From racking servers to launching AI programs, Coin Graham (VP, Pre-Sales & Professional Services at Bespin Global) shares how enterprise IT is moving from cloud-first to GenAI-enabled, and what it really takes to make that shift pay off.

We dig into practical lessons on data readiness, governance, model selection (SLMs vs. big multimodal LLMs), AI security, and a killer classification case study that turned messy product data into clean, searchable attributes at scale. For MSPs and IT leaders, Coin’s “dynamic engineering” model shows how to staff leaner, ship faster, and prove ROI without ballooning costs.

Episode Highlights

• [00:00] Welcome & setup -- why Bespin Global is betting big on AI services

• [00:48] What Bespin does: cloud enablement, data & analytics, GenAI services (all 3 hyperscalers)

• [01:59] Career journey: math → support → VMware → cloud — the AWS Japan “lightbulb” moment

• [06:02] Joining Bespin & GenAI surge; Coin’s digital-nomad workflow with a remote-first culture

• [11:01] Industry shifts: from hype to secure, observable, cost-effective enterprise AI; SLMs and protocols

• [16:24] Case study: using LLMs to classify product labels (e.g., “gluten-free”) across millions of SKUs

• [17:45] Readiness reality check: top-down AI pressure vs. messy data, missing governance, unclear ROI

• [20:15] AI security: attacker enablement, new surfaces (e.g., MCP), prompt-injection risks & human-in-the-loop

• [22:55] DIY shift: clients get 70–90% there with LLMs; consulting pivots to expert “last-mile” execution

• [26:32] Packaging & pricing: “dynamic engineering” pods, swapping skills as project needs evolve

Tags/Keywords

Bespin Global, Coin Graham, GenAI services, SLM vs LLM, AI security, data governance, cloud modernization, dynamic engineering, MSP growth, enterprise AI strategy, AI readiness, FinOps for AIConnect with Coin Graham (Bespin Global)

• • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coingraham/
  • Website: https://bespinglobal.us/

• To connect with John Rice and AI Savants:

• • Website: https://www.aisavants.io
  • Email: john@aisavants.io
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-rice-31329526/