Will JonesGandhi Mathi Nathan Kumar is a reliability and incident management professional with more than 16 years of experience in telecom, financial services, data and analytics, cloud communications, and autonomous vehicles. He is currently Senior Staff Incident Commander at Aurora Innovation, where he leads incident response, retrospectives, and executive incident reporting for the company’s self-driving trucks. Before Aurora, he was Principal Incident Commander at Twilio Inc., where he designed and set up the company’s incident response program. He trained 5,000 responders, led more than 300 post-incident reviews, and introduced a generative AI system that produced real-time summaries for more than 12,000 incidents. Earlier, he was Vice President of Service Delivery & Product at Barclays US, where he won a 2020 global CEO Award. He holds a Master’s in Telecommunications Management with honors from Oklahoma State University and completed Executive Education in Leadership Development at the Wharton School.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming part of everyday business operations. Organizations are using AI to detect anomalies, prioritize alerts, analyze large volumes of information, and recommend responses in real time. These capabilities have the potential to improve efficiency and reduce response times during critical incidents.
However, as businesses continue adopting these technologies, one question remains central to their long-term success: what role should people continue to play?
For Gandhi Mathi Nathan Kumar, the answer is clear. AI should strengthen decision-making, not replace it. He believes organizations achieve the greatest value when technology supports experienced professionals instead of attempting to automate every judgment.
“The objective shouldn’t be to remove people from the process,” says Gandhi Mathi Nathan Kumar. “The objective should be to help people make faster, better-informed decisions when situations become complex.”
That philosophy represents a practical approach to one of the biggest conversations surrounding artificial intelligence today.
Technology Should Enhance Expertise
The capabilities of AI continue to expand at an extraordinary pace. Machine learning systems can identify patterns that would take humans hours to discover, while predictive models help organizations identify potential issues before they become significant operational problems.
Yet technology still operates within defined parameters.
Real-world incidents often involve incomplete information, changing priorities, customer expectations, regulatory obligations, and human factors that cannot always be captured by algorithms alone.
According to Gandhi Mathi Nathan Kumar, this is where professional expertise becomes indispensable.
“Technology delivers speed and consistency,” he explains. “People bring experience, judgment, and an understanding of consequences that extends beyond data.”
Rather than viewing AI and people as competing resources, he believes organizations should treat them as complementary strengths working toward the same objective.
Creating Better Decision-Making Environments
Organizations frequently evaluate AI based on efficiency gains or cost savings. While those benefits are important, Gandhi Mathi Nathan Kumar believes successful implementation should also be measured by whether professionals are able to make better decisions with greater confidence.
AI can reduce information overload, identify relevant data, and surface potential risks. Human experts can then interpret those findings within the broader operational context.
This collaborative approach creates opportunities for stronger decision making while maintaining accountability where it belongs.
“AI gives people better information,” he says. “People determine what should happen next.”
That distinction becomes increasingly important during high-pressure incidents where technical recommendations must be balanced against business priorities, customer impact, and organizational objectives.
Responsible AI Requires Responsible Leadership
As artificial intelligence continues advancing, discussions about responsible implementation are becoming just as important as discussions about capability.
Organizations are recognizing that successful adoption requires clear governance, transparency, and leadership committed to maintaining appropriate human oversight.
For Gandhi Mathi Nathan Kumar, responsible AI begins with acknowledging both the strengths and limitations of technology.
“Organizations don’t need less human involvement as AI improves,” he says. “They need better collaboration between technology and experienced professionals.”
That perspective encourages businesses to move beyond simplistic discussions about automation and instead focus on building systems that help people perform at their highest level.
Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly continue changing the future of incident management. Yet Gandhi Mathi Nathan Kumar believes the organizations that benefit most will be those that remember technology is ultimately a tool designed to support people, not replace them.
As AI becomes more sophisticated, maintaining that balance between automation and human expertise may prove to be one of the most valuable competitive advantages an organization can develop.