The AI Agency Journey · 2025-12-10 · 48 min
Guest: Jess Orr - ex-Toyota engineer, former corporate OpEx leader and VP of Operations Summary: In this episode, Jess and Antonio connect the dots between Operational Excellence and Artificial Intelligence . Jess shares what she learned at Toyota, in a successful divisional OpEx transformation, in a failed enterprise-wide rollout, and later as VP of Operations - and how all of that experience shapes how she thinks about AI today. The core message: OpEx and CI professionals are uniquely positioned to lead AI efforts because they already know how to define problems, find constraints, and drive cultural change. Starting with tools - whether it’s Lean tools or AI tools - almost always fails. Antonio then introduces the concept of AI Business Audits as a structured way for consultants to partner with clients, identify their real bottlenecks, and use AI for brainstorming, solution design, and ROI modeling , instead of jumping blindly into “doing AI.” 3 - 5 Key Takeaways: Toyota vs everyone else: Toyota embedded continuous improvement in everyone’s job , while many companies try to bolt on CI through tools without a culture to sustain it. Tools don’t fix culture.
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