Creating AI Heroes
Could you be an AI hero?
Christian Axberg | Sweden
Good news. AI isn’t rocket science. It’s about controlled leaps - and empowerment.
Three out of four CEOs fear losing their jobs if AI doesn’t deliver.i But it’s perfectly possible to move from doubt to dynamism. It’s a question of consciously adopting and adapting, not randomly experimenting. Discerning AI’s potential for your business, taking action where it matters, and acknowledging the human factor.
When it comes to AI, the first question leaders used to ask was: “What do we want to change?” Now it’s: “Do we even want to exist?” If the answer’s yes, then consider this: the more deeply AI infuses the relevant parts of your operations, the faster your organization will adopt and adapt.
Landscapes and alleys, step-by-step
The move from market lagger to leader can happen fast and safely. It takes three things: pre-analysis, controlled technical leaps and human empowerment. It means wiring AI into your business engine. Ensuring the organization is on its feet by enabling employees to develop and grow with the tech. Of course, some people will be left behind, as in any industrial shift.
But AI is not about replacing; it's about enhancing. Working smarter and getting more done.
You don’t need to improve everything, everywhere, all at once. Instead, find a level that's ‘good enough’. Identify quick wins in line with your strategic priorities. “What is most important for us, with this business model, in this market? What will make us stand out?” Perhaps it’s not the best product, but super-efficient operations, flexing to customer preferences, or competitive pricing. Then, exercising calm perseverance.
First, you’ll need an honest and pragmatic assessment of your firm’s landscape. Interrogating where AI fits and where it doesn’t, rather than plunging blindly into a multi-directional strategy. “What really makes our company tick? Where are its current and potential efficiencies? How much do things cost? What's our time to market?”
AI is about moving from A to B faster, with less cost, less human involvement, less risk, and higher quality. Knowing that what gets measured gets done. Understanding how improvements in three to five avenues could impact your profit, costs, margins. Making those KPIs relatable. So, when someone says, “We’ve improved this area,” they can logically explain the impact.
It’s all too easy to get lost in analysis. Instead, dare to explore. To accept that we all need to start somewhere, and that a shift in one area will have an impact elsewhere. Make improvements en route and accept pull-backs: in 2024 Gartner predicted that 30% of generative AI projects would be abandoned after proof of concept by 2025.ii
Humble heroism
Boards are now asking us to ensure that C-suite candidates have technical understanding. Whether you're a CEO, CFO, or COO, you must take an interest in AI. To understand the ‘why’ and the ‘what’. Admittedly, the ‘how’ is another matter. So, if your core isn’t technical, do make sure you’re willing and able to build a complementary team. To learn and adapt, with self-awareness and humility: “I see the potential, and I’ll do my best to make it happen.”
Today, we assess CXOs for this mindset. Of course, AI is not the only performance-enhancer. We also want to understand your experience and views of tried-and-tested approaches. It's a mindset - like Lean or Six Sigma. Where do we have slack? Opportunities? If I’m CFO, what is my vision about the function in a year’s time? How could AI increase quality, insights, speed up financial reporting?
AI heroes everywhere – the human/technical sweet spot
An AI hero invests in employees and competence-building at the same rate as AI. If you’re like most leaders, you care about people. From the employee and organizational development perspective, technology is a means to an end. So you’ll need a strategy not only for technology, but for humans. To succeed, this controlled transformation requires clear-eyed people with the right mindset. Who understand how they can contribute.
Process improvement is nothing new. But AI is exponential: what used to take ten steps can now take two. How do we get our heads around that? Help people see the opportunities? The answer lies in training and coaching employees to re-think and challenge. Giving them a chance to learn. The best CIOs take culture very seriously. They value the social safety that allows people to experiment and make mistakes - celebrating their attempts to do something differently or better. You can't make too many big errors, of course. But collective learning means letting people try things without fear. Giving them freedom whilst enhancing their abilities. Identifying those who may not naturally take those opportunities, and helping them to move forward.
Creating AI heroes everywhere – 5 questions
- What is our talent strategy for AI?
- How do we take care of and incentivize our people?
- How do we install formal and informal learning?
- How can we create the conditions to trust people to figure out the ‘how’?
- How healthy is our failure tolerance?
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[i] Dataiku, (2025), Global AI Confessions Report: CEO Edition
[ii] Gartner (2024), Gartner Predicts 30% of Generative AI Projects Will Be Abandoned After Proof of Concept By End of 2025
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