What’s the Point of AI? Maybe Not What You Think

AI is on every slide deck. Every strategy agenda. Every executive off-site. And yet, if we’re honest, many organizations haven’t changed all that much.

Yes, the tools are getting better. Generative models are more powerful. There are pilot projects, innovation labs, maybe even a Chief AI Officer somewhere on the org chart. But beneath the flurry of activity, a more sobering pattern is emerging: for all the energy around AI, few leaders have truly confronted what it demands of them — or their organizations.

Because the real point of AI isn’t what it does. It’s what it forces us to face.

AI doesn’t just automate tasks. It accelerates truths. It reveals fragile cultures, outdated assumptions, and leadership habits built for a different era. 

If you're reading this and looking around to see if anyone else is realizing this is talking about your organization.... this may be for you.

As Harvard Business Review rightly puts it, “AI strategy is your business strategy.” It’s not something to be delegated, siloed, or treated like a shiny feature. It’s a foundational rethinking of how your organization creates value, earns trust, and stays relevant in a world where the pace of change has outstripped the pace of decision-making.

McKinsey’s latest global research reinforces this tension. The majority of companies are using AI in some capacity, but only a small minority are capturing lasting strategic value. That gap is telling. It suggests that while the technology is evolving rapidly, leadership thinking often remains stuck — anchored to pre-AI mental models: linear plans, functional silos, top-down control.

This isn’t a failure of technology. It’s a failure of imagination.

And here’s where things get even more uncomfortable: AI doesn’t just shift workflows. It amplifies consequences. It accelerates the impact of every decision — or indecision — you make. It makes visible the kinds of internal contradictions we used to be able to ignore: strategies that sound good on paper but falter in practice; values that are marketed but not lived; cultures that claim adaptability but resist change the moment it threatens control.

What’s emerging isn’t just a new technological landscape — it’s a leadership reckoning.

And that’s the heart of it.

“AI doesn’t bluff — it reveals. And the real question isn’t whether AI will disrupt your business — it’s whether your business still deserves to belong in tomorrow’s world.” - Jonscott Turco

That’s not a condemnation. It’s a challenge. To stop hiding behind pilots and posturing.. or much worse.. inaction. To stop outsourcing thinking. To take ownership — not just of the tools, but of the implications.

Because five years from now, it won’t matter that you had a task force. It will matter whether you built something worthy of the future. A culture that could adapt. A workforce that was equipped — not just technically, but emotionally and ethically. A model that was fit not just for efficiency, but for meaning, trust, and shared growth.

The organizations that rise in the AI era won’t be those with the biggest budgets. They’ll be those with the clearest convictions — and, even more critical.......the courage to act on them.

AI won’t define your legacy. But how you lead through it just might.