The Day That Changes Everything

For most organizations, regardless of their size or age, there comes a day—seemingly like any other—when everything changes.

• It is the moment when the world around us shifts, and despite feelings of uncertainty, leaders choose to pursue a new path toward their goals.

• This is the day when executives realize that what worked yesterday will no longer suffice today.

Why it matters: We have witnessed cycles of significant change: in 1996 with the advent of the internet, in 2007 with the emergence of smartphones, and again in 2020, when entire offices transitioned to remote work.

• Currently, the change is more subtle, but it is disrupting the status quo.

• We can choose to ignore it until our company becomes irrelevant, or we can take proactive steps to address it, despite our fears.

The big picture: For the C-suite, it feels like being in the middle of a tug-of-war, where old methods pull us in one direction while the promise of new approaches drags us in another.

• This situation compels us to compare our leadership with that of others, as we wait to see who will make the first move.

• Many who initially made the move with AI have already failed.

• Others, who championed staff in embracing the initiative, are seeing a competitive transformation.

Between the lines: Implementing AI transformation is much like the farmer plowing a field in the spring.

• They spend the majority of their funds on planting and must wait for months to see if that investment pays off.

• The same is true for the C-Suite embarking on the AI journey.

• They must face obstacles, manage the growth of weeds, extinguish destructive forces, and tend to the plants as they grow.

Zoom in: The critical part is to visualize the outcome before beginning the plan.

• Can you envision what the company will look like three months after deployment, a year from now, or even five years from now?

• Like the farmer putting their future on the line each planting season, you must be able to envision the outcome.

My AI journey: Building three different AI companies has made it clear that the AI journey has much less to do with technology and more to do with getting people to accept it.

• Years ago, the challenge was belief.

• Potential customers did not believe what the system could do.

• Today, it is overcoming the fear of change.

What happened: My most successful AI company was acquired in 2023 and remains a critical component of many financial trading organizations.

• However, the journey from start to exit was stressful, challenging, and at times felt impossible.

• While the core technology was developed over a few months, convincing financial institutions of its impact proved difficult.

Zoom out: After speaking with corporate executives, including those from major tech companies, it became clear that what they were facing with Enterprise AI was similar to what I had encountered when selling AI to major banks.

• Those who must adopt the solution are often the ones most opposed to it.

Acceptance: To successfully sell AI transformation, the C-Suite must demonstrate its value to users.

• Executives play a vital role in helping staff understand that the world is evolving.

• Those who can effectively use professional AI tools will be the ones who retain jobs in the emerging AI economy.

• While some employees will embrace these changes, others may remain hesitant.

Skills-based work: The key differentiator in this transition is viewing AI as a means of job security, rather than succumbing to the media narrative of job elimination.

• Some jobs may indeed disappear; however, as companies move from role-based to skills-based work, those who master AI and are comfortable incorporating it into their professions will be the ones who remain employed.

• What you must avoid is having the organization disappear due to inactivity on the AI front.

Go deeper: The anxieties surrounding AI implementation are not unfounded; they represent critical risks that need to be managed.

• However, the most significant risk of all is allowing these fears to immobilize an organization.

• AI Literacy training is the first step to mitigating workforce risk.

• Empowering HR to manage psychological change is the second key step.

• Visit https://www.toddmoses.com/ to learn what to do next.