An engineer by training, Santosh spent six to seven months early in his career on a production floor, building a machine from its individual parts. Later roles across process improvement, business transformation and HR reinforced the lesson: combine technical knowledge with the expertise of the people doing the work.
As Senior Vice President, Corporate Functions at DENSO, he brings a Six Sigma mindset to AI: define the problem, measure the work, understand its causes and test improvements. Technology is one possible intervention within that process.
His starting question puts the purpose plainly: “Of course, there’s efficiency to be gained, but towards what end?”
Santosh points to the manufacturing principle of genchi genbutsu: going to the place of work to observe what is happening. An experienced person can notice an abnormality that a performance measure might miss.
That ability matters in work supported by AI. Judgment and discernment are skills organizations need to develop deliberately, through practical experience and opportunities to test observations against reality.
Asked whether employees should see task-level information, Santosh emphasized bringing them into the problem-solving journey and explaining its purpose. With trust established, people can use the insight to make decisions and contribute ideas. “This is a trust curve.”
His concern extends to the next generation: how will people develop judgment without opportunities to practice, observe and solve problems?