Show leadership, not fear, with AI

Fast Company

3 days ago

It was telling that the new pope would use his first major address to talk about the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI). He chose the name Leo because the last pope to use it, Pope Leo XIII, wrestled with the changes spurred by the Industrial Revolution. In a similar way, the recently elected pontiff is preparing for the AI revolution. Business leaders, take note. You need to prepare, too.
A global PwC CEO survey found that more than half of chief executives say generative AI 'has resulted in efficiencies in how employees use their time, while a third reported increased revenue (32%) and profitability (34%).'
'AI is reshaping our business in ways that were once unimaginable,' Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and CEO of beverage and snack food giant PepsiCo, said in a press announcement about the company's AI ambitions.
The question for reluctant CEOs who are still on the fence about using AI in their organizations is: What are you waiting for?
In the age of intelligent machines, leaders who ignore AI are not being cautious; they are being reckless. The rise of agentic AI (applied AI that autonomously learns and acts) is reshaping markets at a blistering pace. These autonomous agents are a super-charged version of chatbots, empowering organizations to contact potential sales leads and create marketing content with almost no human intervention.
'At least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through agentic AI by 2028, up from 0% in 2024,' according to Gartner. 'In addition, 33% of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI by 2028, up from less than 1% in 2024.'
Executives across a broad swath of industries now face a stark choice: Actively engage with AI's risks and potential, or risk irrelevance. The duty of leadership today is to embrace AI's strategic implications head-on. Anything less is an abdication of responsibility.
This is not some illusion of choice, as if this innovation can be treated the same as others. It cannot. You don't have a choice in adoption or not, but you do have a choice in where you start and how you phase the scaling of AI.
THE TRILLION-DOLLAR OPPORTUNITY
AI's business impact is no longer hypothetical; it's here, and it's enormous. Global GDP is projected to be 14% higher by 2030 thanks to AI—an uplift of $15.7 trillion and more than China and India's combined output.
This value comes from AI-driven gains in productivity, efficiency, and new products. In fact, studies find that AI adoption boosts productivity significantly. Early experiments with GenAI tools show employee output jumping by 66% after automating tedious tasks.
According to McKinsey, GenAI had the potential to save businesses $1.2 trillion in annual labor costs by 2025. Projected savings have only increased since that study was released in 2023.
Across sectors, from manufacturing to health care to finance, AI is driving unprecedented growth and innovation. In fact, 78% of organizations worldwide reported using AI in 2024 (up from 55% in 2023).
The evidence is overwhelming: Firms that harness AI are reaping outsized rewards, from faster product development to personalized customer experiences, while those that hesitate leave massive value on the table.
Executives must also reckon with the risks of inaction. In survey after survey, business leaders voice the same alarm: 75% of CEOs believe AI will disrupt their industry within five years. They're likely right.
AI is a general-purpose technology poised to upend business models much like the internet did. History shows that innovation and early adoption consistently correlate with long-term growth and market leadership. Companies that embraced the internet early dominated the next era; AI presents a similar inflection point.
'Companies without an AI strategy are already behind,' warned a World Economic Forum report. According to McKinsey, 92% of companies plan to increase AI investments in the next three years, yet only 1% feel their organizations are truly 'AI mature' with AI fully integrated into operations.
This gap between ambition and execution is a ticking time bomb. Leaders who fail to embed AI at scale risk seeing more agile competitors seize their market share. In contrast, organizations that invested early in AI (the 'AI high performers') attribute 20% or more of their earnings to AI and outpace others in new AI capabilities.
The message is clear: Standing still invites disruption, while proactive innovation fuels resilience. Ignoring AI's strategic implications—whether it's transformative upside or the competitive risk it poses—is nothing short of negligent.
LEADING BOLDLY IN THE AI ERA
Responsible leadership in 2025 demands urgent, informed action on AI. This means going beyond lip service and small pilot projects. As one McKinsey study concludes, the biggest barrier to scaling AI isn't technology or employees, it's leaders not moving fast enough.
My advice?
Leaders must act now to educate themselves and their teams about AI's capabilities and limitations. Craft a clear AI strategy and invest in the talent and infrastructure to implement it. Start by assessing organizational AI readiness by evaluating skills, data assets, and processes—and then embed AI capability-building into your core business strategy.
Include upskilling the workforce and instituting governance for ethical AI use. Executives need to make AI adoption and innovation a top strategic priority. Put it on par with finance or operations.
Bold action today will separate tomorrow's winners from losers. The history of technological revolutions shows that moments like this define the rise and fall of companies. The AI revolution is no different.