A Plea To Rethink The Chief AI Officer
The hottest job of 2024 is—without question—the Chief AI Officer (CAIO). From technology companies to healthcare providers to colleges and universities, organizations are hiring CAIOs left and right. In March, the White House went so far as to announce that federal agencies were required to designate Chief AI Officers “to ensure accountability, leadership and oversight” of the technology, spurring a wave of government hires.
This trend is unsurprising given AI’s rapid rise. In fact, it reflects an instinct and reaction that’s highly prevalent in institutions of all kinds despite its potential to limit effectiveness and competitiveness.
When confronted with promising and emerging areas—like AI—too many organizations simply create a new high-level position and then return to business as usual. This quick fix is frequently the embodiment of corporate window dressing, a signal that a company is keeping up with the latest developments with no actual evolution, integration or lasting business impact.
I like to call these reactions and initiatives “Drug Store Cowboys”—all hat and no cattle. Like a guy who got his Stetson at CVS and has never been to the rodeo.
In this context, companies greenlighting “all hat, no cattle” CAIO hires are making moves that are unlikely to turn out well.
To illustrate, consider how the business world reacted when Amazon took off, making the transition from book store to everything store. In response to the company’s famous “customer obsession,” more enterprises began adding Chief Customer Officers, designating ownership of the CX or customer experience.
Big picture, this move hasn’t paid off—namely because many CCOs are mere figureheads. With no real power or influence, they haven’t been able to truly make customers the ultimate priority. What’s more, their role often serves to limit or minimize the CX responsibilities of other leaders.
Such thinking is not just theoretical. Research indicates that companies in which CEOs assume responsibility for CX are more likely to be strongly profitable.
Also, for further context, every Amazon team member shoulders the weight of the customer experience. From the C-Suite to the delivery drivers, excelling at CX is part of the job.
CEOs—are you getting the message? As chief executives, you should be taking responsibility for your enterprises’ AI agenda and strategy. From there, the impetus is to make AI visioning and adoption key for every leader’s job while looking at high-impact, high-potential scenarios and opportunities. These are big bets and require thoughtful, proven strategies. For example:
This work begins with overcoming the misperception that AI expertise is the critical skill required to make impact when in fact expertise needs to extend to imagination, innovation, storytelling and building broad partnerships to drive change and build capabilities specific to AI.
Companies that go this route will be those that are first to unearth the substantial transformational promise of AI, becoming the next generation of standard bearers and setting an example for others to follow.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
