America is racing to build the infrastructure for an AI-powered economy. But as this generational investment accelerates, a critical question emerges: Are organizations truly ready to deploy AI at scale?

While AI is everywhere in headlines, enterprise readiness remains uneven. Many companies are experimenting with AI, but far fewer have the data quality, governance structures, workforce skills, or sector-specific frameworks needed to adopt it responsibly and effectively. The gap between infrastructure and real-world deployment is growing — and closing it will determine whether AI strengthens competitiveness and expands opportunity across the economy.

In this episode, guest host Brie Sachse, Senior Vice President & Head of Government Affairs for Siemens USA, sits down with Victoria Espinel, President & CEO of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), to explore how AI can be responsibly integrated across every sector of the economy. Together, they discuss what it takes to accelerate AI adoption in ways that strengthen competitiveness, expand opportunity, and build public trust.

Victoria shares insights from BSA’s global work on AI and digital transformation, while Brie discusses the strong benefits of AI adoption across all sectors of industry, where AI meets the physical world. Both Brie and Victoria reflect on how policymakers, employers, and technology leaders can work together to ensure AI provides benefits to organizations of all sizes. This episode offers a practical, optimistic look at the future of AI and why readiness, not hype, is the key to unlocking America’s AI advantage.

Historic investments in manufacturing and AI data centers are creating a new wave of opportunities in skilled trades. But that opportunity isn’t always accessible, especially for workers facing barriers like childcare, housing, transportation, or financial pressures.

In this episode, David Etzwiler speaks with Rachel Korberg, Executive Director of the Families & Workers Fund, a coalition dedicated to expanding economic mobility and helping people enter high-quality, family-sustaining careers. Rachel shares how the Fund is supporting more than 1.3 million workers and learners, why wraparound services can be game-changing, and how cross-sector partnerships are reshaping workforce systems across the country.

She also discusses the Fund’s collaboration with the Siemens Foundation to expand pathways into electrical jobs — a sector poised for massive long-term growth.

Show notes

Press Release: Siemens to Train 200,000 U.S. Electricians & Manufacturers

More about the Families & Workers Fund: https://familiesandworkers.org/

Is the American Dream still Made in America? A renewed surge of interest in U.S. manufacturing has revealed a huge challenge. There are hundreds of thousands of vacant positions and a labor force that lacks the necessary skills to fill them.

While many label it a crisis, Carolyn Lee, president of The Manufacturing Institute sees an opportunity. In this episode Carolyn sits down with guest host David Etzwiler to share an upbeat, down‑to‑earth vision of a manufacturing sector that could fuel growth and generate huge new opportunities.

At the core of her mission is one thing: to remake the way talent is trained and primed for careers in industrial manufacturing. Carolyn shares some of the Manufacturing Institute’s groundbreaking initiatives built to upskill today’s employees while igniting the interest of the workers of tomorrow.

Through this conversation, you will discover a range of groundbreaking strategies that are reshaping the manufacturing workforce. Carolyn also examines how emerging technologies such as AI and automation, rather than posing threats, will actually create more jobs.

This episode is about the future of manufacturing, the future of work, and how the American Dream will be reshaped in the coming years. Whether you’re a business leader, a policymaker, an educator or simply someone with a stake in our economy’s future, this an episode you won’t want to miss.

Show notes

More about the Siemens Foundation

More about The Manufacturing Institute