Lean Into AI

Group engaging in a brainstorming session with post-it notes

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how organizations solve problems, make decisions, and deliver value. At the same time, lean and continuous improvement principles remain essential for building adaptable, high-performing systems. Lean Into AI brings together leaders and practitioners from across the operational excellence community to explore where these two powerful forces meet and how they can evolve together.

Future of People at Work Initiatives are volunteer-led work groups addressing specific challenges in the continuous improvement community. Each initiative brings together diverse perspectives from across the community to develop practical solutions and implement real changes across organizations. The Ohio State University Center for Operational Excellence is proud to serve as the sponsoring organization for Lean Into AI.

The cornerstone of the Lean Into AI work group is a six-part collaborative webinar series featuring conversations between AI experts and Lean practitioners. Each session pairs thought leaders from both fields to explore emerging technologies and real-world case studies. Guided by a skilled facilitator, the series bridges perspectives, translates complex concepts into actionable ideas, and helps lean professionals understand how to use AI tools responsibly and effectively in their improvement work.

Past Events

August 20, 2025 | Part One: Optimization Before Automation

To kick off the Lean Into AI series, Purdue Professor Ali Shakouri and Toyota Production System Support Center President Jamie Bonini presented a case study on challenges and opportunities when applying the latest advances in artificial intelligence in a manufacturing setting. They shared insights on the importance of eliminating waste and streamlining processes before applying AI technologies and automation.

October 22, 2025 | Part Two: Moving from AI Skeptic to Strategist

Encouraging Leaders CEO Marc D. Braun and LEI Senior Director Tyson Heaton joined Lean Into AI series facilitator Steve Pereira for a conversation on the AI implementation journey. They offered practical ideas for leaders looking to guide their teams through AI adoption with greater clarity and confidence.

February 11, 2026 | Part Three: Can AI Do That?

AI is everywhere, but for many operational excellence practitioners, the real question is simple: "Can AI actually help with the work I do every day?" In this highly interactive Lean Into AI session, Jim Perry led a live, crowd-sourced exploration of real operational use cases submitted by participants.

June 10, 2026 | Part Four: Designing Persona-Based AI Training

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in workflows, upskilling is no longer optional for organizations to prepare their workforce. Dr. Ada Safak joined Steve Pereira for a conversation on developing AI training that keeps workforce skills aligned with fast-changing technical capabilities and real work needs.

August 26, 2026 | Part Five: Designing Organizations for Agentic Automation

Agentic automation is quickly becoming the next frontier of enterprise AI, yet organizations are rushing to deploy ‘agents’ without first establishing a common definition of what agentic actually means or designing the organizational systems required to support it. Sandeep Chennikara joined Tyson Heaton for a discussion on why the real challenge is redesigning the enterprise to govern, integrate, and continuously improve a digital workforce alongside human teams.

View recordings of past events

Upcoming Events

October 21, 2026 | 12 – 1 p.m. | Part Six: Humans + AI > Problems

Many organizations are waiting for the perfect AI strategy, the perfect use case, or the perfect level of readiness. But just as successful lean transformations begin with learning by doing, successful AI adoptions must start with action and experimentation.

To continue the Lean Into AI series, expert Art Smalley will join series facilitator Steve Pereira for a conversation on lessons learned from Japanese business contexts, the parallels between lean and AI adoption, and what’s holding organizations back from meaningful AI implementation today. They’ll discuss Art’s journey out of AI skepticism, explore companies using AI as a tool to enhance human capability rather than replace it, and examine common myths and roadblocks.

Webinar attendees will gain insights on:

Art’s research and development of AI-powered lean coaching tools
AI adoption lessons from Japanese manufacturing environments
Practical ways to experiment and build momentum around AI-enhanced continuous improvement

Art Smalley is president of Art of Lean, Inc., which he founded in 2003, and a senior advisor to the Lean Enterprise Institute. He worked for Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan at the Kamigo Engine Plant and later served in McKinsey & Company's operations practice. He is the author of Understanding A3 Thinking, Creating Level Pull, Toyota Kaizen Methods, and Four Types of Problems, and a Shingo Prize Life Member for Excellence in Manufacturing. More recently he has been building AI tools for Lean practitioners, teaching how to use AI for improvement, and writing about where AI fits in operational strategy.

Steve Pereira, emcee, is obsessed with making tech human and leveraging it to deliver continuous value. Steve has spent over two decades improving the flow of work across organizations. He’s worked through tech support, IT management, build and release engineering, and as a founding CTO for enterprise SaaS.

He serves as lead consultant for Visible Value Stream Consulting, as a board advisor to the Value Stream Management Consortium, Chair of the OASIS Value Stream Management Interoperability technical committee, and co-founder of the Flow Collective to bring flow-focused professionals together. Since 2017, he has been developing and facilitating Flow Engineering to make flow improvement in large organizations accessible, collaborative, and actionable.