3 Questions Companies Are Ignoring About AI...But MUST Confront

If you know me, you know I’m very much a “glass half-full” (not half-empty) type of guy.

Optimism and enthusiasm are my natural state, and this has certainly served me well over the years.

That's why it’s difficult to write anything that doesn’t convey a very positive perspective on the future.

Yet, I feel a constant responsibility, especially these days, to use as much intellectual honesty with my readers and community as possible.

The fact is, I’d rather prepare people for the future (and wake them up to reality) than I would sugarcoat the future (and have shock and unpreparedness as a byproduct.)

With that, let me say this in the frankest words possible:

Most companies are completely and utterly unprepared for what’s happening with AI—and how it will affect their business, industry, and workforce.

Of course, to a degree, this is VERY understandable.

In my lifetime (I’m 46 years old btw), we’ve NEVER seen the rate of change happen as quickly as it is right now.

Days have the progress of months.

Months have the progress of years.

It’s like we’ve just discovered warp speed, yet most people haven’t looked outside to realize the universe is passing us by in a flash.

You may feel like I'm exaggerating if you’re reading this right now.

This is understandable, but I can assure you, I’m not.

It’s no time for hyperbole.

3 Questions You Must Be Asking

I’m blessed to travel for a living and interact with many, many businesses.

Some big, some small.

But what I’m seeing is the same: There are very few HARD conversations happening with AI.

And what are the hard conversations we need to be having?

Here are three questions you should be discussing in your company right now:

1. How much of a threat is AI to our industry (and company)?

For example: There is a very big difference between the AI threat levels of my swimming pool company versus my sales/marketing company IMPACT. AI likely won’t be building swimming pools for a long time. But sales/marketing strategy, coaching, etc.? Yeah, that business model is under serious threat. We can ignore this reality, or we can do something about it.

2. How much of a threat is AI to the specific positions we have on staff? Which ones will become redundant?

Ten years ago, we thought AI was coming mainly for blue-collar workers (like truck drivers). Now, we realize the biggest threat is for white-collar workers, and the gap is massive. But how many professionals, especially those in the business of “information”, are having honest conversations about their future job prospects?

The answer, of course, is not enough. Why? Because any talk of “job loss” or “job replacement” is so taboo that we instead have this “ignorance is bliss” mindset, leading to a future of unpreparedness for our workforce.

3. How are we upskilling our staff so that we’re creating a culture of AI NOW—and not just waiting to be passed by from our competitors?

This is the one that is most obvious from my travels. Everyone is dipping their toes in AI to a small degree, but few are going “all-in” like the Modernas of the world. Just look here at what their CEO said:

The reality is that CEOs need to get in the AI sandbox and make it a MAJOR initiative.

This starts by getting their leadership teams in the AI sandbox with them.

Next, they need to identify AI champions within their organization.

Then comes the need to offer AI training, education, etc. for ALL employees.

Done correctly, this will allow for a spirit of AI experimentation and efficiency to catch fire within every employee, further helping each become more prepared (and gain new skills) as a working professional.

I’m not suggesting this is an easy task.

It's the ultimate exercise in change management, one we’ve never seen in our lifetimes.

But addressing this head-on now will be much easier than the results that will come from those who are the literal ostrich with their head buried in the sand, thinking they will pop out in a couple of years and all of this will have either gone away or just taken care of itself.

As we know (again, if we’re being intellectually honest), this will not be going away.

This (AI) is our future.

As to what it will bring is impossible to predict.

But one thing is for certain: We can’t ignore what is happening around us.

Doing so will only hurt our organizations and the good people therein.

Enjoy the post? Please share it with your leadership team and get them thinking about these subjects as well. And if you're looking for a speaker on this subject, reach out today .