A wide-ranging, human-first conversation about scaling AI responsibly. Tracey traces her path from nursing to programming to CEO, explains why “good enough isn’t,” and lays out a practical playbook: pick the right problem, bring people along, then layer AI on strong workflows and platforms to unlock real innovation—not just busywork.

Our Guest

Tracey Cesen — Founder & CEO, Forever Human AI. Former President/CEO in professional services; earlier roles across healthcare, finance, and ed-tech. Advocate for human-centered tech, product thinking, and pragmatic change management.

What we cover

• Origin story: from nursing labs to coding and product leadership
• “Good Enough Isn’t” as a leadership lens (and why a little healthy pushback makes teams better)
• Human-first tech: what AI should automate, and what must stay human
• Platforms > one-off pilots: how workflow/data foundations enable GenAI value
• Why 95% of pilots stall (and how to be in the 5% that ship and stick)
• The “AI as a utility” model (quality–speed–cost) & what that means for builders and buyers
• Marketing implications: YouTube’s rising importance, AI disclosure, and audience trust
• Tracey’s “why”: help people be more than they think they can be, and make new mistakes

Resources & Links Mentioned

Connect with Tracey

• Tracey Cesen’s LinkedIn (DM her here): https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceymzimmerman/

Platforms & Tools

• ServiceNow – Now Assist (Generative AI on Now Platform): https://www.servicenow.com/now-platform.html
• xAI — Grok (Elon Musk’s AI model): https://x.ai/grok
• Google “Doppl” (body-double virtual try-on experiments): https://labs.google/doppl
• 95% of GenAI Pilots fail article: https://mlq.ai/media/quarterly_decks/v0.1_State_of_AI_in_Business_2025_Report.pdf
• Impaxs - https://impaxs.com
  • Email: asheridan@impaxs.com

Hosts

• Level Agency - https://www.level.agency/
• Patrick Patterson’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattersonwork/
• Myles Biggs’ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mylesjbiggs/

Takeaways for Operators & Leaders

• Start with the right problem. Strong pilots solve meaningful problems, not just novel ones.
• People > tools. Adoption comes through excitement, not enforcement.
• Focus on platforms. Platforms like ServiceNow unify workflows and data, making GenAI possible.
• Think like a utility. Models are like electricity: optimize across quality, speed, and cost.
• Avoid vanity pilots. Ship useful tools, iterate quickly, and make new mistakes to learn and improve.

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