On the CAIO Connect Podcast, Hari Balaji of EY India shares how AI leadership now demands transformation, communication, governance, and bold redesign.
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, February 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — AI Leadership in the Age of Transformation: Hari Balaji of EY India on the CAIO Connect Podcast
On the CAIO Connect Podcast, host Sanjay Puri interviewed Hari Balaji, Partner at EY India and Leader of the Generative AI Center of Excellence, live from the AI Impact Summit. One thing that was clear from this podcast is that leadership in AI is no longer about models and infrastructure but about transformation, communication, and alignment.
The Evolving Role of the Chief AI Officer
As Mr. Hari described on the podcast, the Chief AI Officer position has changed radically. In the first stage, the position was highly technical—machine learning, data architecture, and experiments. They were building the AI infrastructure.
But now, the position is much more complicated. Companies are working on 20 or more AI pilots at the same time. Some are successful. Some fail. Many are confused. The Chief AI Officer must now scale success, kill failure, deal with AI fatigue, and keep educating on new technologies such as agentic AI and new protocols that change the possibilities every month.
The leadership of AI has moved from being highly technical to highly strategic.
Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down AI Adoption
Balaji pointed out the widening gap. Employees are already using AI tools on their own. They are testing chatbots and productivity assistants. At the same time, C-suite teams are embarking on enterprise-wide AI transformation initiatives.
When these two trends don’t work together, adoption will fail.
On the Chief AI Officer Podcast, Hari Balaji stressed the need for internal communication. AI transformation cannot be communicated in technical speak. It has to answer the questions that employees are asking. What does this mean for me? What skills do I need? How will my job change?
Skilling has to be personalized. Communication has to be transparent. Adoption is as much human as it is tech.
Shadow AI: Risk or Opportunity?
The emergence of “shadow AI”—the unauthorized use of AI in the enterprise—is both a warning flag and an opportunity indicator.
As Hari Balaji told Sanjay Puri, the very fact that people are trying out AI in their organizations is a testament to its value. AI is a self-promoter. However, left unchecked, it poses risks of data breaches, IP exposure, hallucination-driven outcomes, and regulatory non-compliance.
The solution is not a “no AI” hard line.
Who Owns the AI Narrative?
One of the most compelling parts of the discussion was related to leadership accountability. As Har says, the CEO needs to transform into the Chief AI Communicator. The vision cannot be delegated.
The Chief AI Officer, CIO, and Responsible AI leaders are the ones who execute, but the story of why AI is important and what the future holds for the company needs to be told by the leadership. AI strategy is as important as financial strategy.
AI: Technology First or Transformation First?
Hari’s transformation represents a larger shift. From being a systems technologist, he is now applying his skills as a transformation leader in AI.
In an episode of the Chief AI Officer Podcast with Sanjay Puri, he said that the conversation about AI has shifted to include business outcomes first. Technology is no longer at the forefront. Organizations are now transitioning from using AI as a “co-pilot” to improve workflows to completely revamping workflows around the capabilities of AI.
The key to success will be in the hands of those who are willing to rethink workflows from scratch.
Beyond the Screen: Physical AI
At the AI Impact Summit, Balaji demonstrated the application of AI in areas beyond chatbots, such as edge computing and robotics, made possible by sophisticated hardware integration. Such applications as infrastructure scanning and public safety surveillance illustrate the practical potential of AI.
It’s a wake-up call: AI is more than conversational. It’s operational.
The Way Forward
As Hari Balaji so aptly summarized at the end of his appearance on the CAIO Connect Podcast hosted by Sanjay Puri, “The age of AI will be characterized by clarity of communication, risk awareness, and leadership.”
The future is for those who can marry bottom-up curiosity with top-down vision – to redesign, to empower, and to lead with confidence.
The leadership of AI today is not merely about developing models. It is about developing trust, alignment, and momentum.
Upasana Das
Knowledge Networks
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