“AI for value creation, not hype.”
Those are the words Mansura Habiba, Principal Architect, Agentic AI, Office-of-CTO and IBM Speaker, carries into the IBM TechXchange 2025 Conference. These words summarize how she approaches technology, not as a shiny new idea, but as a foundation for everlasting change. While many of the conversations today centre around AI, Mansura reminds us to step back and see the bigger picture: the culture, infrastructure, and collaboration that make innovation possible.
Culture and Infrastructure: The Real Foundations of Innovation
Mansura believes that it is not tools alone that transform organizations but rather the people, policies, and infrastructure that uplift those organizations that have the largest impact. She believes that before businesses can begin scaling their projects with Artificial Intelligence, they need to be able to ask the hard questions about their data health, IT ecosystems, and internal culture.
“We need a new culture in organizations in order to adopt AI. Only then can it bring its real potential.”
Mansura has had experience working at a leading clinic that was researching sleep apnea. The clinic, without the help of AI, had to build a high-performance computing (HPC) platform that could handle massive workloads. Only after this could they begin structuring sensitive data under strict governance. From there on, the research didn’t just advance internally but it became a resource for neurological departments worldwide, opening the door to breakthroughs across fields.
This story speaks to Mansura’s broader belief that innovation is not about “quick wins” but a crawl, walk, run progress. Companies must be able to modernize and be able to balance their ambition with the readiness of the culture around them. Without the use of robust infrastructure, governance, and cultural receptivity, regardless of how sophisticated the AI models are, they will collapse under the weight of poor data and unrealistic expectations.
Cross-Industry Lessons and the Human Side of Technology
Mansura has worked within multiple industries, including healthcare, telecom, finance, and government, and what she has learned is that while use cases differ, patterns repeat. Every single sector struggles with data and data maturity. Every single enterprise faces pressure to modernize as quickly as possible, all whilst their systems are simply not ready. Every organization is currently at risk of falling into the same trap: investing heavily in AI without placing the right groundwork for lasting, sustainable outcomes.
She has also seen how industries can uplift one another by sharing knowledge and best practices. For example, the healthcare industry's strict rules around patient privacy can inspire financial institutions. The telecom industry's agility in managing scale can inform government agencies. For Mansura, this kind of cross-industry collaboration is the hidden potential of the current wave of innovation.
This also applied to AI agents and the surfacing frameworks around them. She has a simple yet powerful reminder to all the industries that sometimes the best answer is “I don’t know.” AI that hallucinates or fabricates information doesn’t create value. Through designing systems with guardrails, governance, and honesty, organizations can build trust with their users. “Trust is the real currency of the digital age.”
APIs, MCP Tools, and the Road Ahead
At the IBM TechXchange 2025 Conference, Mansura will showcase strategies enterprises can use immediately. She will show companies how they can leverage already existing APIs and build new MCP (Model Context Protocol) tools to work seamlessly with LLMs, rather than throw away their legacy systems.
Her sessions will cover:
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How to create APIs that coincide with how LLMs process information.
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How MCP tools are bridges that can drive efficiency without cost.
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How enterprises can modernize whilst remaining competitive.
This approach is rooted in technical advancement whilst adhering to business outcomes. It’s about turning infrastructure into intelligence and that intelligence into value!
Mansura’s Upcoming Sessions
Mansura brings a fresh perspective that highlights technical expertise while incorporating cultural awareness. Whether she’s talking about HPC platforms, governance frameworks, or API design. She is firm on the belief that value is created when systems, people, and culture align.
If you are heading to the IBM TechXchange 2025 Conference, don’t miss her sessions! You will learn how to build better APIs and MCP tools and what it takes to make innovation stick!
Watch Mansura Habiba at the IBM TechXchange Conference 2025, October 6 to 9 in Orlando, Florida 📅
Effective API Strategies for MCP and Tool Calling [2761]
Effectively Building Open Source Agents for Enterprise Use Cases [2760]
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