AI Adoption: The Good, the Bad and the Unknown by Visagio
This practical session, with a hands-on segment, moves beyond the hype to show how to introduce and run AI employees in real organisational settings. Drawing on Visagio’s experience delivering AI and advanced analytics projects globally, the session explores what has worked, what has failed, what an AI employee really costs to run, and where governance, data security and intellectual property risks can emerge.
Participants will explore what AI employees can do today, lesser-known tools, and emerging trends. They will then look at the less visible side of AI employees: the factors that determine whether an initiative scales or stalls. They will also hear what was learned along the way by Visagio’s AI unit. At the end, participants will add an AI employee to a real workflow, exploring its setup, token costs, side effects, failure modes and performance limits.
Workshop Information
Limited to 36 participants: 24 industry professionals in leadership roles navigating the use of AI in the workplace, and 12 academics and researchers interested in the application of AI in business.
Visagio will provide laptops, licences and workshop materials for the hands-on activities. No prior AI or technical experience is required.
Objectives
- Build a practical understanding of what it takes to introduce AI employees beyond the pilot
stage. - Examine the difference between genuine near-term AI capability and hype.
- Provide a hands-on experience setting up and using an agentic AI tool on a real task.
- Support better-informed decisions about where organisations should invest in AI and where
they should stop or reconsider existing initiatives.
Outcomes
- Quantify the real cost of running AI, including overheads not captured in the business case.
- Recognise common failure points and understand the controls to address them.
- Assess what makes an AI initiative scale rather than stall.
- Make more informed decisions about where to invest next and what to stop doing.
Facilitators
Dr Luan Mai
Dr Luan Mai is a Partner at Visagio and leads VLabs Australia, the firm’s AI and advanced analytics business unit. Over a career spanning more than 15 years, he has delivered more than 50 AI and advanced analytics projects across the resources, logistics and industrial sectors in Australia, Africa and Latin America, giving him a practitioner’s view of what separates AI initiatives that scale from those that stall. He holds a PhD in mathematical optimisation from Curtin University’s WA School of Mines, has published over 20 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, and serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment.
Wally
Consultant at Visagio Australia, working on generative AI initiatives spanning AI strategy, prototyping, multi-agent systems and scalable implementation. He holds a Master of Data Science from the University of Western Australia and previously co-founded BloomAI, an AI consultancy serving SMEs and local governments. He has also designed and delivered AI workshops for youth, and earlier in his career led demand generation for tech buyers across Asia-Pacific. He loves giving back to the tech community through community conferences and workshops.
Gabriel Fajardo
Gabriel Fajardo is a Senior Management Consultant at VLabs. With over 10 years of experience as a consultant in AI and Advanced Analytics, he has delivered projects across the mining and resources, oil and gas, and entertainment sectors. He leads the development of high-value generative AI use cases, including text-to-SQL solutions. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from UFF (Brazil) and completed MIT’s GCLOG certificate.