Why AI Transformations Fail When Companies Overlook the Human Factor

Sean Iannuzzi, Global AI CoE Leader at NewRocket, where he is leading the development of Agentic AI and autonomous enterprise architectures that help organizations scale AI safely, responsibly, and with measurable business impact joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Sean Iannuzzi discuss the following:

1. Culture: The Real Barrier to AI Success

Sean, NewRocket often says the biggest barriers to AI adoption are not technical but human. As Agentic AI begins taking autonomous actions, how does this increase the importance of cultural alignment? What non-technical signals show that a company is truly ready to move from fear of AI replacement to genuine trust and partnership with autonomous agents?

2. Governance: Controlling the Action-Oriented Agent

When AI shifts from generating text to taking real action, governance becomes critical. What is the key difference between governing a generative AI tool and governing a fully autonomous agent? What guardrails and processes must enterprise leaders put in place now to ensure these systems remain compliant, auditable, and safe?

3. Data Quality and the Traceable Agent

Data quality challenges are not new, but for agents automating high-impact workflows, the stakes are far higher. How does data readiness for Agentic AI differ from past AI efforts? How does NewRocket ensure data is trustworthy and traceable enough for agents making real-time decisions across IT, HR, or customer experience?

4. Escaping the Pilot Purgatory

Many enterprises are stuck in endless AI pilots that never scale. From your work leading the Center of Excellence, what practical, action-oriented methodology helps an organization prototype an Agentic use case and move it to measurable outcomes within weeks?

5. Designing for Meaningful Work

As Agentic AI automates more complex workflows, what must companies do to redesign the employee experience? How can leaders make sure human talent is focused on challenging, high-value work instead of being left with only fragmented exceptions the agents do not handle?

TIP: The key to success with Agentic AI is to focus on purpose-built, modular solutions that solve a painful, specific problem. Do not build a monolithic super-agent. Start by identifying a high-impact, repeatable workflow, like automating initial IT triage or processing a full HR request category. Then use a proven execution framework, such as FlightPath.AI, to quickly move from concept to an agent prototype with measurable ROI in weeks. Once you prove value and control with one agent, scaling the next ten becomes a strategic process rather than a technical risk.

Sean Iannuzzi is the Global AI CoE Leader at NewRocket, where he is redefining the future of enterprise AI within the ServiceNow ecosystem. He leads NewRocket’s global AI strategy, driving innovation in generative and agentic AI through modular architectures, data-aware governance, retrieval-augmented intelligence, and multi-agent orchestration. Sean architected NewRocket’s Agentic AI Reference Architecture, the Value Realization Framework and Dashboard, and the company’s portfolio of intelligent modular agents, including Elara, Ariel, Phoebe, Miles, and Heidi, which are transforming next-generation AI into measurable outcomes for enterprise clients worldwide.

With more than 20 years in technology, Sean has deep expertise in cloud engineering, enterprise architecture, AI strategy, and agentic AI accelerators. His previous leadership roles include CTO, Head of Technology and Development, and Head of Enterprise Architecture across global enterprises and high-growth companies in finance, telecom, healthcare, marketing, and retail. He began his career as a C++ programmer and has spent over a decade applying AI to real-world use cases, beginning with ML for rare disease detection at IQVIA.

Before joining NewRocket, Sean served as Vice President and Head of AI Technology Innovation at an AI consulting firm, where he built north-star AI strategies and platform roadmaps for major brands such as Verizon, Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Hyatt. His technical experience spans generative AI, autonomous agents, orchestration frameworks, and enterprise-grade RAG pipelines, with implementations across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Snowflake.

At NewRocket, Sean established the Global AI Center of Excellence, building the organizational, architectural, and governance foundation that powers the company’s Agentic AI portfolio. He oversees the innovation roadmap for AI across ServiceNow, ensuring every initiative is tied to measurable impact, responsible governance, and real operational value.
Sean is also a published author, open-source contributor, and certified mentor. Based in South Jersey, he enjoys basketball, swimming, chess, and studying quantum physics, and lives with his family near Philadelphia.