Signal Dell runs a dozen agentic proofs of concept gated by a signed-off return on investment

Summary

In a sidebar interview, Dell Technologies' global chief technology officer and chief AI officer John Roese describes a disciplined approach to agents. Dell has a dozen agentic proofs of concept, all aimed at composite problems such as quoting or resolving a customer issue across entitlements, billing and logistics. The work spans sales, services, supply chain and engineering, areas with a material effect on financial performance, and Roese stresses that the company does not run science projects. Every initiative must show material return on investment signed off by a finance partner and the business unit head before it can reach production. Dell also stopped letting staff design their own AI solutions and created an architectural review board to approve AI investments. Roese adds that AI is a process improvement technology, so processes and data must be clean before it is applied.