Operational Safety With AI: Chevron's Ellen Nielsen

Operational Safety With AI: Chevron's Ellen Nielsen

Author: MIT Sloan Management Review December 5, 2023 Duration: 35:13
Ellen Nielsen, Chevron’s first chief data officer, sees data as the common thread throughout a career that has spanned systems, digital data, procurement, and supply chain. In her current role, she applies what she’s learned to Chevron’s wide-ranging AI and machine learning initiatives, including the use of robots and computer vision to inspect tanks, digital twins to simulate operations, and sensors to monitor equipment in refineries. On this episode, Ellen shares examples of the integrated energy company's use cases for machine learning and generative AI, and she describes the company’s citizen development program, which puts safe, secured AI and machine learning tools in the hands of employees throughout Chevron. Read the episode transcript here. Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger. Stay in touch with us by joining our LinkedIn group, AI for Leaders at mitsmr.com/AIforLeaders or by following Me, Myself, and AI on LinkedIn. Guest bio: Ellen Nielsen is the chief data officer at Chevron, where she focuses on creating a data-oriented culture partnered with value-chain thinking. A multidisciplinary leader, Nielsen has over 30 years of global experience as an executive in IT, digital, data, procurement, and supply chain. She has worked with industry leaders in oil and gas, fast-moving consumer goods, automotive, manufacturing, retail, and banking and insurance. Nielsen is a regular speaker at industry events and has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being named to CDO Magazine’s 2023 Global Data Power Women list. She was also ranked fifth on the 2023 DataIQ 100 list of the most influential people in data in the United States. She also serves on a variety of boards, including PIDX (Petroleum Industry Data Exchange) International and Women Leaders in Data & AI. We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.

Ever wondered how some organizations manage to turn artificial intelligence from a buzzword into a genuine engine for growth, while others struggle to move beyond the pilot phase? Me, Myself, and AI, a production from MIT Sloan Management Review, goes straight to the source to find out. Instead of theoretical discussions, this podcast features candid conversations with the people who are actually building and implementing AI systems at scale. You'll hear directly from leaders at prominent companies like YouTube, Cisco, and Hugging Face as they recount their journeys-not just the polished successes, but the real-world challenges, strategic decisions, and sometimes surprising lessons learned along the way. Each episode digs into the practicalities of creating measurable business value, cutting through the noise to reveal what effective AI leadership and integration truly look like. It’s a focused exploration for anyone in technology, business, or education who wants to understand the human and operational stories behind the algorithms. Tune in for an unvarnished look at the future being built, one practical application at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Me, Myself, and AI
Podcast Episodes
The Social Science of AI: Intel’s Elizabeth Anne Watkins [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:35
When Elizabeth Anne Watkins started her doctoral program, she landed a research role studying journalists’ use of security and privacy technologies — but she found the security tools confusing and difficult to use. Today…
Making Investments in AI: Samsung’s Hina Dixit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:11
Hina Dixit’s interest in supporting people and solving problems has its roots in her family’s call office business, where she helped people place telephone calls when she was growing up in India. Later, after earning her…
Continuous Learning With AI: Aflac’s Shelia Anderson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:21
Shelia Anderson parlayed a love of learning into studying the emerging field of engineering when she began her undergraduate education. After gaining experience leading IT teams in the technology, airline, and insurance…
Trust and Fraud Detection at Scale: Instagram’s Stephanie Moyerman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:11
Stephanie Moyerman’s background in cosmology and astrophysics — where she worked with large data sets, looking for a signal among what was mostly noise — prepared her well for a career in data science and ethics. Today,…
Partnerships in AI Drive Conservation Efforts: WWF’s Dave Thau [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:07
Wildlife conservation efforts may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about opportunities to use artificial intelligence and machine learning. But Dave Thau, data and technology lead scientist at th…
Making 600 Billion Decisions With AI: Expedia Group’s Rathi Murthy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:13
Rathi Murthy has always been passionate about technology roles that allow her to drive business transformation and improve customer experience. In her current role as CTO and president of Product & Technology for Expedia…
A One-Stop Data Shop: The Lego Group’s Anders Butzbach Christensen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:26
Anders Butzbach Christensen began his career in product management before landing his dream job working for the Lego Group in Denmark. Today, as head of data engineering, he’s leading Lego’s digital transformation with a…
A Third Path to Talent Development: Delta’s Michelle McCrackin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:42
Michelle McCrackin, senior manager of analytics learning and development at Delta Air Lines, never imagined that she’d be an analytics leader when she first joined the airline as an HR business partner. But, faced with t…
Out of the Lab and Into a Product: Microsoft’s Eric Boyd [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:07
As a partner with OpenAI — the company that recently wowed the tech world and the general public with its DALL-E image generator and ChatGPT chatbot — Microsoft helped to make those generative AI tools possible. But Micr…