Governance First: Why AI Safety and Control Must Precede Scale
WEBINAR, MARCH 11, 2026, 1PM ET| 10AM PT
Enterprise AI does not fail because of models. It fails because of lack of structure, undefined boundaries, and absence of oversight. In knowledge-intensive enterprises, AI interacts with regulated processes, safety-critical decisions, and complex product ecosystems. Without governance, AI introduces risk instead of reducing it.
This session examines the full structure of enterprise AI governance, including risk frameworks, policy design, oversight structures, safety controls, compliance alignment, and enforcement mechanisms. Participants will learn why governance must be the first pillar established before AI scales across the organization, and how governance transforms AI from an unpredictable tool into a controlled, auditable, enterprise-grade capability.
The session covers the components of a mature governance system: policies that define AI boundaries, standards that ensure consistency, procedures that operationalize oversight, controls that prevent unsafe behavior, and monitoring systems that maintain long-term stability. Particular attention is given to SME authority structures, escalation logic, and the role of governance councils in managing AI risk.
This webinar is part of Earley’s 7-part AI Readiness Webinar Series. View the full series overview →
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Key Topics
- The components of enterprise AI governance: policies, standards, procedures, controls, and oversight
- Risk frameworks for classifying and managing AI risk across use cases
- Governance structures: AI Governance Council, Model Risk Committee, SME Review Panels
- Escalation logic: Teaching AI when not to answer
- Monitoring, drift detection, and continuous compliance
- What happens when governance is missing: real-world failure patterns
Sessions in this Series
Session 1: Engineering Enterprise AI: The Foundations That Enable Value at Scale
Session 3: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Revolutionizing SEO for the Future
Session 4: Is my AI Assistant Lying to Me? Accuracy in Generative AI
Session 5: The Practical Reality of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) in Transforming Business Operations
Session 6: Vendor AI Strategies and Challenges: Lucidworks, Coveo, Sinequa and Squirro
Session 7: Jan 22, 2025 - Stories of AI Impact on Real Peoples’ Lives and Livelihoods: The AI Gift that Keeps on Giving
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Meet The Speaker
Seth Earley
An expert with 20+ years experience in Knowledge Strategy, Data and Information Architecture, Search-based Applications and Information Findability solutions.
Seth has worked with a diverse roster of Fortune 1000 companies helping them to achieve higher levels of operating performance by making information more findable, usable and valuable through integrated enterprise architectures supporting analytics, e-commerce and customer experience applications.
Meet The Speaker
Patrick Hoeffel
Pat is an Experienced Leader and Technologist with deep Consulting and Professional Services experience covering AI, Cloud, Enterprise Search, Knowledge Management, and Data Intelligence for eCommerce, Knowledge Management, Financial Services, Insurance, Defense, and International markets. He is also a Leader in Partner and Alliance development and enablement, and in bringing innovative Product solutions to market through both internal development and partner integration.
"I've always had a passion for taking data and turning it into actionable intelligence from which quality decisions can be made and quality products and services can be offered."
Meet The Speaker
Sanjay Mehta
Sanjay has over two decades of hands-on experience with hundreds of customers for search/analytics, ml/ai, and commerce. He has held a number of strategic roles with renowned vendors such as Lucidworks, Reflektion, Oracle, NetSuite, Endeca, and ATG. His focus is on incorporating enterprise information architecture with ML/AI to deliver practical user experiences that generate tangible value.
Meet The Speaker
Phil Ryan
Phil Ryan is the SVP of Strategy & Innovation at Lucidworks, which powers commerce, customer service, and workplace applications for the world's largest brands, including half of the US's top retailers. He's been innovating in the eCommerce space for over 12 years, more recently focusing on the opportunities presented by generative AI to transform customer experiences and optimize search and discovery workflows.
