You might think it’s OK to be cautious with AI, but there’s a risk of being TOO cautious – waiting for the perfect tools, the perfect policies, the perfect rollout. But whle you’re waiting, smaller, more agile organisations are experimenting, learning, and sprinting past you. You don’t have to be reckless, but you do need to make space for trying, failing, growing, and trying again.
Are you willing to risk it all for AI?
I’m not talking about falling in love with an AI chatbot! I’m talking about your role as a leader.
I recently ran a small-group workshop about AI for leaders – from different industries, sectors, sizes, and roles. You might think the bigger organisations would be way ahead, but the opposite is true.
The larger organisations – with deep pockets, dedicated IT teams, and many, many more resources – were lagging.
Why? Because they were taking a slow, cautious approach.
Why? Because they think they have more to lose.
Market share.
Reputation.
External regulation.
Internal status and power.
On the other hand, the smaller businesses tend to be much more proactive with adopting AI. They’ll try an AI tool and, if they don’t like it, they’ll drop it and try something else.
They have some informal guidelines, and build policy on the fly.
There’s no question a smaller business is more fragile. They might rely on a few products, a few key staff, a few important customers, or one business model.
But when you’re fragile, you can also be more agile.
Larger organisations, on the other hand, have much more buffer against problems. Even when things change a bit, they can stay steady.
But if you’re too steady, you won’t be ready.
Especially with something like AI.
You can’t wait for the perfect tech.
Or the perfect policy.
Or the perfect training.
You can’t policy your way into AI!
AI is so new and moving so quickly you must be willing to be a bit more fragile.
Don’t be reckless, but don’t get stuck either.
Be more agile, like a small business or a startup, but also leverage your assets and resources to accelerate the experience curve.
For more, join my free public online presentation this week, where we look at this and some other issues for leaders as you’re looking at leveraging and embracing AI.
