Lifecycle Insights CEO and Chief Analyst Chad Jackson sits down with Joseph Laurine, PhD, AI Governance Lead at a major healthcare organization and former head of AI Governance and Assurance for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Joseph's career spans cryptologic intelligence, applied statistics, data science, and executive coaching — an unconventional path that's made him one of the more distinctive voices on responsible AI adoption.

The conversation covers a lot of ground, starting with what it actually means to be a change agent in highly technical environments. Joseph argues that trust and usability are equally critical to adoption — and that framing AI governance as an obstacle rather than an enabler is one of the biggest mistakes organizations make. He also speaks candidly about how he deliberately developed his people skills, including earning an executive coaching certification, to bridge the gap between technical depth and organizational influence.

On data, Joseph is direct: "garbage in, garbage out" is a phrase everyone uses but few executives truly understand. He makes the case that data quality is the single most important foundation for effective AI — and that skipping that work in the rush to be first to market is a bet most organizations will regret.

He also offers a memorable framework for thinking about where AI models stand today: LLMs are the social butterfly — great at conversation, not your go-to for engineering or biology. Small language models (SLMs) represent the journeyman level the industry is moving toward, and Joseph predicts that shift will be visible within the next 18 months.

Topics covered:

• What it means to be a change agent — and why trust and usability matter as much as technology
• Developing soft skills as a deeply technical person
• Why data governance is the true foundation of any AI initiative
• The limits of LLMs — and why domain-specific SLMs are the next frontier
• Digital twins as a safer environment for evaluating AI behavior
• Why being second to market with clean data may beat being first with a shaky foundation
• AI governance in healthcare vs. the intelligence community
• The role of IO psychologists and psychometricians in AI development