Editor’s note: This article is based on insights from our podcast series. The views expressed in the podcast reflect the views of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the views of this publication. Readers are encouraged to explore the entire podcast for additional context.
“Don’t build swivel chairs for your employees. Standalone experiences don’t equate to productivity.”
This line from Kellie Romack, Chief Digital Information Officer at ServiceNow, perfectly captured the heart of her conversation with host Sanjay Puri on the CAIO Connect podcast. In a world obsessed with AI models, pilots, and demos, Romac has provided something far more valuable: a grounded, human-centered blueprint for making AI actually work at scale.
The message was clear from the beginning. Success with AI has less to do with technology and much more to do with leadership, workflow, and context.
Romac, who has led digital transformations across hospitality (Hilton), retail (Walmart), and enterprise software (ServiceNow), emphasized one universal rule: great experiences drive transformation. And she broadly defines “customers” to include not only external users, but also employees and partners.
When organizations design AI without prioritizing employee experience, adoption stagnates. Productivity increases when AI is incorporated into seamless end-to-end workflows.
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One of the most compelling moments of the podcast was Romack’s discussion of workforce transformation. She used her experience making difficult decisions in the hospitality industry during the coronavirus pandemic to explain how AI must be human-led, not replace humans.
At ServiceNow, her team built an autonomous IT service desk that resolved 90% of requests without human intervention. Instead of eliminating roles, we upskilled employees and redeployed them to higher-value work managing, improving, and extending AI systems.
result?
- Double-digit improvement in employee satisfaction
- Reduced resolution time
- Improving the experience for 28,000 employees
As Puri pointed out during our conversation, this was not just a moral choice, but a smart business decision.
Romack repeatedly warned about the common leadership trap of putting AI on top of broken processes. She argued that AI should not automate inefficiencies, but eliminate them.
Her favorite example involved sales commissions. A process that once took four days and required a lot of tickets has been completely reinvented using AI and confidential computing. result? 8 seconds. There are no tickets. There is no friction.
It’s not automation. That’s reinvention.
Throughout the Chief AI Officer podcast episode, Romack returned to one theme. That means workflow is more important than tools. Standalone AI experiences are like “swivel chairs” where employees bounce between systems, contexts, and screens.
True productivity is achieved when AI, data, and orchestration work together in the daily flow of work. This philosophy underpins ServiceNow’s approach to agent AI, where multiple agents work together securely under orchestration rather than operating in silos.
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Romac also addressed concerns surrounding rogue AI agents and regulation. Her reconstruction was powerful. If governance is built in early, rogue agents will never arise.
ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower gives leaders visibility into adoption, usage, and critical business value, not just technical metrics. Responsible AI is not bureaucracy, she emphasized. It’s a trust accelerator.
According to Romack, AI projects fail for three leadership reasons.
- Automate old processes instead of rethinking workflows
- Treat AI as an IT project, not a business strategy
- Building siled solutions
As she told Puri, AI doesn’t fail with technology, it fails with leadership.
Romac concluded the conversation with advice for those aspiring to become chief AI officers. Stay curious, lead with empathy, and master context. Technical skills are important, but people skills are even more important.
As highlighted in the podcast, the future of AI leadership is not about chasing the hype. It’s about reinventing work, investing in people, and embedding AI in the right places in your workflow.
