Natural language is becoming a universal interface. Connecting that interface to enterprise systems requires more than protocols. It requires active, thoughtful, and sustained work.

This talk shares Nordstrom's journey enabling MCP and AI agents across the organization: building secure MCP server standards, navigating OAuth and token management for agent workflows, and creating governance frameworks that let teams experiment while ensuring supportability. We'll cover practical challenges and solutions that make the C in MCP reliable, accurate and secure: knowledge feedback loops, layered access management, and evaluation techniques that make "one-to-many" enablement possible.

Beyond the technical, we'll also touch on the human systems work: coordinating across teams when AI initiatives emerge organically, building documentation that drives the right patterns from the start, and patiently creating the organizational foundations that let others follow and build on what you've started.