A Class Act - Navigating the AI Landscape
What does it really take to build world-class tech teams and lead with impact in today’s data-driven AI landscape?
I’m Michael Young from MBN Solutions and after two decades placing top talent across data, AI, and tech, I’ve seen the real stories behind high-performing teams.
On A Class Act, we go beyond buzzwords.
You’ll hear real life, experience-led conversations with the AI and data leaders shaping digital transformation right now - those hiring top tech talent, building data science capability, and leading with purpose.
Whether you're a data leader, people manager, or recruiter, join us for honest, practical insights into hiring, leadership, strategy, and building great teams in AI and data.
Follow A Class Act for honest, beyond the hype leadership conversations in the AI, data and tech space.
A Class Act - Navigating the AI Landscape
The 4 Pillars of AI Adoption Strategy EVERY Enterprise Leader Needs with Lead Enterprise Architect at NatWest Group
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If 99% of executives say their AI rollout isn’t mature, so what’s actually going wrong?
In this episode of A Class Act, Michael chats with Natalia Konstantinova, Lead Enterprise Architect in AI at NatWest Group. Natalia holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics and has spent her career at the intersection of AI research and enterprise delivery, including leading AI strategy at BP before joining NatWest.
In this conversation, they get into👇
✔ Why only 1% of executives describe their AI rollout as mature
✔ Natalia’s four pillars of AI adoption
✔ Why governance is critical and what good governance actually looks like
✔ Why less than one in five organisations are tracking KPIs for their AI solutions and what to measure instead
✔ The biggest barriers to AI adoption and why they’re not technical
✔ What good AI leadership actually looks like and hiring challenges leaders face
✔ Why hiring one person and expecting them to solve everything doesn’t work
✔ One concrete action a leader should take this week
Guest Information👇
Natalia Konstantinova is a Lead Enterprise Architect in AI at NatWest Group. She holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics from the Research Institute in Information and Language Processing (RIILP) and brings deep expertise across NLP, machine translation, information extraction, dialogue systems, and data analytics.
Connect with Natalia Konstantinova on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nkonst/
About Your Host👇
Michael Young is the Managing Director of MBN Solutions and host of A Class Act: Conversations in Data & Leadership. With nearly two decades of experience helping organisations build high-performing data, analytics, and AI teams, he brings frontline insight into what makes exceptional talent and leadership.
Please note: The views expressed by the guest in this episode are their own and do not reflect those of their current or former employers.
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Connect with MBN Solutions
If you’re hiring for data or AI leadership roles, scaling AI capability, or rethinking how talent supports your AI strategy, the team at MBN partners with organisations to build data and AI teams that actually deliver.
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For questions, guest recommendations, or to connect:
Email: michael@mbnsolutions.com
Visit MBN Solutions website at www.mbnsolutions.com