McKinsey Reports that Leaders are the Greatest Barrier to AI Adoption.

Welcome to the 2nd edition of The AI Leveraged Leader. I’m deeply grateful for your engagement, curiosity, and shared purpose to help leaders like you successfully embrace AI—not just as a tool, but as a transformative force. As we navigate this rapidly evolving landscape, remember: the tide of AI is rising, and together, we can ensure that all boats rise with it.

The Key Message: Employees are ready; leaders need to lead.

A recent McKinsey report, Superagency in the Workplace: Empowering People to Unlock AI's Full Potential, highlights a surprising truth: employees are ready for AI—it’s the leaders who are not moving fast enough. Despite 92% of companies increasing their AI investments, only 1% consider themselves mature in deploying AI effectively.

This gap isn’t due to technology or employee resistance. It’s a leadership challenge. I add emphasis that this is a business challenge, a strategic opportunity that should not be placed solely on IT's shoulders. This is a paradigm shift in how we do work, how we decide, how we collaborate, and how we serve clients. Priorities, structures, and budgets will need to shift.

7 Key Points of Interest from the Report:

1. AI's Potential Rivals the Industrial Revolution: The report highlights that AI has the same transformative potential as the steam engine, with the potential to reshape industries, workflows, and economies.
2. Employees Are Ahead of Leaders: Workers are using AI tools three times more than their leaders realize. They see the potential and are eager for more support and training.
3. Training Is the Missing Link: Although formal AI training is ranked by nearly half of employees as the most critical factor for adoption, many feel unsupported.
4. Millennials Are Driving Change: This generation is the most AI-savvy and optimistic. Leaders should empower them to champion AI integration within teams.
5. Speed vs. Safety Dilemma: While leaders want to move faster, concerns around cybersecurity, data privacy, and AI accuracy slow progress. However, employees trust their own companies more than external institutions to get AI right.
6. Bold Ambitions Create Real ROI: The biggest returns come from companies that set bold AI goals, moving beyond pilots to transformative applications that reshape entire business models. One only has to look at the market share captured by front runners like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Airbnb, Uber, and the list goes on.
7. Leadership Alignment Is Non-Negotiable: The true barrier isn’t employee readiness but a lack of leadership alignment on AI strategy, investment, and risk management.

Why This Matters to You:

The findings suggest that companies risk falling behind if they don't take decisive action now.

With employees showing readiness and trust in their organizations, leaders have an opportunity to accelerate AI adoption.

But this isn’t about top-down mandates. Effective change management practices that empower employees from the bottom up are the key to success.

AI adoption should be seen as an opportunity to foster innovation that serves client needs while integrating seamlessly into current workflows or enhancing systems. Leaders play a critical role in creating the stakeholder engagement, decision-making processes, and infrastructure that guide this integration. Leaders need to build an environment where AI amplifies human potential, encourages creativity, and drives meaningful business outcomes.

Now is the time to act. Invest in your people, support their growth, and align your leadership teams around a clear AI strategy. Together, we can unlock the full potential of AI, mitigate or avoid its weaknesses, and create a future where everyone benefits.

I will endeavor to share insights, ideas, and tips on how you can be an AI-leveraged leader plus the occasional summary of AI news and developments.

I am excited for this journey; my team and I are staying at the forefront and helping our clients get started, lay a foundation, and make good choices.

Let’s raise the tide—for all boats.