Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn · Jon Krohn

953: Beyond “Agent Washing”: AI Systems That Actually Deliver ROI, with Dell’s Global CTO John Roese

·51 min·3 clips

Dell says revenue grew by $10 billion while absolute cost declined 4% in the same fiscal year.

Rose joins from the mountains of New Hampshire, where he says it is about eight degrees outside. The interview starts in that familiar remote setting before moving into the business result that anchors the episode: AI helped Dell grow revenue by $10 billion while costs went down, and that becomes the springboard for the rest of the discussion. From there, the show turns technical without losing its footing. Rose walks through knowledge layers, MCP, and agent-to-agent protocols as part of the practical AI guidance he wants enterprises to use, while Crone keeps pulling the conversation back to how those ideas become real ROI. Governance takes up more space as the interview goes on. Rose says external governance is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the work as AI starts to go into production, especially because highly regulated use cases carry a very high burden right now. He also argues that internal governance matters just as much: giving everybody a tool and hoping for the best does not work, and a clear governance framework helps teams decide what to prioritize and how to organize the work so it is more likely to succeed. The term AI slop comes up directly. Rose ties it to a real risk, especially when sloppy AI-generated content touches something that is kind of a regulatory third rail, because that kind of breakdown can create serious problems. He also recommends going after low-hanging fruit first rather than starting in the most regulated environments. The tone stays measured throughout, with Crone pressing for plain-English explanations so the technical material keeps landing as practical guidance instead of jargon. Overall, it is an enterprise-focused conversation about making AI useful, avoiding slop, and choosing work that can stand up inside a business.

As heard by us

Enterprise AI value is framed through ROI, governance, and production discipline.

Dell Technologies' Jon Rose comes across as a grounded enterprise AI example. The discussion starts with $10 billion in revenue growth last year while costs went down, then moves into knowledge layers, MCP, agent-to-agent protocols, and the broader push to make AI spending show…

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Why you'd press play

If you want AI ROI without the vapor, this one keeps its feet on the floor.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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