What does real innovation look like in 2026 — inside a 160-year-old state railway and a modern AI-first startup? We continue our series with BMI Executive Institute, sitting down with two guests from two different worlds to explore how innovation, AI adoption, and the future of work actually play out on the ground.
We cover the startup vs enterprise mindset, the project management triangle of speed, cost and quality, the EU AI Act, AI anxiety, and whether humans are still relevant when AI can do most of the work.
Our guests are Jonas Valuta and Vidas Vasiliauskas. Jonas, participant of the EMBA programme at BMI Executive Institute and the head of Asset management and Sales from Lithuanian Railways, one of the country's largest state-owned organisations, where modernising systems that have been running for over a century means navigating security, compliance, and change management at scale. Vidas is the CEO of Teamhood, a project management tool for teams that have outgrown simple software but don't need the full weight of enterprise platforms — and he is currently rebuilding it from the ground up with AI as the foundation, not a feature.
Introduction 0:00
Why Vidas calls himself a product creator 1:07
Running asset management at Lithuania's national railway 2:43
How big corporations actually approach innovation 4:22
How startups innovate when competition is global 8:30
Fewer stakeholders means your team moves faster 10:24
Balancing speed, cost and quality when building products 14:30
Is AI overhyped? 21:37
What the EU AI act means for businesses 32:23
Are humans still necessary when AI does the work 43:00
Why AI is giving everyone anxiety and FOMO 53:02
Where startups and big companies are headed with AI 56:36
Where to find Jonas and Vidas 1:03:20
More about the episode partners: www.bmiinstitute.com
Connect with Our Guests
Jonad Valuta – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonasvaluta/
Vidas Vasiliauskas – https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidasvasiliauskas/
Connect with Max (Host)
Max Golikov – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/
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