The corporate world is entering its most volatile and visible time; thanks to AI
For senior leadership, it’s a moment of extremes:
• Excessive hyped optimism, missed opportunities
• Dramatic swings in public and internal narratives on disruption and failure
The coming years will deliver both ‘transformational breakthroughs’ and ‘sensational setbacks’ and unless leadership stays anchored in clarity, they will be swept along by the very noise
Organization reality check:
Recent pulse checks across Tech, Data and Digital leadership surfaces a concerning trend:
• Only 21% of senior digital/tech leaders say they fully understand how AI can drive value in their organization (McKinsey)
• Of those, just 11% have a clear roadmap to act on that understanding
• Just 23% of tech leaders say they are confident in their organization’s AI strategy. (Gartner)
• Nearly 56% admit they would prefer to see how peers/competitors implement AI before committing internally (PwC Digital IQ Survey)
• Less than 10% are aware of the recent Apple LRM paper
These figures don’t signal hesitation — they reveal disconnection
The Corporate Dilemma
Despite the growing urgency, leadership often responds AI with:
• “Let’s see, it’s too early to comment”
• “We’ll wait for others to take the first step”
• “We have other priorities now”
• “We’re not there yet, thankfully”
These are risk-managed statements but they don’t scale for long
Why Do Leaders Stay Silent?
• Fear of being wrong, especially publicly
• Lack of alignment or technical clarity
• Reluctance to overcommit or cause panic
• Distant from on-the-ground operational realities
• Overfocus on optics and brand posture
What Leadership Should Be Doing
In high-change cycles like this, tech leaders must:
• Articulate a position. Even if evolving; silence breeds confusion
• Communicate internally and externally; teams want direction, not just reassurance
• Kill complexity. Focus the AI roadmap to 2–3 big changes
• Build product intuition. Be user experience obsessive
• Drive culture reset. Narratives alone won’t realign teams – operational clarity will
• Avoid distraction. Ignore the social media noise; stay grounded
Lessons from the Past
If AI transformation mirrors how digital transformation was handled — fragmented, unsupported and tech-only then it would surely fail
• Low adoption
• Unchanged org structures
• Underwhelming execution
Orgn Alignment
You don’t need the world’s best engineers. You need:
• Cross-functional leaders with thorough domain knowledge
• A shared vision for AI adoption
• Commitment to building together
• A product lens to rethink roles
• Organizational readiness for change
• Teams that celebrate outcomes with users, not just metrics
To conclude:
AI isn’t just a technology shift
It’s a leadership test on Vision, Conviction, Wisdom and Driving Right Narrative
You better be ready for it…
#AILeadership #GCCBusiness #AITransformation #AIReadiness #CXOInsights
