#25 Beyond the AI Arms Race: Why Power is Isn't Everything
Mackenzie M. Howe
Co-Founder Atheni | MIT Digital Transformation | Senior Strategy, GenAI & Human Capital Leader | Speaker | Agile Product Owner | Ex-int swimmer. Governor. Serial Entrepreneur. #anthropist Nat GB/CDN. Lang ENG&FR. Mum x 3
Good morning everyone,
It's been a fascinating week in AI - not just for the technology, but for what it reveals about human nature. While Elon Musk launches Grok 3 claiming it's the "smartest on Earth," our team at Atheni.ai has been noticing something interesting: the organisations getting the most value/ROI from AI aren't necessarily the ones with the newest models.
They're the ones who understand it's not about the technology - it's about the humans using it.
Much like a fighter jet, it kind of doesn't matter how powerful the engine is if you're not a trained pilot. And as the jets change, so must the pilot if they want to remain the best pilot in town.
While autonomous agents are now on the horizon; who'll decide which ones to use and what they'll do? Trained pilots are needed now more than ever.
?? Five Things You Need to Know About AI This Week
1. The Big Brain Battle ??
- The much-anticipated Grok 3 launches from Elon Musk's xAI, claiming "smartest AI on Earth" status (powered by massive computing infrastructure - 200,000 specialised chips)
- Model tops AIME'24, GPQA, and LiveCodeBench benchmarks
- OpenAI rejects Musk's $97.4B takeover bid
- Grok features "Think" mode for deeper analysis and "Big Brain" mode for complex problems
- What it means: Power isn't everything
"AI is not just about technology, it's about transforming the way we work and live. The most important thing is to invest in human capital, to upskill and reskill our workforce so they can thrive in the age of AI." - Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO at GTC 2024
2. OpenAI's Big Developments ??
- Sam Altman announces GPT-4.5 testers having "feel the AGI" moments
- Advanced reasoning models showing breakthrough capabilities
- Unified GPT-5 on horizon
- What it means: AI capabilities accelerating rapidly - even faster than anticipated.
"The rate of progress we're seeing is unprecedented in any technology's history" - Sam Altman at World Governments Summit Dubai
3. The Race for Better AI Tools ??
- Combines traditional language capabilities with advanced reasoning features
- Includes hybrid functionality and precise control over reasoning power
- Expected March 2025
- What it means: Adaptability beats pure power
"The key isn't just raw power, but the ability to adapt to different use cases" - Anthropic Research Paper, 2025
4. The AI Performance Rankings ??
Two important leaderboards to watch:
- Galileo's main leaderboard ranks overall model power (Gemini leads)
- New Hugging Face Agent Leaderboard helps evaluate real-world business applications
- Open-source models showing strong results in practical tasks
- What it means: Smart setup beats big budgets
Think of these rankings like car safety ratings - they help understand what works best in real conditions, not just paper specifications.
??Real-world counts: if you think of your perfectly tuned family car that does exactly what you need it to do, vs. a f1 supercar that you don't know how to drive and doesn't fit your family in it, then that gives an idea of why compute power is important but it isn't everything. Depends what you're going to use it for.
5. The Publisher's AI Evolution ??
- Financial Times, Vox Media, AP following suit
- Focus on augmenting human capabilities, not replacement
- Tools approved for SEO, research, summaries (not content creation)
- What it means: AI adoption becoming mainstream
Even traditional industries are finding ways to embrace AI while maintaining quality standards
?? The Pattern We're Seeing
Recent research reveals three critical truths about successful AI implementation:
1. Tools don't transform - people do ??
"The biggest challenge for businesses is not the technology itself, but the human element. We need to ensure that AI is used ethically and responsibly, and that its benefits are shared broadly across society." - Kai-Fu Lee, AI expert and investor
- Companies investing billions without focusing on people see little return
- Those doing nothing risk falling impossibly behind
- The winners? Those investing in both tech AND people
2. Generic solutions fail - personalisation wins ??
"The key to getting ROI from AI is not just about implementing the technology, it's about integrating it into your business processes and empowering your employees to use it effectively. This requires a shift in mindset, a willingness to embrace new ways of working, and a commitment to continuous learning." - Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn Co-founder
- One-size-fits-all approaches showing poor results
- Customized solutions seeing 2.5x better outcomes
- Human-centric implementation driving success
3. Power means nothing without proper configuration ?
According to Galileo's latest benchmarks, a well-configured basic model often outperforms expensive ones in real tasks
- Like having a perfectly tuned family car vs. having a supercar you can't drive and can't fit everyone in
?? Quick Win for Your Team Today
Try this:
- Pick ONE process
- Configure AI specifically for it
- Train ONE team thoroughly
- Measure results
- Then scale what works
Recent research shows organisations following this approach see results 4x faster than those attempting broad rollouts.
?? Exciting News: Atheni.ai is Live!
After months of development and testing, we're thrilled to announce the softly softly, very soft beta launch of Atheni.ai featuring hyperpersonalised use cases, an automated prompt-builder, and dynamically updating skills pathway. It sits on top of your pro ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini subscription to make it truly powerful for you. For a limited time, we're opening invitations to organisations ready to transform how they use AI.
?? Our new ROI Dashboard helps businesses track what really matters:
- Time savings per task
- Quality improvements
- User adoption rates
- Configuration effectiveness
- Real business impact:
→ Apply for beta access: beta.atheni.ai
?? The Bigger Picture
Here's what many are missing about AI's impact:
1. The Productivity Paradox ??
- While GitHub shows AI can write 7 years of code in minutes
- Other productivity gains are harder to measure but equally real
- 51% of employees using AI secretly (Resume Builder, 2025) - often employees are using it without adequate security because their organisation can't keep up with decision-making, and often secretly because of mass fear of AI taking jobs. Gains, therefore, tough to track.
- Current tools can't track most improvements
- Organisations need ways to measure AI impact (which is why we've built the Atheni.ai ROI dashboard)
2. The Education Emergency ??
The big chasm we're seeing widen is that the pace of change is now supersonic, driving huge changes in skill needs, but education systems are still analogue.
- Tech change: supersonic
- Education systems: snail pace
- Skills gaps cost UK ￡4.4bn annually (OECD, 2024)
- Global impact: hundreds of billions
- AI-enabled personalised learning the only way to keep pace, otherwise skills gaps will do nothing but widen and deepen.
3. The Women's Advantage ????
- AI is automating traditionally male-dominated technical skills e.g. coding
- "Soft skills" becoming premium capabilities
- Women's natural strengths in system thinking and configuration coming to the fore
- We're seeing an opportunity for transformative leadership
"This isn't just another tech revolution - it's a chance to rewrite power structures that have existed since before democracy." - From my upcoming TED talk
Call to Action
?? Want to transform how your organization uses AI? Book a workshop: [email protected] - some slots remain late March
?? Limited beta spots available: beta.atheni.ai
?? Schedule AI Briefing: [30 minute link >]
?? Join AI Leaders Community: [Enrol Now >]
-> Share your AI journey - what's working? What isn't? Let me know in the comments
Remember: The winners in this revolution won't be those with the biggest AI engines, but those who know how to configure them for everyone's benefit.
Stay curious,
Mackenzie
P.S. What matters more to your organisation - model power or human adoption? Hit reply or share your thoughts in the comments here.
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Sources:
1. ReadWrite: "Elon Musk unveils new AI model Grok 3" (February 18, 2025)
2. World Governments Summit: "Sam Altman on GPT-4.5 Testing" (February 2025)
3. Anthropic Blog: "Next Major Claude Model Announcement" (February 15, 2025)
4. Galileo Labs: "AI Model Leaderboard & Agent Rankings" (February 2025)
5. The New York Times: "AI Integration in Newsrooms" (February 17, 2025)
6. NVIDIA: "Jensen Huang Keynote at GTC 2024" (February 13, 2025)
7. LinkedIn: "Reid Hoffman on AI and the Future of Work" (February 12, 2025)
8. OECD: "Skills Gap Report 2024" (February 1, 2025)
9. Resume Builder: "AI Usage in the Workplace Survey" (January 2025)
10. GitHub: "AI Coding Productivity Report" (January 2025)
Additional Resources:
- AI Industry Newsletter, February 2025 Edition
- The Information: Special Report on AI Implementation
- Hugging Face: Agent Leaderboard Documentation
- ChatGPT Documentation: Deep Research Feature Guide
- World Economic Forum: Future of Jobs Report 2025
#AITransformation #FutureOfWork #AISkills #Leadership #CareerDevelopment #DigitalTransformation
Best,
Mackenzie
P.S. Forward this note to someone who needs it.
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Chief Business Officer | Expert in AI Strategy, Governance & Organisational Transformation | Trusted Advisor to Executive Leadership | Champion for Diversity, Innovation, & Talent Development
1 周Love this article! Super informative. Spent some time exploring the beta version too - very cool. Love the videos and style for the 'getting started with AI' track - very easy to digest and follow.