Excited to praise my former Mercedes-Benz colleague Dr. Joerg Storm, with whom I shared an office at the Stuttgart HQ, who has built something genuinely impressive with the Digital Storm AI technology advisory business which features a newsletter, rich LinkedIn presence, and a podcast built “for leaders who don’t want AI inspiration, but AI execution clarity”.

In the pod’s latest episode Joerg engages with Balazs Fejes, CEO & President of the global software engineering player EPAM Systems, for a tight 32-minute conversation on why AI is forcing organisations to fundamentally rethink leadership, operations, workforce design, and enterprise transformation.

One of Balazs’ strongest messages: AI is not transforming IT. It is transforming the business itself.

According to Balazs, AI initiatives stall when they remain isolated inside technology teams.

Successful transformation requires active involvement from CEOs, CFOs, and business leaders because AI changes how organizations operate—not just the tools they use.

Key Balazs insights from Balazs:

• AI transformation must be owned by the business, not just IT
• Leadership engagement determines whether AI scales or stalls
• Organizational culture remains the biggest barrier to adoption
• AI requires redesigning business processes, not automating existing ones
• Companies must move beyond pilots and begin enterprise-wide implementation
• Talent development is the foundation of successful AI transformation
• Change management matters just as much as technology

As CEO of EPAM Systems, Balazs’ has led one of the world’s largest engineering organizations through enterprise AI transformation while helping global companies redesign how they build, operate, and scale in the AI era.

If you’re navigating the AI transformation landscape (who is not in some form?), follow Joerg on LinkedIn and subscribe to the Digital Storm podcast and newsletter.