From Operating Rooms to Factory Floors: How AI Unlocks Hidden Data | Ben Ko, Kaleidoscope Innovation

Watch the full conversation: https://www.infosys.com/iki/videos/un... Why do so many AI projects stall even when the technology works? In this Infosys Knowledge Institute conversation, recorded at the Infosys Connect Conference in Los Angeles, Jeff Kavanaugh sits down with Ben Ko, Head of Kaleidoscope Innovation, an Infosys company, to explore why AI adoption is as much a trust and change-management challenge as a technology one. Ben explains how operating rooms, warehouses, and manufacturing floors generate enormous amounts of unstructured, qualitative data — knowledge that lives in the heads of nurses, technicians, and operators — and how AI is what finally makes that expertise usable across teams. As the product design and engineering arm of Infosys, Kaleidoscope works across physical AI, robotics, surgical systems, drug discovery, and digital design, and Ben shares how the fundamentals of discovering a problem and reducing it to a solution stay the same across every environment. The conversation digs into the human side of adoption: why rolling out AI requires earning trust, embedding design researchers alongside real workers, and showing people how the technology solves their real problems instead of replacing them — turning resistance into advocacy. Ben shares concrete, measurable outcomes his teams have seen, including a 28% gain in one metric and 15% faster decision-making from better, more interpretable data, and explains why connecting physical AI to warehouse, manufacturing, and ERP systems is where the real efficiency lives. Ben also unpacks the biggest barriers to adoption — intellectual property, privacy, and data security — and how contextualized tools like Topaz Fabric keep client data inside their own environment. He explains why he's excited about democratizing product development so non-technical leaders can bring ideas to life, how natural-language CAD could take a design from prompt to CNC machine, how agents unlock exponential value only when you redesign processes around them, and why regulators still restrict continuously learning AI models in fields like medical diagnostics. The discussion closes on a hopeful note about patient-specific gene therapies and turning science fiction into the "science future." Whether you're a product leader, design or engineering professional, CxO, healthcare or manufacturing innovator, or anyone thinking about AI adoption, change management, physical AI, robotics, and the future of product development, this conversation is full of grounded, practical insight. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Introduction: Unlocking AI value in product design 00:50 – Does AI matter for physical products? 01:40 – Hidden data in the operating room 02:45 – AI across surgery, drug discovery & robotics 03:40 – Why adoption is a change management problem 04:40 – Building trust & turning resistance into advocacy 06:00 – Measuring real value: 28% gains & faster decisions 07:10 – Connecting physical AI to warehouse & ERP systems 08:15 – The biggest barrier: IP, privacy & data security 09:30 – Keeping client data safe with contextualized tools 10:25 – Democratizing the product development process 11:40 – From natural-language CAD to the CNC machine 12:35 – "Design with, not design for": co-designing with people 13:20 – How agents unlock exponential value 14:15 – Regulation, safety & continuously learning AI models 15:10 – Patient-specific therapies & the "science future" 15:35 – Closing thoughts What you'll discover on this channel: Expert insights on AI, innovation, and business transformation. Interviews with global thought leaders and industry pioneers. Practical strategies to drive performance and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving world. Subscribe now to stay updated with the latest insights and strategies to transform your business. For more insights from the Infosys Knowledge Institute: Visit: https://www.infosys.com/iki.html Follow:   / infosys-knowledge-institute   Connect: https://www.infosys.com/iki/iki-conne... Email: IKI@Infosys.com #InfosysKnowledgeInstitute #ThoughtLeadership #BusinessInsights #CXOInsights #InfosysAI #Innovation #BusinessTransformation #InfosysCloud #InfosysKnowledgeInstitute #AIAdoption #ChangeManagement #ProductDesign #PhysicalAI #Robotics #ArtificialIntelligence #ProductDevelopment #Kaleidoscope #Infosys #BenKo #Trust #Innovation #MedicalAI #Manufacturing #DigitalTransformation #AIagents #DesignThinking #BusinessTransformation #ThoughtLeadership