Moving AI from Pilots to ROI with FICO CIO Mike Trkay
Wed Jan 28 2026
On the 62nd episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (CEO and co-founder, Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Mike Trkay, CIO at FICO. Mike explains how FICO is moving AI from pilots to production by prioritizing ROI, data foundations, and governance. He argues for sanctioned LLM access to curb leakage, system integration for business-wide answers, and smaller domain models when accuracy, compliance, and trust matter.
Quick hits from Mike:
On the shift from pilots to ROI: “We’re leaving that phase and starting to get to the point of going, okay, but where’s the true return on that investment?”
On the must-do for enterprises: “Everybody who works for you… they’re going to go use one of the LLMs somewhere… and probably share data and proprietary data.”
On why one big model is not enough: “Sometimes you need the PhD. Who’s got who speaks the jargon, understands the context, and it helps deal with some of the hallucinations and bias, and other things that could be influencing.”
Recent Book Recommendation: The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture by Joshua Kendall
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Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/
Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Abnormal Studios.
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On the 62nd episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (CEO and co-founder, Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Mike Trkay, CIO at FICO. Mike explains how FICO is moving AI from pilots to production by prioritizing ROI, data foundations, and governance. He argues for sanctioned LLM access to curb leakage, system integration for business-wide answers, and smaller domain models when accuracy, compliance, and trust matter. Quick hits from Mike: On the shift from pilots to ROI: “We’re leaving that phase and starting to get to the point of going, okay, but where’s the true return on that investment?” On the must-do for enterprises: “Everybody who works for you… they’re going to go use one of the LLMs somewhere… and probably share data and proprietary data.” On why one big model is not enough: “Sometimes you need the PhD. Who’s got who speaks the jargon, understands the context, and it helps deal with some of the hallucinations and bias, and other things that could be influencing.” Recent Book Recommendation: The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture by Joshua Kendall -- Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, or Youtube you listen to podcasts. Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/ Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Abnormal Studios.