Joe Dunleavy, Regional CTO For Europe And Global SVP, Head Of Dava.X AI At Endava On Agentic AI

In today’s rapidly shifting technology landscape, leaders face a tough balancing act: keeping up with innovation while ensuring real-world business outcomes. In this episode of Discover Dialogues, host Vikramsinh Ghatge sits down with Joe Dunleavy, Regional CTO for Europe and Global SVP, Head of Dava.X AI at Endava, to unpack exactly that.

So, what’s in this episode? At its core, this conversation is about bridging hype and reality. AI has dominated headlines for years, but “Agentic AI” is now the phrase sparking boardroom debates and technology roadmaps. Joe breaks it down: what Agentic AI truly means, where it adds value, and why businesses must carefully select the right use cases. He shares how Agentic AI is not magic—it’s about augmenting people and processes, creating efficiency, and building smarter workflows.
 

Joe Outlines Two Key dimensions Of Agentic AI:

 

1. Industry workflows – improving compliance, decision-making, and customer experience in finance, healthcare, and insurance.

2. Software engineering – accelerating productivity by allowing engineers to generate large portions of code with prompts, shifting the future of delivery.

 

But With Opportunity Comes Challenge. Joe Highlights The Barriers To Adoption:

 

• Too many frameworks and platforms, leaving businesses unsure of where to start.

• Pressure to adopt AI without clear problem statements.

• High investment costs and uncertainty around ROI.

• Regulatory and privacy concerns in highly controlled industries.

 

His Solution Is A Crawl–walk–run Model:

 

• Crawl by applying generative AI to boost productivity.

• Walk by automating simpler processes.

• Run by deploying agentic AI into mainstream, high-value workflows once maturity is achieved.

Beyond the technical, Joe shares invaluable leadership insights. He believes the mindset of leaders is more important than any single skill. A growth mindset, continuous curiosity, and the ability to communicate clearly across teams are critical for navigating today’s disruption. He stresses the importance of psychological safety, giving teams permission to experiment, learn, and share their experiences openly. For him, recognition and gratitude are equally vital—he describes sending appreciation emails to team members’ managers as a simple yet powerful leadership habit.

The conversation also reveals Joe’s personal side. In the rapid-fire segment, he shares why resilience is the most underestimated skill in today’s workforce, his daily routine that prioritizes fitness and family, his admiration for the invention of electricity as the ultimate tech shift, and his personal mantra to his younger self: “Enjoy the moment.”

This episode is not just about AI and technology—it’s about the intersection of innovation, leadership, and humanity. For executives, engineers, and business leaders navigating the AI-first future, Joe Dunleavy’s perspective offers both clarity and inspiration.