How to Build a GenAI Strategy and Execution Plan

🚨 MIT Study: 95% of GenAI pilots are failing. MIT just confirmed what’s been building under the surface: most GenAI projects inside companies are stalling. Only 5% are driving revenue. The reason? It’s not the models. It’s not the tech. It’s leadership. Too many executives push GenAI to “keep up.” They delegate it to innovation labs, pilot teams, or external vendors without understanding what it takes to deliver real value. Let’s be clear: GenAI can transform your business. But only if leaders stop treating it like a feature and start leading like operators. Here's my recommendation: 𝟭. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵. You don’t need to code, but you do need to understand the basics. Learn enough to ask the right questions and build the strategy 𝟮. 𝗧𝗶𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼 𝗣&𝗟. If your AI pilot isn’t aligned to a core metric like cost reduction, revenue growth, time-to-value... then it’s a science project. Kill it or redirect it. 𝟯. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗱-𝘁𝗼-𝗲𝗻𝗱. A chatbot demo is not a deployment. Pick one real workflow, build it fully, measure impact, then scale. 𝟰. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀. Most failed projects ignore how people actually work. Don’t just build for the workflow but also build for user adoption. Change management is half the game. Not every problem needs AI. But the ones that do, need tooling, observability, governance, and iteration cycles; just like any platform. We’re past the “try it and see” phase. Business leaders need to lead AI like they lead any critical transformation: with accountability, literacy, and focus. Link to news: https://lnkd.in/gJ-Yk5sv ♻️ Repost to share these insights! ➕ Follow Armand Ruiz for more

Generative AI Guidance for the Forward-Thinking CEO Here’s a leadership-first framework, no hype, for navigating GenAI responsibly and strategically. GenAI is more than a consulting engagement, a pilot, and an AI-First press release. 1. This is a CEO-level responsibility, not a tech deployment. GenAI is not a tool. It’s a new layer of organizational infrastructure, reshaping how your company thinks and builds trust. In a recent PwC survey, 73% of CEOs said they expect AI to significantly change how they create value in the next 3 years⁽¹⁾. This cannot be delegated. 2. Refine your company’s soul. This is an extraordinary opportunity to exert leadership and examine the essential purpose of the company you lead. What do you do better than anyone else? Why should employees, customers, or society care? Why should stakeholders believe in you? 3. Define Three First Principles. Too many goals kills clarity. Research shows execution improves 2x with 3 or fewer⁽²⁾. If GenAI doesn’t serve all three, it’s not strategy.  It's performance art and a slide show. 4. Build your stakeholder-wide coalition, then lead like a candidate. Find people you trust who aren’t afraid to speak truth to power. You don’t need cheerleaders. You need grounded, future-focused judgment. And you don't need a high-paying, sycophantic consultants sharing templates they've used since they shared them with Henry Ford back in the industrial revolution. Then communicate like it’s a campaign, like you are running for office and need everyone's vote. Edelman data shows CEOs with a visible AI vision earn 16% higher stakeholder trust⁽³⁾. Start with your board. Then your employees. Then your customers. 5. Put effort into a strategic thought leadership campaign. This is often overlooked. You must get out in front of this. Lots of communications. 6. Design the platform last. Flexible. Cross-functional.  Avoid vendor lock-in. Build around open-source adaptability, modularity, and secure data stewardship. 80% of early GenAI pilots fail due to poor integration and data issues⁽⁴⁾. Build a team that spans IT, legal, HR, compliance, and ops from day one. 6. Understand GenAI’s limits, and lead accordingly. Generative AI does not think. It predicts⁽⁵⁾. It’s prone to error, hallucination, and false confidence⁽⁶⁾. Use it to augment, not replace, your people. Generative AI is the defining moment of your career. Lead with grace. Lead with courage. Win the day. ******************************************************************************** The trick with technology is to avoid spreading darkness at the speed of light. Stephen Klein is Founder & CEO of Curiouser.AI, the only values-based Generative AI platform, strategic coach, and organization-first advisory designed to augment individual and corporate human intelligence. He also teaches AI Ethics, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley. To sign up, visit curiouser.ai or connect on Hubble: https://lnkd.in/gphSPv_e

🚨 95% of GenAI pilots are failing, but not for the reasons you think. Stop blaming the AI. Start fixing the rollout. Too often, we launch AI like it’s plug-and-play. But success isn’t about the tool . It’s about the system you build around it. Here’s your AI Launch Readiness Checklist 👇 ☐ 1. Start with Strategy ↳ AI without a business outcome is just an expensive science project. ↳ Define the “why” before you buy. ☐ 2. Build Human Readiness ↳ Employees don’t fear AI they fear being left behind. ↳ Upskill, reskill, and explain the why at every step. ☐ 3. Resist the Vendor Hype ↳ Leaders often chase market buzz instead of checking internal readiness. ↳ Buying tools before defining use cases = expensive underuse. ☐ 4. Fix the Foundations ↳ Bad data in = bad insights out. ↳ Data quality, governance, and access matter more than models. ☐ 5. Rethink Workflows, Not Just Tools ↳ AI must slot into the way people already work. ↳ Otherwise, adoption stalls. ☐ 6. Pilot with Purpose ↳ “Test everything” = wasted time. ↳ Pick 1–2 high-impact use cases and scale only what works. ☐ 7. Establish AI Guardrails ↳ Clear policies on risk, compliance, & ethics build trust. ↳ No guardrails = no scale. ☐ 8. Lead from the Top ↳ Culture follows leadership. ↳ If execs treat AI like a gadget, employees will too. ☐ 9. Measure What Matters ↳ Set KPIs that connect to business impact, not vanity metrics. ↳ If you can’t prove ROI, you can’t scale. ☐ 10. Keep Iterating ↳ AI isn’t a “set it and forget it” project. ↳ Continuous feedback and tuning separate pilots from success stories. The lesson? AI doesn’t fail because it’s weak tech. It fails because we built weak systems around it. ♻️ Repost if you’re investing in people, not just tech. Follow Janet Perez for Real Talk on AI + Future of Work --- Source: MIT report via Fortune