Madhu Ramamurthy on Balancing AI Innovation With Responsible Governance

What’s stopping AI from scaling across the enterprise? For Madhu Ramamurthy, CIO of Zurich North America, it’s not the technology. It’s the culture. In this episode, Madhu shares how he’s navigating the paradox of AI: a tool with unprecedented potential, surrounded by institutional resistance, unclear regulations, and cultural misalignment. He outlines Zurich’s approach to responsible AI deployment, organizational change, and ethical tech use. Key highlights include: How “organizational antibodies” can kill innovation before it scales The case for explainability and governance in AI development Why domain expertise is more valuable than tech fluency Building AI-native teams outside of legacy systems Madhu’s warning on digital flattery and sycophantic AI