Too busy to truly understand AI or keep up? You’re not the only one

Finding out how AI works takes less than you think

Many leaders still use AI as a fancy search engine or writing assistant. You want to do more with it. But your calendar is full, the noise is loud, and AI moves faster than anyone can follow.

Digital shame is real

So you feel you should know more by now. And you don’t say it out loud. Call it digital shame. It’s real, and it’s everywhere.

→ Saying it out loud is the brave part.

The end repsonsiblity is still yours

AI is new to all of us. Your team included. But the strategic call is yours, and so is the responsibility. And your board won’t wait: 61% of CEOs say their boards are rushing AI. More than half say the hype distorts boardroom judgement.

→ You need your own understanding to spar with your team as an equal, see through the hype, and push back when the board moves too fast.

Yes, you can delegate. It’s good leadership and a sign of trust. Your team works with AI every day. Let them advise you. But you have to make sure you understand the advice, and can place it in the bigger picture.

You only need to know how AI functions

That takes less than you think. Tools change every month, but how AI works changes slowly. You don’t need to follow every launch.

You only need to understand how AI functions: probability, predictability and prompting. And than use AI on a profesional level for your own work, as a strategic sparring partner and to help you with your hardest decisions.

Not just as a fancy search or a writing tool. Nor do you need to know all details and the lateste functionalities and releases.

→ Open the black box far enough to see what AI can do for your business.

Ask AI to find flaws in your thinking

In my sessions, this is the moment leaders sit up: I show them AI disagreeing with me. I’ve set it up to push back.

One of my most used prompts: “Can you find flaws in my thinking?” The reaction is almost always the same: “It makes so much sense. It just never crossed my mind to ask AI that.”

→ That’s when AI stops being a search engine. It becomes a sparring partner.

Saying no to AI is fine

And if you decide AI isn’t for your brand? Fine. For some brands, no AI is the better choice. As long as you made that choice with your eyes open and full understanding.

Start here

Within the next 2 weeks, explain to your team how AI can help your business. What it means for results, and for the workload. No jargon. No hype words.

If you can’t explain that simply, you don’t understand AI well enough (yet). That’s fine. Now, you can ask your team to help you. And AI becomes a team effort.

Want help opening the black box? I’ve been in your chair. I’m a CMO myself, and I explain AI in plain words, on your own work. Mail me.

9 AI dilemmas

This is the sixth of 9 AI dilemmas for the C-suite. I'm publishing them over the coming weeks. Each piece names the decision, what it costs to leave it open, and what I'd do.

The one you recognize immediately might be the one you've left open too long.