, and the importance of addressing workforce concerns amidst technological advancements. They explore the future of services, the trend towards onshoring, and the necessity for enterprises to adopt intentional ecosystem strategies to navigate the complexities of the modern business environment.

Episode 5: Inflection Point - Todd Lohr, Head of Ecosystems and National Operations Leader for Advisory Markets, KPMG U.S.

In this intrepid conversation, Phil Fersht and Kathryn Stein discuss the evolving landscape of customer experience, the impact of AI on service delivery, and the cultural challenges faced in the workplace. Kathryn shares her insights from her career journey, emphasizing the importance of driving change within enterprises and the need for a strategic shift towards a more integrated approach to operations. They explore the future of work, the role of technology, and the necessity of adapting education to meet the demands of a changing job market.

Episode 4: Speed of Change – Featuring Katie Stein, CEO of IGT Solutions

In this compelling conversation, host Phil Fersht speaks with Jason Averbook—renowned HR leader and Senior Partner at Mercer—about the seismic changes reshaping the modern workforce. They explore the looming “humanistic recession” driven by AI, and how leaders must shift from “change management” to “change leadership.” Averbook warns that organizations failing to integrate human and machine teaming risk irrelevance, stressing that HR must move beyond counting heads to making heads truly count.

Episode 3: Fear of Becoming Obsolete – Jason Averbook, Senior Partner and Global Leader of HR Strategy at Mercer

In this Season 2 Bonus Episode of From the Horse’s Mouth, host Phil Fersht sits down with HFS President of Research and Advisory Services Saurabh Gupta for an in-depth discussion on the state of the services industry and the forces shaping its future. Reflecting on 2024’s economic turbulence, they explore the dual pressures of innovation demand and constrained budgets, as well as the evolving role of global capability centers and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Gupta emphasizes the industry’s need to shift from traditional people management to building competencies in product and ecosystem management to stay competitive. The episode serves as a thought-provoking analysis of how the services industry can adapt to a rapidly changing world, offering insights for 2025 and beyond.

Bonus Episode: Blurring Lines - Saurabh Gupta, President of Research and Advisory Services at HFS Research 

In the second episode of Season 2, Phil Fersht is joined by Nitin Rakesh, CEO of Mphasis, for an engaging discussion on the evolving landscape of the IT services industry in the age of AI and digital transformation. Drawing from his 30 years of experience, Rakesh highlights the critical inflection points shaping the sector, from the rise of cloud and mobile to the current AI-driven revolution. The conversation explores the challenges of adapting to rapidly shifting client demands, the growing importance of hybrid human-machine workforces, and the necessity for companies to invest in learning, innovation, and talent evolution to remain competitive. With insights on industry disruption, the future of talent, and the delicate balance between automation and human ingenuity, this episode offers a visionary perspective on the opportunities and challenges shaping the next decade of technology services.

Episode 2: The Trillion Dollar Question - Nitin Rakesh, CEO of Mphasis

In this Season 2 premiere episode, host Phil Fersht sits down with two industry titans—Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO, ServiceNow, and Ravi Kumar, CEO of Cognizant—to explore the evolving landscape of enterprise technology. They discuss how “digital fluidity” and transforming work from rigid tasks into dynamic workflows enabled by AI-driven agents can reshape entire organizations. They also dive into how AI can turn operational data into strategic assets, the importance of trust and ethics, and why leadership and cultural shifts are key to navigating the next technological renaissance.

Season 2 Episode 1: The Next Wave - Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO, ServiceNow, and Ravi Kumar, CEO of Cognizant

As technology rapidly evolves, the world has undergone a significant transformation. Society has shifted from being human-centered to a complex web of digital automation, AI, and human workers who support it. This rapid innovation outpaces regulations and threatens social mobility.

The rise of AI presents a critical challenge: how can businesses and policymakers ensure that AI enhances, rather than hinders, human creativity and innovation? Automating routine tasks could free up people for roles requiring creativity, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence, but it demands a focus on continuous learning and digital literacy.

The first season of From the Horse's Mouth: Intrepid Conversations with Phil Fersht explores the intersection of AI, work, and society, aiming to shape the future.

HFS Research

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