E044 – AI or Not – Felix Gonzalez and Pamela Isom

Welcome to "AI or Not," the podcast where we explore the intersection of digital transformation and real-world wisdom, hosted by the accomplished Pamela Isom. With over 25 years of experience guiding leaders in corporate, public, and private sectors, Pamela, the CEO and Founder of IsAdvice & Consulting LLC, is a veteran in successfully navigating the complex realms of artificial intelligence, innovation, cyber issues, governance, data management, and ethical decision-making.

A candid journey from chemical engineering to AI leadership sets the stage for a grounded look at where artificial intelligence truly delivers value—and where governance must take the lead. We sit down with Felix Gonzalez, a data science and AI director and educator, to connect past tech waves to today’s GenAI moment, surfacing practical lessons you can use right now. Think of GenAI as a calculator for language: it speeds drafts, code, and analysis, while your expertise sets the guardrails and makes the call.

We walk through real use cases that cut through the buzz. Drawing on public AI inventories, we unpack how federal agencies are already piloting and deploying automation, machine learning, and GenAI to streamline classification, triage documents, and modernize internal processes. In safety and health, we explore computer vision for PPE compliance, fire detection, environmental monitoring, and even search-and-rescue support—areas where human-in-the-loop design turns fast pattern recognition into smarter, safer operations. In healthcare, we address privacy, bias, and why recommendation systems augment clinicians instead of replacing them.

If you’re wrestling with ROI, you’re not alone. We compare traditional ML and LLMs on cost, quality, and risk, showing how to match the tool to the job. We also push back on doomsday takes about disruption: roles will change, but critical thinking gets sharper when AI removes busywork and surfaces contradictions worth investigating. The durable advantage isn’t magic prompts; it’s governance, oversight, and continuous learning that keep you adaptive as models evolve.

Ready to turn AI into better decisions rather than bigger risks? Follow the show, share this episode with a colleague who owns a critical workflow, and leave a review with the one AI use case you want us to break down next.