AI Leadership Handbook

We finally met in person a few weeks ago! Peggy Smedley invited me to join her on The Peggy Smedley Show to talk about what’s next with Agentic AI. Peggy has been podcasting about tech trends for almost two decades as a future of work futurist. Two years ago, I was on the show to talk about AI Leadership Handbook. Now, the few days together in Boston gave us plenty of new topics to talk about: - What’s an agent control plane, and why businesses need one? - How can leaders establish AI governance programs that foster innovation without stifling it? - What are successful companies doing differently in their Agentic AI adoption journey? Here’s the my take: Much of it comes down to the operating model that companies put in place. Balancing concepts from managing people with the responsibility for a software’s decisions is new in the currant extent. It’s a central theme of my latest book, The HUMAN Agentic AI Edge. At the end of the day, though, it is people who work in your business, and training them to use AI effectively remains the priority of the hour for most. Check out the full episode: https://lnkd.in/diFheb8Z Happy listening! Let me know if you catch our excitement from meeting IRL. #ArtificialIntelligence #AgenticAI

ATTENTION: AI bots have developed a sense of humor! (I think) 🎤 🔽 If you need some weekend reading, check out these best-sellers: - The HUMAN Agentic AI Edge: Shape the Next Generation of AI-Ready Teams - AI Leadership Handbook: Turn Technology Hype into Business Outcomes #artificialintelligence

How do mid-sized businesses get started with AI? 1) Ownership The CEO or President of the company typically looks to the CIO or VP of IT to lead the effort. The closer the AI leader to the CEO in the org chart, the better the chances they can operate across business functions. 2) Governance & Standards Form a small, virtual team to explore what AI can do in your business. Some call it task force, while others call it center of excellence or community. Ensure this team has representation from various business functions (incl. IT, Legal, HR, etc.). 3) Scale Approach AI as more than just a technology play. Enable your leaders and team members through hands-on training. Teach what’s possible and where the limitations are. These are some of the insights from the AI Leadership Handbook that I shared with Sarah Huffman for this article. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/dYg4hKqs What would you add? PS: Get in touch if you’re looking to set up your company’s AI team, task force, or CoE. #ArtificialIntelligence #Leadership #IntelligenceBriefing

Some leaders have to go to Davos for the big revelation—others have read the AI Leadership Handbook. From Jeremy Kahn’s article: “The age of pilots and experimentation seems to be ending. So too is the era of imagining what AI can do. Many CEOs now realize that implementing AI at scale is not easy or cheap. Now there is much more attention on practical advice for using AI to drive enterprise-wide impact.” >> My take: Pilots were always “Phase 1” to better understand the technology and its limitations. Organizations that have made these learnings are moving on to “Phase 2,” which is identifying concrete opportunities for AI to drive measurable business value in support of the business strategy. But it bears repeating: AI needs more than technology. It’s a holistic change and transformation effort. I describe the 9 key dimensions that leaders need to keep in balance in the AI Leadership Handbook. “There’s a consensus that the bottom-up approaches—giving every employee access to ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, say—popular in many companies two years ago, in the initial days of the generative AI boom, are a thing of the past. Back then, CEOs assumed front line workers, closest to the business processes, would know how best to deploy AI to make them more efficient. This turned out to be wrong—or, perhaps more accurately, the gains from doing this tended to be hard to quantify and rarely added up to big changes in either the top or bottom line. Instead, top-down, CEO-led initiatives aimed at transforming core business processes are now seen as essential for deriving ROI from AI.” >> My take: Last year, the #WEF reported that 39% of skills will be obsolete by 2030, and LinkedIn found that just 38% of companies invest in upskilling. Even worse, Deloitte’s recent report sees hands-on training at just 7% of companies’ AI budget. That’s the real gap. Giving everyone Copilot and expecting them to be “more productive” or to pick it up on their own is a fallacy—especially at a time when 46% of employees are concealing their AI use at work (as Slack found). That’s where my latest book, The HUMAN Agentic AI Edge, begins, so leaders can shape AI-ready teams that don’t create slop. If you didn’t make it to Davos for #WEF26 this week, head over to Amazon and get the top insights from interviews with 100 AI leaders and my practical experience from working with Fortune 100s in these books. Need help figuring out where to start with AI, DM me here. Any big surprises here, folks? #ArtificialIntelligence #Leadership

Access to AI technology is just the first step. What’s needed next is critical for meaningful use. Last week, I spoke with 40 business leaders and AI champions at a leading financial services institution about how to prepare their organization for AI. It’s the introductory-level workshop of my Certified AI Leader program. Key insights: - AI use is a social stigma for many, at odds with the top-down push by leaders (46% of employees conceal their AI use). - Low-quality, AI-generated results (workslop) impact one’s perception of the sender (40% of employees report receiving such information) - Leadership support has a direct impact on teams’ AI use (8.8x more likely to find value according to Gallup’s latest research). This company has already established a group AI champions who engage with their business functions and share the lessons learned with the central AI team. It’s something I discuss as well in the AI Leadership Handbook. The next phase of AI is about shaping your AI-ready organization by encouraging your teams and empowering them to use AI well. More to come in my next book, The HUMAN Agentic AI Edge. What’s the biggest challenge to getting value from AI right now? #ArtificialIntelligence #Leadership #IntelligenceBriefing

“Business stakeholders don’t want AI definitions; they want outcomes,” shared one AI leader yesterday at Generative AI Week. And that’s spot on! The question isn’t so much about what is Agentic AI vs Agentic Workflows vs AI Agents…at least not outside of your core AI team. Instead, focus on business problems and measurable outcomes. (It’s all in the AI Leadership Handbook, btw.) What are you solving and for whom? That makes it a lot easier to get business buy-in for your AI initiative or product. As another leader shared yesterday, a 9% improvement in engaging with their B2B customers (facilitated by AI) has led to a $250MM revenue increase. How are you measuring the business impact of your AI initiative? #ArtificialIntelligence #GenerativeAI #IntelligenceBriefing

At SimCorp, our culture is built around our 𝟱𝗖𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀, and one of them, 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀, truly defines our mindset: we learn, explore, and grow - always seeking to innovate the solutions and services we provide. As an 𝗔𝗜 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿 in the 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮, I’m passionate about helping our teams stay ahead in a field that evolves faster than ever. We drive this through 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀, and 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 across business areas. But our learning culture also goes beyond practice; it’s about exploration, curiosity, and reflection. That’s why we launched our new 𝗔𝗜 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆, a shared space to inspire, challenge, and spread 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 across SimCorp. Reading AI books strengthens technical knowledge while sharpening critical thinking, creativity, and ethical awareness. 📚 Our first collection includes: • 𝗔𝗜 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 by Chip Huyen • 𝗔𝗜 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 by Rob Thomas, Paul Zikopoulos & Kate Soule • 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 by Micheal Lanham • 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻𝘀: 𝗔 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 by Dr. Jeffrey Funk • 𝗔𝗜 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: 𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗛𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 by Andreas Welsch • 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 by Marco Iansiti & Karim Lakhani • 𝗖𝗼-𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜 by Ethan Mollick • 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝗢𝗽𝘀: 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 by Abi Aryan ☯︎𓁿 • 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀-𝗢𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀: 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 by Jay Alammar & Maarten Grootendorst • 𝗥𝗔𝗚-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅, 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗲 by Denis Rothman What about you? What AI-related book are you currently reading? What resources would you recommend we add next to our AI Library? #AI #GenAI #AIAgents #LLMOPs #LearningCulture #ContinuousLearning #Innovation #Curiosity

Your next Chief AI Officer should be more than a “one-trick pony.” CEOs are getting serious: “We’re ready to invest in a central AI leadership position.” Savvy leaders (who’ve read the AI Leadership Handbook) know, CAIOs need more than technical chops. It’s much more about relationship building, change management, and influence, working across organizational silos and uncovering tangible benefits, than it is about just building models and pipelines. The reason for this is simple. AI touches every aspect of an organization (products and services) and the way people work (culture and processes). Cross-functional experience and a “product mindset,” that former product management leaders often have, are critical skills that modern AI leaders bring to the table. It requires much more than being really good at ONE thing. And it’s a tough mix of skills to find. What skills would you add to the list of ideal CAIO qualifications? PS: If you’re ready to bring your first CAIO on board but are not sure where to start, DM me for an unbiased opinion. #ArtificialIntelligence #GenerativeAI #IntelligenceBriefing

I didn’t write a book to change the world. Instead of big lofty ideas, it’s about practical advice for leaders who want more than hype from AI for their business. Today is the first anniversary of publishing the best-selling AI Leadership Handbook, and I couldn’t be more excited about the impact it has had over the past year. Feedback and reviews keep pouring in from all corners of the world: “Andreas doesn't sugar-coat the difficulties but instead provides practical strategies for overcoming them and outlines this topic very well.” —Fuad Hendricks “One out of many things from the book that will remain in my head is……. pivot from AI projects towards products.” —Rajesh Nair “This is a book I wish I had in 2018… very good blueprint for leadership in Data Analytics or AI.” —Sara Hanks In the book, you will learn about the 9 dimensions of successful AI initiatives: 1) The Forces that Drive AI 2) Aligning AI with Business Goals 3) Leading in the AI Era 4) Designing for People 5) Cultivating an AI-Ready Culture 6) Harnessing Diverse Perspectives 7) Establishing Principles for Human-Centered AI Design 8) Ensuring Relevant Output 9) Mitigating Potential Risks and Threats 10) Outlook: Where Are We Headed with AI From Boston to Vegas, Munich, and Zurich, speaking with attendees after the sessions based on the book has been a highlight for me this year. Next month, I’ll be giving a lecture for MBA students at Wharton School of Business about leading AI transformation, and I can’t wait to hear their questions. To celebrate the anniversary of the book release, I’m giving away 10 copies of the audiobook today. Comment with a real question you’re facing on AI adoption to get your free copy. Thank you for all your interest, support, and opportunities this past year to help leaders get real results from AI! PS: Don’t sit on the sidelines of AI adoption. Send me a message to bring these insights to your business or audience in a keynote or workshop.

Get additional details in the chapter “Leading AI programs with the Chief AI Officer role” of the AI Leadership Handbook…