The Only Constant

Mikkel Flyverbom | On the politics of the digital domain, and the challenge of aligning AI with society and business | Episode #87

In this episode of The Only Constant, Lasse Rindom speaks with Mikkel Flyverbom, Professor of Communication and Digital Transformations, about why technology is never neutral and why the real challenge is not what technology is but what it does to us. Together, they explore how digital tools become infrastructure, how power and ideology get embedded in platforms, and why Europe now faces a defining moment for digital sovereignty.
Main topics they discuss include:
Why digital transformation is about alignment and misalignment rather than success or failure  
How AI, platforms, and social media both democratize access and create new gatekeepers  
Why digital infrastructure should be governed like roads, electricity, and public institutions  
What it takes to balance individual responsibility with political action, regulation, and European alternatives
 
Do you want to know more about Mikkel Flyverbom?
Mikkel Flyverbom is Professor of Communication and Digital Transformations at the Department of Management, Society and Communication,and the founding academic director of the BSc in Business Administration and Digital Management program, both at Copenhagen Business School.His research on digital transformations, data, tech governance and tech companies has been published in leading international journals, such as Business & Society, The Information Society, Telecommunications Policy, Organization Studies, Management Communication Quarterly, Organization, as well as a number of books. His most recent book, titled ‘The Digital Prism: Transparency and Managed Visibilities in a Datafied World’ has been published by Cambridge University Press. His research is cited widely, placing him among the top 2% of scholars worldwide according to the most recent Ioannidis/Stanford list.
Mikkel Flyverbom has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, University of California, Santa Barbara, LUISS University and Rutgers University. He is a member of the Danish government’s Data Ethics Council and Expert Group, Digital Task Foce for AI and former chairman of the Expert Group on Tech Giants, and a widely used media expert on digital transformations and the tech industry.

Walter Quattrociocchi | On Fluency and Judgment in AI, and the Fragility of Human Trust | Episode #86

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Walter Quattrociocchi, complexity scientist and professor of computer science, about what really happens when language becomes automated and answers arrive without the effort of thinking.
Their conversation circles around:
Why large language models simulate judgment rather than possess it, and why benchmarks miss the point
The concept of "Epistemia" - when fluent wording replaces verification and we feel we know without having evaluated
How AI increases content production while quietly eroding trust in content itself
Reliability, error, and the danger of delegating decisions to systems that cannot recognise their own mistakes
Whether expertise becomes rarer - and more valuable - in a world full of convincing but ungrounded answers
It is less a debate about machines becoming intelligent, and more a question of what happens to human judgment when fluency becomes cheap and cognitive labour optional.
Do you want to know more about Walter Quattrociocchi?
Walter Quattrociocchi is Full Professor at Sapienza University of Rome, leading the Center of Data Science and Complexity for Society (CDCS). His research interests encompass data science, network science, cognitive science, and data-driven modeling of dynamic processes in complex networks. Professor Quattrociocchi has an extensive publication record in peer-reviewed conferences and journals, including Nature and PNAS. His research on misinformation spreading has informed the Global Risk Report 2016 and 2017 of the World Economic Forum. International media have extensively covered his work, including Scientific American, New Scientist, The Economist, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Fortune, Poynter, and The Atlantic.
 
In 2017, Professor Quattrociocchi coordinated the round table on Fake News and the role of Universities and Research in countering fake news, chaired by the President of Italy's Chamber of Deputies, Mrs. Laura Boldrini. In 2018, he served as the scientific advisor to the Italian Communication Authority (AGCOM), and in 2020, he was a member of the Task Force to Counter Hate Speech, appointed by the Minister of Innovation. He has recently been one of the Principal Investigators of the IRIS research coalition (UK/G7) focused on combating misinformation about vaccine hesitancy and climate change.
 
In 2023, the US State Department appointed him to the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on the topic of Data-Driven Policies.
Professor Quattrociocchi is regularly invited to deliver keynote speeches and guest lectures at major academic institutions and other organizations.

Kathy Pham | On how Workday balances high stakes with rapid innovation, and the ambiguity of purpose | Episode #85

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Kathy Pham, global AI leader at Workday and long-time voice in responsible technology. The conversation moves straight past surface-level “AI is cool” talk and into agency, purpose, governance, and what actually happens when autonomous systems meet real work and real people. 
4 sharp conversation topics from the episode
Agency vs purpose - how giving tools more autonomy can quietly remove meaning from the very tasks we thought we were optimizing
The balance between technology fading into the background and moments where its presence must be explicit.
How governance can be an accelerator, and why good rules and architecture do not slow innovation but actually make teams move faster without creating tech and social debt
The tension between flexible, composable systems and the need for clear structures so AI can navigate finance, HR, and planning without going off the rails
This episode is less about “what AI can do” and more about what we should let it do, and what happens to human purpose when efficiency becomes the default answer.
 
Do you want to know more about Kathy Pham?
Kathy Pham is vice president of artificial intelligence at Workday. She also serves as the first Workday AI ambassador, and hosts the AI Horizons video series.
A computer scientist and product leader, Kathy has experience across industry, academia, non-profits, venture capital, and government. In addition to her role at Workday, Kathy’s a senior advisor at Mozilla, where she co-founded the Mozilla Builders Incubator and Mozilla Responsible Computing, funding and enabling start-up founders and academics. And she’s on the faculty at Harvard University, where she created and teaches the Product Management and Society course and co-founded the Ethical Tech Working Group. She also serves on various technology and non-profit boards.
Previously, Kathy served as the inaugural executive director of the National AI Advisory Committee, was deputy chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, and was a founding engineering and product member of the U.S. Digital Service at the White House, where she helped build critical digital services in government across three presidential administrations. In addition, Kathy spent over a decade building large scale systems in industry and healthcare at Google (search, health, people operations), IBM, and Harris Healthcare. She also previously served as a fellow at the MIT Media Lab and at the Harvard Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Initiative, where she co-founded ai-in-the-loop, exploring how AI fits into the human world.
Kathy completed her undergraduate and graduate studies in computer science at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and Supelec in Metz, France.

Phil Lee | On regulation and AI, and the challenge of balancing innovation with control | Episode #84

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Phil Lee, the Managing Director of Digiphile and a leading legal expert on data privacy, GDPR, and the evolving EU digital rulebook. It is a conversation that moves beyond the hype of the AI Act to explore the practical, often messy reality of compliance, investigating how organizations can navigate the "regulatory vicious circle" without stifling innovation.
4 sharp conversation topics from the episode:
- How excessive complexity in legislation causes companies to accidentally fall out of compliance, prompting regulators to create more rules, which only deepens the problem.- Why the biggest governance headache isn't always new tools, but existing vendors quietly rolling out AI features - like a PDF reader suddenly sending data to servers in China via a software update.- The legal reality that systems cannot be held accountable, meaning that regardless of how autonomous an AI agent becomes, a human must always remain in the loop to absorb the liability.- Looking beyond personal data (GDPR) to the new Data Act, which essentially serves as competition law designed to break vendor lock-in and force cloud providers to make proprietary data portable.
This conversation sets the tone and the reality for the interplay of regulation and innovation and is not to be missed by practitioners in the field of AI and data.
 
Do you want to know more about Phil Lee?
Phil is a lawyer with over 20 years' experience, specialising in data protection and artificial intelligence. His practice focuses mainly on technology, cloud and digital media companies, and he has worked in both London and California.
Phil Lee runs UK challenger law firm, Digiphile, which specialises in data protection, AI, and digital regulation. Digiphile's mission is to provide its global clients across all sectors with simple, strategic and actionable legal advice.
He holds CIPP/E, CIPM, AIGP and FIP status with the IAPP, and a degree in Computer Science from Cambridge University.

Katrine Bach | On inclusion and representation in AI, and the blind adoption of norms | Episode #83

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Katrine Bach - co-founder of Connected Women in AI - about why the real challenge in AI isn’t the tech itself, but how fast our systems entrench around whoever shows up first. Their conversation cuts through talk of values and hype, and asks what it really takes to build representative, inclusive, and effective AI adoption at scale.
Why AI isn’t a specialist tool anymore - and why that changes who should be in the room
The early adoption trap: how default practices quietly harden into systems, often without reflection
Representation as strategy - and how a more diverse talent pool improves both innovation and adoption
Why the gender gap in AI use and education is not about competence, but confidence - and how community changes that
How learning profiles, systemic structures, and invisible assumptions still shape who feels entitled to work with AI
This episode challenges the idea that “progress” is neutral - and insists we act now, before habit becomes excluding infrastructure.
Do you want to know more about Katrine Bach?
Katrine Bach is the CEO and founder of Expansion Partners, a consulting firm that helps leaders and entrepreneurs turn AI’s potential into tangible business growth and responsible innovation.
She is also the co-founder and CEO of Connected Women in AI, an organisation that in just one year has brought together more than 5,500 women with the aim of creating equal access to AI skills, career development, and professional networks. For Katrine, diversity is not only about innovation, but about unlocking the full talent pool and thereby strengthening Denmark’s competitiveness at a time when AI is reshaping both the labour market and value creation. Under her leadership, the network is now launching a new digital platform designed to make AI learning and community accessible to even more people, helping ensure that Denmark maintains a strong position in the global AI landscape.
With more than 25 years of international experience in the global pharma and technology industries, Katrine combines strategic insight, business acumen, and a passion for responsible technology. She is a prominent voice in the debate on how Denmark can maintain its competitive edge in the AI era through diversity, innovation, and bold leadership.

Jeanette Bronée | On scaling a broken system, and the discipline of staying human | Episode #82

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Jeanette Bronée - global keynote speaker, author of The Self-Care Mindset, and creator of Power-Pausing™ - about how the real lever in today’s fast-moving, AI-shaped workplace isn’t faster output, but human clarity, connection and trust.
AI can supercharge the hamster wheel, unless leaders redesign what the wheel is even for
The difference between output and outcome, and why speed without discernment just multiplies dysfunction
Agency as the real battleground, and the risk of outsourcing sovereignty to tools that feel like they “understand” you
Why global connectivity creates both opportunity and mass comparison, and how that pressure shapes work, identity, and attention
The uncomfortable question behind “future of work" - Who actually gets to choose what it becomes?
Are we designing for and with care? Or just accelerating mindlessly? That's the question this episode explores.
Do you want to know more about Jeanette Bronée?
Jeanette Bronée is a Danish-born, New York–based global keynote speaker, TEDx speaker, and culture strategist who helps organizations unlock the Human Advantage in a world shaped by AI and constant change. With a background in customer experience, brand strategy, and more than two decades as a coach and consultant, she works at the intersection of human performance and organizational culture.
Her career began in design and leadership, where she learned firsthand that customer experience is inseparable from employee experience. After burning out and rebuilding her life from the inside out, she dedicated her work to understanding how people function under pressure and how trust becomes the invisible infrastructure of every high-performing team.
Jeanette is the creator of Power-Pausing™ and CARE OS®, practical frameworks that help leaders build self-trust, strengthen team trust, and design human-driven cultures where clarity, care, and collaboration fuel innovation. She has spoken at the United Nations and guided leaders across global companies, and she is the author of The Self-Care Mindset® published by Wiley.
Her work challenges the outdated idea that productivity is the goal. Instead, she highlights that high-functioning organizations grow from the inside out when people have the tools to navigate uncertainty, recalibrate their energy, and lead with wisdom instead of speed.
In a future where technology accelerates everything, Jeanette believes our competitive edge is profoundly human. She helps leaders turn trust into strategy, care into culture, and change into momentum so people and organizations can thrive, adapt, and innovate, no matter the pace of the world around them.
 

Melanie Kleemann | On leadership in uncertainty, and the constraint of what's possible | Episode #81

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Melanie Kleemann, an experienced executive leader and transformation advisor, about why AI doesn’t fail because of technology - but because of leadership.
Their conversation cuts through AI theatre and lands on the uncomfortable, practical work of leading change:
Why technology never transforms the world on its own - and how AI exposes weak ownership and unclear leadership faster than any previous wave
The real mistake leaders make with AI: delegating responsibility instead of providing clarity, context, and orientation
Why “digital transformations fail” is the wrong question - and how time, culture, and over-promising distort the story
The difference between exploring the future and leading people through uncertainty without creating anxiety
Why AI adoption demands more human leadership, not less - and why clarity matters more than speed
If you’re tired of AI slogans, frightened organisations, and leaders pretending to have answers they don’t - this episode is about what leadership actually looks like when the future is unclear.
 
Do you want to know more about Melanie Kleemann?
“The job market isn’t broken,  the rules are just outdated. Melanie Kleemann rewrites them.”
Melanie doesn’t help leaders find their next job: she helps them take the lead in writing their next chapter.
As a former global C-level executive turned Executive Advisor, she flips the script on outdated career playbooks. Her clients don’t wait for headhunters or job ads. They build visibility, clarity, and authority to attract the opportunities they want.
With 25+ years of leadership experience at brands like IKEA, Vorwerk, and P&C Group, Melanie is now one of the most trusted voices on leadership in times of transformation. She supports top-level executives during reinvention, after exits, or at key turning points, with a clear strategy that puts them back in the driver’s seat.
Her approach? Strategy meets story. Business meets brand. No fluff. No wishful thinking, just bold clarity and results.

Ewa Zborowska | On staying focused in high seas, and the uncomfortable question of outcome | Episode #80

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Ewa Zborowska, Research Director at IDC and one of Europe’s leading AI analysts, known and renowned for her clarity in the face of hype. With decades of experience turning early signals into strategic foresight, she joins the podcast to discuss what’s actually, truly, really happening in enterprise AI adoption.
Together, they unpack:
Why everyone claims success in AI while most projects still quietly fail, and what it means to fail in AI
How analyst work sits between vendor buzz and the messy truth of enterprise IT
Why integration - not pilots - remains the real bottleneck to value
How regulations can unlock innovation by reducing risk and enabling trust
If you’re exhausted by AI theatrics and want to hear from someone who reads the footnotes and drives genuine influence on vendors and buyers -  this is your episode.Do you want to know more about Ewa Zborowska?:Ewa Zborowska is a Research Director at IDC, leading the European AI research program. She has over 20 years of experience in market analysis and consulting, focusing on how emerging technologies influence business and society.
Ewa is recognized for identifying meaningful patterns in technology trends and explaining complex topics in a clear, accessible way. Her work spans cloud computing, AI, and managed services, where she brings a balanced mix of independent analysis and collaborative engagement. Her steady curiosity and thoughtful approach have helped her build strong relationships with clients and colleagues.
She remains focused on future trends and the long-term impact of technology, aiming to better understand what today’s innovation will mean for the next generation.

Laura Jeffords Greenberg | On AI in legal, and the intricacies of ambiguous endpoints | Episode #79

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Laura Jeffords Greenberg, lawyer, legal tech leader and top voice, educator, and Head of the AI Legal Academy at Wordsmith. Born in Silicon Valley and now based in Europe, Laura brings a unique perspective on how legal work is adapting - and sometimes resisting - the AI wave.
Their conversation dives into both the structural and cultural forces shaping the legal profession:
How in-house lawyers are embracing AI to stop reviewing NDAs and start preventing risk
What happens when you train a junior lawyer on AI - but they’ve never learned what “good” looks like
Legal language vs. code: ambiguity, jurisdictional nuance, and why “best efforts” might not mean what you think
Why Silicon Valley has always hated lawyers - and what it says about the future of regulation and power
This is an episode that goes deep on AI, and on legal, to ask what governs both worlds and what will it mean when they collide.
 
Do you want to know more about Laura Jeffords Greeberg?:
Laura Jeffords Greenberg is the Head of Wordsmith Academy, where she teaches legal teams how to use AI with clarity, confidence, and curiosity. A former in-house lawyer turned legal-tech educator, she’s trained thousands of lawyers across Europe and North America on practical, safe, everyday AI use. 
She’s also recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice, keynote speaker, and thought leader on legal tech and GenAI.
 
Laura focuses on bridging the gap between legal expertise and emerging technology, helping legal teams rethink workflows, develop AI literacy, and work with AI as a true colleague.

Sune Selsbæk-Reitz | On sources of truth, and the amplification of good and bad with AI | Episode #78

In this episode, Lasse Rindom speaks with Sune Selsbæk-Reitz, Data and AI Strategist at Demant. Sune has emerged as one of Denmark’s clearest and most skeptical voices in the AI field - not in opposition to generative AI, but in opposition to how uncritically it’s often applied. 
The conversation covers a wide arc, but always circles back to human agency, historical perspective, and the need to reinstate critical thinking in digital transformation.
Topics include:
The fluency trap: why we mistake well-written answers for truth
How LLMs amplify what we bring to them - curiosity, clarity, or laziness
The forgotten value of source criticism and scientific theory in AI deployments
Data strategy, governance, and what Sune calls “forever beta”
De-ontological design and building systems that know what they should never do
An episode for anyone who wants to understand not just what AI does, but what it does to us.
 
Do you want to know more about Sune Selsbæk-Reitz?
Sune Selsbæk-Reitz is a Danish tech philosopher and Data & AI Strategist at Demant, a global hearing healthcare company. His work focuses on bridging data strategy, artificial intelligence, and ethics, ensuring that technology serves human dignity rather than efficiency alone.He is the creator of the Deontological Design framework, which applies Kantian moral philosophy to AI ethics, and the author of the forthcoming book "Promptism: Fluent Machines, Forgotten Questions, and the Fight for Meaning in the Age of AI." Through his writing, public speaking, and research, he explores how fluency, automation, and convenience shape human thinking and moral responsibility in the age of intelligent systems.Before joining Demant, Sune worked in the financial sector, leading strategic data initiatives and business transformation projects. He holds a master’s degree in philosophy and history, has written extensively on AI ethics and critical thinking, and is a regular speaker at conferences on responsible AI and the future of human-machine interaction.