In this episode of Applied Imperative, Dale Goulding sits down with Prabha Jha, associate director for cyber strategy and risk at Verizon, to reflect on their shared experience at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence for Senior Executives program.
Though they come from different industries, aerospace and telecommunications, their conversation reveals a common thread: the need for secure and responsible AI deployment.
“It is not a time that we shy away from AI,” Prabha said. “It’s about really leveraging it to the extent it enables business while you are integrating security and being mindful of how you go about that.”
Stream the podcast here.
Prompt engineering vs. agentic AI
One of the key takeaways from the program for Prabha was understanding the distinction between prompt engineering and agentic AI.
Prompt engineering, she explained, involves writing effective one-shot inputs to large language models. This is ideal for simple, high-speed tasks.
“Prompt engineering is your go-to when you’re thinking of simplicity and speed to build,” Prabha said.
Agentic AI supports more complex, multi-step reasoning that requires flexibility and adaptation.
When “autonomy” or “error handling” are your priorities, then “prompt engineering is not for you—you want to develop that agentic AI,” Prabha said.
Key insights gained at MIT
The MIT program stood out not just for its content but for the global cohort. With 80 executives from over 20 countries, the diversity of thought challenged both Dale and Prabha to think beyond the boundaries of their industries.
“It gave me an opportunity to break out of my mold and think out of the box,” Prabha said.
For Dale, the experience reinforced the urgency of staying informed and actively shaping how AI is applied.
“There are risks, and there is going to be disruption,” Dale said. “But it’s not too late for us to help craft how we’re going to deploy this for the benefit of as many people as possible.”
Want to hear the full conversation? Stream the episode now.