ADAverse

In this episode of the ADAverse podcast, Shaun Leisegang sits down with David Owen, Founder of Cactus & Cubby, to explore one of the biggest shifts happening in business today: the rise of the AI-Powered Human.

AI is becoming available to everyone. Yet while some individuals and organisations are achieving extraordinary results, others are seeing very little impact. Why? According to David, the difference isn't the technology - it's the person using it.

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience across organisations including MYOB, Betfair, and My Plan Manager, David shares how combining commercial instinct, critical thinking, and human judgment with AI creates a powerful multiplier effect.

Together, Shaun and David unpack the emergence of a new role: the Commercial Intelligence Strategist - a human-guided, AI-powered approach to solving complex business problems and uncovering opportunities hidden within data.

Discover:
Why AI is no longer the competitive advantage - people are
Why so many organisations have data but struggle to generate insight
How AI can help uncover millions in commercial opportunities when paired with the right expertise
Why curiosity, open-mindedness, and action are becoming the most valuable skills in the AI era
How AI-Powered Humans will become critical to the success of Frontier Firms
Whether you're a business leader, operator, consultant, analyst, or simply someone looking to get more value from AI, this episode provides a practical blueprint for becoming more effective in the age of AI.

💥 Bonus: Stick around for the ADAverse Hot Seat as David shares his passion for football and Formula 1, his favourite book on mindset, and the advice he'd give anyone starting their AI journey.

🎯 Perfect for executives, founders, managers, and professionals who want to move beyond simply using AI and start being amplified by it.

👉 Join the ADAverse community: ⁠ADAverse.com.au

In this episode of the ADAverse podcast, Shaun Leisegang is joined by Maggie Herceg, Chief Operating Officer and AI Lead at Westfund Health Insurance, to explore how a values-led health insurer turned a single automation pilot into a bold, organisation-wide transformation.

Starting with complex pharmacy claims, Westfund proved just how much impact automation can make - with one milestone moment seeing 225 claims processed in just 19 minutes. That success sparked rapid scaling across five service types (including Massage, Physio, and Acupuncture) and helped redefine how work gets done across teams.

Now, Maggie and her team are laying the foundations for AI Agents, exploring opportunities in member support, reporting, and more - making Westfund a prime example of what we call a Frontier Firm: an organisation leveraging Robots, AI Agents, and People to unlock new levels of performance.

🎧 In this episode, you'll learn:

Why Pharmacy claims were the perfect pilot use case

How Maggie built trust, capability, and momentum from the ground up

The real numbers behind the transformation - time saved, claims processed, and culture shifted

What it takes to move from pilot to platform, and from platform to AI-powered frontier

💥 Bonus: Stick around for the ADAverse Hot Seat where Maggie shares her bucket list wins, book recs, and how she wants to be remembered.

🎯 Perfect for automation leaders, CIOs, health insurers, and change-makers ready to start small, scale fast, and reimagine work.

👉 Join the ADAverse community: ADAverse.com.au

🎧 Listen & subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

In this episode of the ADAverse podcast, Shaun Leisegang is joined by Paul Akkari, IT Manager at the Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF), to explore what happens when a purpose-driven foundation builds its own private AI assistant - from the ground up.

Meet PRF PAL, a GPT-powered AI agent designed to unlock knowledge trapped in documents, systems, and minds. Custom-trained on PRF’s own data and grounded in trust and transparency, PAL is more than a search tool - it’s a colleague that helps staff find answers, analyse grant data, summarise reports, and even perform research.

We unpack the full journey - from the original challenge and “aha” moments during development, to the core tools PAL uses:

🔍 Document Search with RAG (retrieval-augmented generation)

📊 Natural Language Grant Queries

🌐 Trusted Web Search with source transparency

Learn how PAL is saving staff hours of admin time, reducing reliance on external consultants, and empowering frontline teams to work smarter. Paul also shares how PRF is using AI in a human-first way - building trust, encouraging adoption, and creating a blueprint for an AI agent ecosystem that aligns with PRF’s mission and values.

💥 Bonus: Stick around for the ADAverse Hot Seat to hear Paul’s take on competitive basketball, robots, and how he wants to be remembered.

🎯 Perfect for nonprofit leaders, CIOs, IT managers, and anyone exploring custom AI agents for knowledge management and impact.

In this episode of the ADAverse podcast, Shaun Leisegang sits down with Gladwin Mendez, Fractional Chief Data & AI Officer at GEC Prudentia, to unpack one of the most overlooked challenges in modern business: data health.

Using a powerful health and wellness metaphor, Gladwin introduces a three-stage model to help organisations shift from chaotic data firefighting to structured, outcome-driven transformation:

🧪 Maturity Assessment – Your Data Blood Test
Discover how a 140-question deep-dive across strategy, people, process, and data uncovers blind spots, diagnoses risk, and helps leaders face facts - because you can’t fix what you haven’t measured.

🥗 Strategy – Your Organisational Diet Plan
Learn how to cut the "data fat" and create a lean roadmap that focuses on value, agility, and governance - without getting distracted by shiny tools.

🏋️ Execution – Your Data Personal Trainer
Explore how to operationalise your strategy with the right partners, embedding automation, analytics, and real delivery muscle to achieve measurable outcomes.

Whether you're an executive unsure where to begin or a data leader needing to turn strategy into reality, this episode delivers the clarity and tools to get started.

💥 Bonus: Stick around for the ADAverse Hot Seat as Gladwin reveals his childhood dreams, bucket list moments, and the book that shaped his thinking.

🎯 Perfect for CIOs, Heads of Data, Operations Leaders, and anyone serious about making data work for the business - not the other way around.

👉 Join the ADAverse community today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠ADAverse.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠
🎧 Subscribe & listen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts

In this episode of the ADAverse podcast, Shaun Leisegang sits down with Wai-Lum Tang (Head of Information Technology) and Tricia Kopka (Head of Operations and Process Improvement) from IQumulate, one of Australia and New Zealand's leading premium funders.

Together, they unpack how IQumulate is accelerating growth and operational excellence by embracing automation, cloud-first architecture, and a culture of continuous improvement. From overcoming manual processes and legacy systems to building a scalable digital backbone - this is a masterclass in modernisation.

Discover how IQumulate empowered teams, reduced processing times, improved compliance, and laid the groundwork for AI and analytics. This story is packed with practical insights for IT and operations leaders looking to future-proof their business.

Plus, stick around for the ADAverse Hot Seat to hear what's on Wai-Lum and Tricia's bucket lists, and the book recommendation that might just change your mindset.

Perfect for leaders in financial services, insurance, operations, or IT looking to drive measurable transformation.
👉 Join the ADAverse community today: ⁠⁠⁠ADAverse.com.au⁠⁠⁠
🎧 Subscribe & listen on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts