Pradeep Mannakkara (CIO) and Ben Mayrides (CISO) of Cvent explain how they govern AI agents at scale across their 5,500-person organization, which now has over 6,000 agents in production. In this fireside chat recorded at a Glean event in NYC, they walk through the AWARE framework developed by Glean's Work AI Institute with Databricks and Palo Alto Networks, and describe the practical tradeoffs of moving fast while managing risk.

The conversation covers agent identity, observability, cultural adoption, CIO/CISO dynamics, and what enterprise-grade AI governance looks like in practice.

You'll discover:

✅ Why traditional IAM and observability controls fail in agentic architectures where agents reason, delegate, and act autonomously

✅ How Cvent deliberately encouraged 6,000 agent creations to build AI fluency before layering in moderation and metrics

✅ The AWARE framework's five pillars: identity, context, guardrails, risk scoring, and ecosystem observability

✅ Why "risk is too high" is never the final answer, only "risk is too high for now"

✅ How Cvent filters AI demand through ROI gates before projects reach security review

✅ Why replacing gut-feel security objections with shared criteria moves the CISO from gatekeeper to business partner

✅ The sandbox-first approach that separates experimentation from production deployment

✅ Why SOC 2 control criteria for AI agents are likely within 18 to 24 months

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Introduction and the AWARE framework

0:34 Core challenges of agent governance

2:43 What agents do for us and to us

4:36 Applying the AWARE framework in practice

7:09 Choosing platforms with built-in controls

9:25 Making governance a cultural shift

11:51 Earning trust through deliberate risk decisions

13:49 Replacing gut reactions with shared criteria

15:20 Managing the CIO/CISO tension

18:54 Shared language for hard tradeoffs

22:01 Go/no-go decisions are never one and done

24:48 Advice for putting AWARE into practice

26:38 Scaling to 6,000 agents

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💬 Show notes: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/ai-agent-governance-inside-the-glean-aware-framework-with-cvents-cio-and-ciso

🎙️ ABOUT CXOTALK

CXOTalk features unfiltered conversations with C-suite executives from major companies about AI, digital transformation, and business strategy. Hosted by Michael Krigsman.

Episode 913 | Recorded March 10, 2026

#CXOTalk #AIGovernance #AIAgents #CISO #CIO #EnterpriseAI #AgenticAI #AWAREFramework #AICompliance #CyberSecurity

Bill Briggs, CTO of Deloitte, shares findings and advice for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from the 2026 TechTrends report: 93% of enterprise AI spending goes to technology and tooling, while only 7% of funding goes to culture, change management, and learning. Briggs explains why this imbalance drives failed pilots and runaway costs, and what leaders should do about it.

📌 KEY POINTS

-- Your AI spending ratio is upside down

Enterprises allocate 93% of AI budgets to technology and tooling, while devoting only 7% to culture, change management, and workforce learning. Leaders who invest first in simplifying processes from first principles, before adding AI, consistently produce the strongest returns.

-- Frontline trust in AI sits at 6.7%, and it's costing you

C-suite executives report 70% trust in AI, while entry-level workers register only 6.7%, creating an inverted value chain where the people closest to broken processes stay silent. Organizations can close this gap by declaring intentions upfront and making it safe for workers to experiment openly, rather than hiding behind personal AI tools.

-- Measure outcomes, not agent headcount

Companies broadcasting "tens of thousands of agents" substitute effort metrics for evidence of value; if real business results existed, those numbers would be the headline. Tie every AI initiative to specific operational and financial metrics and kill pilots that result in press releases but no movement that benefits shareholders and employees.

YOU'LL DISCOVER:

✅ Why applying AI to an inefficient process "weaponizes inefficiency" and drives costs through the roof

✅ How trust in AI drops from 70% at the C-suite to 6.7% at the frontline, and why this inverted gap blocks real value

✅ Why hospitals are putting robots on org charts and holding naming competitions for AI coworkers

✅ The specific governance frameworks enterprises need for a workforce of AI agents (modeled on the HR lifecycle)

✅ How inference costs create sticker shock and when to shift from cloud to dedicated hardware

✅ Why Briggs says the CIO's most important skill is now storytelling, not systems architecture

✅ What "success theater" looks like and how to spot it in your own organization

✅ Why 99% of enterprises are fundamentally transforming their IT organizations right now

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Deloitte's CTO: Spend less on technology

0:20 The 93/7 AI spending imbalance

3:59 Why a technologist argues against more tech investment

5:43 State of enterprise AI: 30% reach production scale

8:05 Treating AI deployment like onboarding a coworker

10:29 AI itself means nothing without culture change

13:14 Redesigning work from first principles

16:51 Quantifying AI financial risk and token economics

20:03 Inference costs, shadow IT, and runaway bills

23:14 The trust gap: 70% at the top, 6.7% at the bottom

26:47 Governing a workforce of AI agents

32:15 Success theater vs. real business metrics

37:37 Responsible deployment, guardrails, and OpenClaw lessons

42:37 How AI is transforming the CIO role

46:05 Why storytelling is the CIO's most important skill

50:02 Human times machine: the essential equation

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💬 Read show notes and get the transcript: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/deloitte-cto-on-the-ai-investment-trap-cio-advisory-2026

🎙️ ABOUT CXOTALK

CXOTalk features unfiltered conversations with C-suite executives from major companies about AI, digital transformation, and business strategy. Hosted by Michael Krigsman.

Episode 912 | Recorded March 15, 2026

#CXOTalk #AIStrategy #EnterpriseAI #DigitalTransformation #Deloitte #CIO #AIGovernance #TechTrends2026 #AIInvestment #AgenticAI

A healthcare CEO once told former CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden, he had "a fiduciary responsibility not to provide good diabetes care" because the ROI takes 7 years and patients leave after 4. That's not a villain talking. That's our system working exactly as designed, without preventive medicine.Dr. Tom Frieden ran the CDC under President Obama, served as New York City Health Commissioner, and now leads Resolve to Save Lives, a global nonprofit working in 50+ countries. His new book, The Formula for Better Health, lays out why the U.S. spends $4.5 trillion a year on healthcare, gets the most basic things right less than half the time, and what it takes to fix it.You'll discover:✅ Why preventing heart attacks actually costs providers money, and the one system (Kaiser Permanente) where that's flipped✅ How 100 million Americans lack primary care, and why tripling primary care spending could reduce total Medicare costs✅ The "See, Believe, Create" formula that has already saved millions of lives globally✅ Why Dr. Frieden says "it is now malpractice not to care for a patient with an AI as part of the team"✅ The 7-1-7 accountability system now used by 50 countries to find and stop disease outbreaks✅ How a $5 copay on preventive medication measurably increases heart attacks and strokes✅ The six specific health measures Dr. Frieden says matter most (with exact target numbers)✅ Why misinformation is the most lethal health threat: "a fire hose of falsehoods driven by the monetization of misinformation"⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:00 A healthcare CEO's shocking confession about diabetes care0:45 Why the U.S. healthcare system is designed to fail2:10 Primary care: the most neglected piece of American healthcare4:28 Economic incentives that punish prevention6:43 Kaiser Permanente's capitation model and why it works9:44 CVS, concierge medicine, and halfway solutions13:20 Who can fix a system where no one is accountable?14:49 The "See, Believe, Create" formula explained19:08 Measles outbreaks and the misinformation crisis24:05 AI in healthcare: enormous potential, bad judgment34:18 What's happened to the CDC and vaccine infrastructure40:56 The 7-1-7 outbreak accountability system44:39 Why other countries get better results for less money47:39 The Big 6: personal health targets everyone should know53:11 Dr. Frieden's prescription for policymakers and healthcare leaders🔔 Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss conversations with world-class leaders.📩 Join our newsletter: https://newsletter.cxotalk.com💬 Read show notes: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/former-cdc-director-how-to-fix-healthcare🎙️ ABOUT CXOTALKCXOTalk features unfiltered conversations with C-suite executives from major companies about AI, digital transformation, and business strategy. Hosted by Michael Krigsman.Episode 911 | Recorded March 8, 2026#CXOTalk #Healthcare #DrTomFrieden #PublicHealth #HealthcareReform #PrimaryCare #AIinHealthcare #CDC #PreventiveMedicine #ResolveToSaveLives