
Episode #21
#21 Why AI adoption really stalls: Dr. Elena Alikhachkina on the human side of AI
Everyone's racing to deploy AI. Far fewer are asking whether their people trust it enough to act on it. In this episode of Trust Us, host Taylor Becht and co-host Jocelyn Biltgen sit down with Elena Alikhachkina — a four-time Global Chief Data Officer, board director, and published author with 25+ years leading data and AI initiatives across Fortune 500 companies. Elena makes a direct case: people, not technology, are the real constraint on AI adoption. She breaks down the difference between trusting each other and trusting data, why "digital trust" can be measured rather than just felt, and how a problem-first approach she ran at Johnson & Johnson changed what leaders thought they needed. Along the way: what a genuine learning organization looks like, and why knowledge only moves where trust already exists. A practical listen for data and business leaders who want their AI investments to actually stick.




