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In this interview episode, Mallory Mejias and Amith Nagarajan sit down with Vicki Deal-Williams, CEO of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), to explore how a century-old organization is thoughtfully embracing AI. Vicki shares how ASHA’s AI Innovation Day sparked a cultural shift across staff—from skeptics to the “suspenders group” eager to experiment—while reinforcing a people-first philosophy. The conversation dives into balancing governance with creativity, designing impactful AI experiences even for small teams, and building tools like an evidence-based AI navigator to better serve members. Along the way, they unpack leadership lessons on change management, capacity building, and why adopting AI is less about perfection and more like jumping into a game of double Dutch—messy, continuous, and worth it.

🔎 Find Out More About ASHA:
https://www.asha.org/

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Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space. Mallory co-hosts and produces the Sidecar Sync podcast, where she delves into the latest trends in AI and technology, translating them into actionable insights.

https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias

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It’s been 130 episodes since Sidecar Sync last did a true deep dive on data—and a lot has changed. In this refreshed 2026 perspective, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias unpack what “association data” really means today, from structured CRM records to the massive untapped world of unstructured data like emails, community posts, and content libraries. They explore how AI—especially vectors and reasoning models—has flipped the script, making previously unusable data suddenly actionable. The conversation then tackles one of the biggest shifts in the AI era: data ownership. Even if you legally own your data, fragmented systems and vendor restrictions can limit how you actually use it. Finally, they break down what becomes possible once your data is unified and activated—from predictive insights to deeply personalized member experiences—and offer a realistic starting point for associations ready to take action.

🤖 Join the AI Mastermind: https://sidecar.ai/association-ai-mastermind

📕 Download the New 3rd Edition of ‘Ascend’:
https://sidecar.ai/ai

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Member Junction ➔ https://www.memberjunction.org
Snowflake ➔ https://www.snowflake.com
Databricks ➔ https://www.databricks.com

📅 Register for digitalNow2026 in Washington, D.C. from October 25–28:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai

🎀 Use code AIPOD50 for $50 off your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification at https://sidecar.ai/aaip

🚀 Help Us Grow Our Reach - Share With a Friend or Colleague!

👍 Like & Subscribe!
https://x.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecar.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sidecar-global/

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space. Mallory co-hosts and produces the Sidecar Sync podcast, where she delves into the latest trends in AI and technology, translating them into actionable insights.

https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias

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This week on Sidecar Sync, Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias break down a whirlwind week in AI, from Anthropic’s rapid-fire Claude releases to OpenAI’s tightly controlled GPT 5.6 rollout. They unpack the surprising performance of mid-tier models like Sonnet 5, the implications of government intervention in frontier AI, and what it means when access to the most powerful tools is suddenly restricted. The conversation then shifts to a new study reshaping the AI jobs narrative, revealing that companies investing deeply in AI are actually growing headcount—while others fall behind. From practical model selection strategies to big-picture workforce implications, this episode connects the dots between cutting-edge tech, policy, and the future of work.

🤖 Join the AI Mastermind: https://sidecar.ai/association-ai-mastermind

📕 Download the New 3rd Edition of ‘Ascend’:
https://sidecar.ai/ai

🛠 AI Tools and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
The AI jobs Debate Just Got Messier (Article) ➔ https://shorturl.at/wdGPc
Claude ➔ https://www.anthropic.com
Gemini ➔ https://deepmind.google/technologies/gemini/
Gemma ➔ https://ai.google.dev/gemma
Artificial Analysis ➔ https://artificialanalysis.ai

📅 Register for digitalNow2026 in Washington, D.C. from October 25–28:
https://digitalnow.sidecar.ai

🎀 Use code AIPOD50 for $50 off your Association AI Professional (AAiP) certification at https://sidecar.ai/aaip

🚀 Help Us Grow Our Reach - Share With a Friend or Colleague!

👍 Like & Subscribe!
https://x.com/sidecarglobal
https://www.youtube.com/@SidecarSync
https://sidecar.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sidecar-global/

Amith Nagarajan is the Chairman of Blue Cypress, a family of purpose-driven companies and proud practitioners of Conscious Capitalism. The Blue Cypress companies focus on helping associations, non-profits, and other purpose-driven organizations achieve long-term success. Amith is also an active early-stage investor in B2B SaaS companies. He’s had the good fortune of nearly three decades of success as an entrepreneur and enjoys helping others in their journey.

https://linkedin.com/amithnagarajan

Mallory Mejias is passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space. Mallory co-hosts and produces the Sidecar Sync podcast, where she delves into the latest trends in AI and technology, translating them into actionable insights.

https://linkedin.com/mallorymejias