Rafa Flores, Chief Product Officer @Treasure Data, is redefining market-agnostic SaaS with breakthrough solutions at the edge of data & AI.
The global AI wave is crashing onto boardrooms everywhere. Whether you’re in financial services navigating regulation, retail balancing omnichannel demands, consumer packaged goods (CPG) managing supply chain shocks or media facing content upheaval, AI is now a line item in CEO agendas and boardroom mandates.
For CMOs and CXOs, this isn’t about keeping up with the hype, but it’s about surviving the scrutiny. Boards are pressing for “AI strategy slides.” CEOs want “AI-powered wins.” And competitors are quick to announce bold pilots, even if the ROI isn’t yet real.
However, here’s the reality: AI won’t transform your business overnight. But done right, it can unlock transformation where it matters most, removing friction, unblocking bottlenecks and enabling growth at scale.
Hot Tips For Leaders Ready (Or Forced) To Lean In
• AI won’t cure cancer, but it will cure headaches. Don’t chase moonshots on day one. Start where AI can reduce pain, such as customer churn, content bottlenecks, compliance reviews and campaign testing. AI succeeds in small, surgical wins that scale.
• AI is exciting, but don’t pay until you’re ready. The vendor parade is dazzling, but don’t invest until you can adopt and integrate. Paying for capabilities your teams can’t deploy creates tech debt, not transformation.
• AI isn’t a one-person decision but a team sport. Marketing, IT, data, legal and finance teams—everyone has a stake. Build a cross-functional AI council to ensure adoption, governance and growth. One “AI czar” won’t cut it.
• AI-first vendors aren’t “in it” unless they use it to build it. Look under the hood. If a vendor markets AI but doesn’t use it internally, walk away. The true test of an AI-first partner is that they drink their own champagne.
• AI isn’t about accelerating; it’s about unblocking. AI shines by removing the slowdowns: compliance bottlenecks, personalization constraints, campaign fatigue and manual processes. Think friction removal before speed.
• AI comes and goes, your business challenges don’t. Shiny tech trends fade; your growth imperatives remain. Measure AI success not by hype cycles but by how well it moves real metrics such as revenue, retention and resilience.
• AI isn’t global yet, but it will be. Expect regulatory patchwork and regional variations. Many multinationals are creating global AI review committees to manage compliance, ethics and scalability across markets.
• AI isn’t about building as one but as all. AI should scale horizontally across functions. Don’t silo AI in marketing or IT. Instead, treat it as a company-wide capability that learns and grows across teams.
The Big Question
AI versus IoT—is this wave different?
I’ve seen this play before. In a prior life at Arm Holdings, I was at the forefront of IoT, leading retail and SDK initiatives. IoT promised transformation but stumbled by focusing on luxury experiences over real, everyday impact. It became more about devices than about work-life balance.
AI is different. It sticks because it makes life more accessible and work less overwhelming. AI doesn’t just add new screens to your day—it takes tasks off your plate. While IoT made “things” smarter, AI makes processes lighter.
That’s why AI won’t be a passing buzzword. It’s not about acceleration for its own sake. It’s about autopilot for what slows us down, giving leaders and teams space to think, create and grow.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?