CIO First Look

May 30, 2025

Avery Dennison takes AI very seriously. Last year, the multinational adhesive manufacturer emphasized its commitment to AI with humans in the loop by involving hundreds of employees and executives in at least 20 AI pilot projects. By addressing cultural issues and prioritizing the humanity in AI, the company has benefitted in many ways. One specifically is saving an average of 10 hours per month per employee as a result of achieving the world’s largest installed foundation of Gemini pilot testers. “It was a flagship win because it touched all of our employees and gave us a lot of credibility with AI very quickly,” says Nicholas Colisto, the company’s AVP and CIO. “People found the power in it.”

Putting words, and people, into action is the lesson here, and Paula Rooney’s top story today celebrates Project Loop, which helped earn Avery Dennison a 2025 CIO 100 Award.

Carl Friedmann, Executive Regional Editor, CIO

Avery Dennison takes culture-first approach to AI transformation

Avery Dennison’s culture-first approach to AI adoption has paid off considerably in productivity and financial gains for the global labeling and RFID solutions manufacturer.

The company’s program to drive AI use throughout the enterprise, emphasizing “humans in the loop,” engaged more than 250 company executives and 1,000 employees in over 20 AI pilot projects in 2024.

6 mins

The agentic AI assist Stanford University cancer care staff needed

Every day, thousands of people are diagnosed with cancer around the world. Each case is unique, with hundreds of distinct tumor subtypes that require treatment protocols involving new drugs, clinical trials, and device-based therapies. Leading cancer centers, therefore, rely heavily on multidisciplinary tumor boards, or specialized sessions where radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, oncologists, genetic counselors, and other specialists perform sophisticated analyses of vast amounts of patient data and parameters to develop personalized care plans.

A recent study by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) found physicians spend between 1.5 and 2.5 hours per patient meticulously reviewing images, pathology slides, clinical notes, and genomic data. In this context, agentic AI has extraordinary potential to reduce admin friction and transform how medical services are delivered.

4 mins

What ROI? AI misfires spur CEOs to rethink adoption

Nearly three years after the release of ChatGPT kicked off a new revolution, consistent AI ROI remains elusive.

Just 25% of AI initiatives in recent years have lived up to ROI expectations, according to CEOs surveyed by the IBM Institute for Business Value. Meanwhile, organizations have achieved enterprise-wide rollouts with only 16% of AI projects.

6 mins

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