You Do Not Have Time for a Two-Hour Kickoff but You Have Time to Fail for a Year
A VP told me his org only had 30 minutes for AI training. I recommended the two-hour kickoff that has consistently produced results. He said they did not have time. That told me everything I needed to know.
Transformational initiatives demand dedicated time for strategic reframing, not merely tactical awareness.
Treat AI adoption as an organizational redesign.
Strategic initiatives require dedicated time for leadership alignment and system-level diagnosis; absent this, ad-hoc efforts will fail against existing operational inertia.
Awareness campaigns do not address fundamental organizational friction points such as governance bottlenecks, capability gaps, or critical executive decisions regarding structural change.
Effective AI adoption necessitates a re-evaluation of governance mechanisms, an uplift in core capabilities, and proactive organizational restructuring.
Deferring strategic allocation of time for diagnosis inevitably leads to increased time spent on remediation and failure recovery.
The initial investment of executive attention determines whether AI programs are managed as incremental tool rollouts or fundamental shifts in organizational capability.
Transformational initiatives demand dedicated time for strategic reframing, not merely tactical awareness.
Treat AI adoption as an organizational redesign.
Strategic initiatives require dedicated time for leadership alignment and system-level diagnosis; absent this, ad-hoc efforts will fail against existing operational inertia.
Awareness campaigns do not address fundamental organizational friction points such as governance bottlenecks, capability gaps, or critical executive decisions regarding structural change.
Effective AI adoption necessitates a re-evaluation of governance mechanisms, an uplift in core capabilities, and proactive organizational restructuring.
Deferring strategic allocation of time for diagnosis inevitably leads to increased time spent on remediation and failure recovery.
The initial investment of executive attention determines whether AI programs are managed as incremental tool rollouts or fundamental shifts in organizational capability.
After 20 years in software development, Norman is both a hands-on leader and defining the new age of AI SDLC for some of the biggest brands in the world — and exploring it with the builders. He writes here about things he is hearing and seeing. All posts are his personal points of view and do not reflect any employer or any customer he has ever had contact with.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the positions of any employer, client, or affiliated organization.
