Everything C-Suites Always Wanted to Know About AI (But Were Too Afraid to Ask)*

"I had absolutely no idea you could do that with it!”

"You need to come and show the things you're doing to my boss."

"Phil, you're going to retire off this."

"LMFAO!"

That's just a couple of reactions I've had from senior corporate leaders over the last 18 months. And not just any senior leaders, we're talking about folk whose work sees them sit across AI and Machine Learning, day-in, day-out.

I love it...especially the one about retiring early. I'm far from that, BTW.

To be honest, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've invested significant time over the last 18 months experimenting with the tools, keeping abreast of the many new developments as they drop, and critically, thinking about what the rapid growth of generative AI means for companies large and small.

I experimented at an early age (of AI)

But I still find it fascinating that there's such a significant development happening around us and that—for some crazy reason—I might know a little bit more about this stuff than senior players at companies around the world. ("Hey ChatGPT, help me with my imposter syndrome.”)

It's still less than 18 months since ChatGPT4 arrived. At the time, my daughter was struggling with maths, and after a frustrating experience with a SATs revision guide, I wondered whether OpenAI's clever little update could become a personalised AI Maths Tutor. It did, she smashed her SATs, people wrote about it, it got featured in a film by OpenAI, and I've barely shut up about the experience ever since.

Enhanced performance

In the time since then, we've seen a slew of other frontier models come to the fore, literally thousands of existing SaaS 'enhanced' with AI (a modern take on 'our best wash yet'?), and AI tools creep into our devices. Meanwhile, the functionality in ChatGPT has quietly evolved from a text-based chat interface to what increasingly resembles a multi-modal productivity suite.

And where we're headed, we don't entirely know, but it's pretty clear this year we'll see AI agents arrive (think tools that can autonomously take on tasks on your behalf), and—whether we like it or not—tools that can think increasingly deeper about the jobs you've given them, and perhaps even become sentient. And what the heck is Stargate?

This stuff is no longer sci-fi: it's a 2025/26 product roadmap.

I really should KNOW by now, but I’m just NOT SURE what to do

So when I'm speaking to senior leaders, this rapid evolution causes them to scratch their heads. That's an understatement. Many, by their own admission, are behind the curve when thinking about what AI can do right now—never mind what they might be able to do in six months.

Without clarity on what's possible, misinformation creeps in.

I remember a conversation at a party a couple of months back (I'm such a fun guy) with a senior leader/investor who thought the AI bubble had burst, on the basis of what they'd been reading online. When I talked about some of the applications of AI I'd created for clients, and the obligatory Maths Tutor example, his thinking was completely changed.

But I also had a chat with a prospective client who thought they could replace their entire financial team using AI, despite having no idea how they might achieve that. I wasn't daft enough to take that gig on, dear reader.

*BTW: Your staff are at it like rabbits. And that’s very risky

Of course, staff absolutely love ChatGPT, Gemini and the like. And they're probably using them in your business right now to shortcut tasks and processes. It's just that you probably don't know the extent of what they're up to: and therein lies a massive challenge.

Here's the rub: staff surreptitiously using their own accounts with tools such as ChatGPT is a data security nightmare. Everything they're working on—whether that's a quick bit of advice on navigating a pay rise with their line manager, working on proprietary company IP, or perhaps even worse, processing customer data—is feeding the training model. Which. Is. A. Very. Bad. Thing.

And beyond that, how do you know they're using the tools with the critical eye so important with tools that could quite easily convince the casual user that white is indeed black?

Let's talk first before any of us do something we later regret

I guess that's where I step in. It's OK not to fully understand where we're at, and where we're headed, with generative AI.

I work with C-Suites to develop their understanding of today's tools and I'm focused, always, on pragmatism. What can the tools do? What can't they do? How does all of this align with what we want to achieve as a business? What might we build to help us get there? And what are the risks to our business based on—perhaps—our current lack of structured adoption?

Confidence is everythinG

By working to unpick this at a strategic level, we can change our thinking around what's possible, and quickly start to build new opportunities, efficiencies and ways of working that will transform our operations. Sounds like rhetoric, I know, but it's true.

The risk, of course, is that you plod on without a plan as the world around you adapts to the new reality of AI everywhere.

You know that AI isn’t just another passing trend. Catching up, or getting by with a cursory understanding of these tools is no longer enough.

You don't have to be an expert, but if you can start from that critical point of clarity around what's possible right now, and what that means for your business, you're halfway there. Your strategy will probably start to write itself...and not in a weird AI kind of way.

If you’re curious about AI, and need help exploring how to make it work for your business, why not talk to me about the training I provide through my programme, The AI Advantage, described as ‘the best workshop I’ve even been on!’

I work with clients through whole-team workshops through to one-to-one c-suite coaching, designed to immerse you and your team in how to get the most of the tools, and how they can fit into your day-to-day operations.

Interested? Let’s have that chat, one-to-one.