ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode of Emerging Tech Horizons, Dr. Arun Seraphin speaks with Rob De La Espriella, CEO of BlueDragon, about how organizations can move beyond surface-level fixes to understand the deeper technical, organizational, and cultural factors behind failures.
Drawing on his experience in the nuclear industry, national laboratories, and defense enterprise, Rob explains how BlueDragon combines Artificial Intelligence (AI), emerging technology, systems thinking, and human expertise to advance root cause analysis and help organizations solve complex problems. The conversation explores how AI-driven approaches to problem-solving can strengthen organizational performance, improve decision-making, and help prevent future failures in complex, high-consequence environments.
Key topics include:
- Why traditional root cause analysis methods can fall short in complex environments
- How Artificial Intelligence (AI) can accelerate evidence analysis while human expertise remains essential
- Identifying organizational, cultural, and systemic factors behind failures
- Applying root cause analysis to the nuclear industry, defense enterprise, and other high-consequence environments
- How emerging technology can support systems-level analysis and complex problem-solving
- Using lessons learned to improve performance and prevent future failures
- Building critical thinking and systems-level problem-solving skills across the workforce
Continue Learning with NDIA: Take a deeper dive into the concepts discussed in this episode with Rob De La Espriella’s Advanced Root Cause Analysis Fundamentals Course for Lean Six Sigma Practitioners, offered through NDIA on December 9, 2026.
Learn practical approaches to critical thinking, systems thinking, and complex problem-solving.
Learn more and register: https://www.ndia.org/events/2026/12/9/bluedragonLearn more about the Emerging Technologies Institute: https://www.ndiaeti.org
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