BCG

ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE

TheCEO’sWorkoutforPeakAIPerformance

By

JulieBedard

and

NicolasdeBellefonds

ARTICLEMARCH18,202512MINREAD

Tocontinuouslyrealizevaluefrom

AI

and

GenAI

fortheircompanies,CEOsneedtorunbothasprintandamarathon.Theymustcultivatespeedandstrength

toinveststrategically,accelerate

adoption,

and

secureworld-classAItalent.

Atthesametime,theymustalsobuildendurancetomaintainmomentum,remainagile,andmastertheartofimaginingthepossiblewiththis

dynamictechnology.

Thelevelofdedicationrequiredisnodi?erentthanthatofatopathlete.Justasarunnerdevelopsatrainingregimentoachieveworld-classperformance,CEOsneeda“workout”routinetoensuretheirorganizationsachievepeakAIperformance.

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THECEO’SAIWORKOUT:FOURESSENTIALSTEPS

TheneedtogetAI-?tispressing.OnlyoneinfourexecutivessurveyedbyBCGsaytheircompaniesareseeingsigni?cantreturnsfromtheirAIandGenAIinvestments.AndbecauseAIfundamentallytransformsthewaypeoplework,thelongerlaggardstaketocatchup,themoretheyriskfalling

permanentlybehindtheircompetitors.

Putsimply,thisisnota“waitandsee”moment.It’sa“gofastandaccelerate”moment.

TogetthemostoutofanAIworkout,CEOsneedtocommittousingthetechnologyeverydayanddesignateapersonalAI?tnesstrainertohelpthemmaintaindisciplineandrigor.Theyalsoneedtostartatwo-waydialoguewiththeiremployees,bothtohelpthemunderstandtheroleAIplaysintheircompanyandtoglean“bootsontheground”insightsfromthoseusingit.

ThereisnoendtothedemandsonaCEO’stime.Butthebene?tsofanAIworkoutwillmakethee?ortwellworththeirwhile.Here’show.

Bene?t#1:IncreasingFocusandAwareness

It’sbeenmorethantwoyearssinceChatGPTpropelledGenAItothetopofthe

CEOagenda.

Thetechnologyhasevolvedexponentiallysincethen,increasingtheoddsthatleadersarebasingtheirAIvisionandstrategyonoutdatedinformation.

LeadersneedtoknowwhatAIandGenAIcandotodayifthey’regoingtomakethemostinformeddecisionsaboutwheretoplacetheirnear-termportfoliobetswhileselectinglonger-range

investmentsthatleveragefrontierdevelopments.

Thisisespeciallygermaneatthismoment,becausecompaniesthatwrestlewithscalingAIand

GenAIoenspreadtheirresourcestoothinbylaunchingtoomanypilots.CEOswhoareAI-?tcanavoidthistrapbymoreeasilyhominginonahandfulofhigh-valueinitiativesthatdrivee?cienciesandbuildlong-termadvantage.BCGresearch?ndsthatleaderswhotakethisapproach

scale2.3

moreAIproductsacrosstheircompanies

andachievemorethantwicethereturnontheirAI

investmentsthantheirunfocusedpeers.

CompaniesthatwrestlewithscalingAIandGenAIoenspreadtheirresourcestoothinbylaunchingtoomanypilots.

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AnAIworkoutalsocultivatesgreaterawarenessforCEOswhowanttostayabreastofwhat’s

happeningoutsidetheircompanyandtheecosystemsinwhichthey’reoperating.TheappearanceofAIagentsonCEOradarsisacaseinpoint:inthe?nalquarterof2024,mentionsof

AIagents

onearningscalls

increasedmorethan330%

yearoveryear,accordingtoIoTAnalyticsdataandBCGanalysis.

That’slateinthegametobetuningintoAIagents.CEOscouldhavestartedexperimentingwitho?-the-shelfAIagentslastMay,whenthe?rstdesktopagentwasreleased.1

Thinkwhatevenasix-monthheadstartwouldmeanforaCEOlookingtoreshapecritical

functionsorinventnewproductsandservices.TheywouldhaverecognizedthedramaticimpactAIagentscanhavewellbeforemanyoftheircompetitors.TheywouldhaveunderstoodsoonerthatAIagentsdomultipletasksautonomously—andthereforerequiremoretimefortestingandlearningthansingleAIassistants.

AndbecauseAIagentsdon’tjustaccessdata,butentiresystems,CEOswho’vebeenusingthe

technologyformonthsnowwouldalreadyappreciatehow?awsinthosesystemscouldamplifythechallengesofadoptingandscalingagents.

Bene?t#2:AssessingRisksandBuildingResilience

WhensomeonestartsworkingwithAI,they’reneverquitesurewhattheoutputwillbe.Savvypromptengineeringisanewskill,andittakesalotofiteration.Thesameholdstruewhen

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designingarobustAIstrategy.Ittakeshands-onexperimentationandconstantlearning—twohallmarksofanAIworkout—toaccuratelyassesstherisksofintegratingthetechintoan

operation.

TheworkoutcanalsohelpCEOsdevelopapeople-centeredblueprinttobuild,test,iterate,andscalethetechnologyandensureitremains?exibleenoughtopivotinarapidlymorphingAI

landscape.

MostCEOsknowthatifsomeoneintheirorganizationdoesn’twantsomethingtohappen,they’lloverplaytherisks.ByexperimentingwithGenAIthemselvesandstayingontopoftrends,CEOscanbetterdistinguishrisksthatareacceptablefromthosethatarenot,ratherthandefaulttoplayingitsafe(orchargingaheadrecklessly).

ByexperimentingwithGenAIthemselvesandstayingontopoftrends,CEOscanbetter

distinguishrisksthatareacceptablefromthosethatarenot.

ConsideragaintheexampleofAIagents.ThemoreCEOstestthem,themorefullythey’llappreciatethesteepbutworthwhileclimbtheircompanywillfacetoachieveasmooth,trustworthyagenticwork?ow.

CEOswhorolluptheirsleevesandtakeahands-onapproachwithAIwillalsogainamuchdeeperunderstandingofhowAIchallengesandchangesthewaypeoplework—helpingthemdevelop

strong,people-centeredstrategies.That’sthelion’sshareofBCG’s

10-20-70formulaforAIsuccess:

10%ofresourcesshouldbedevotedtobuildingalgorithms,20%tohighqualitydataandtech,and70%totransformingthewaypeopleandprocessesoperate.

Experimentingwithdi?erentmodelscanalsohelpCEOscultivateahealthierdegreeofskepticismbeforelockingintoatrajectorytheycan’teasilyadjust.DependingonwhereacompanyisinitsAIjourney,40,000licensesfromanAIprovidermightmakesense—ornot.Giventhevelocityof

changewithAIandGenAI,themodelthatisbestsuitedtoacompany’sneedstodaycouldbedisplacedbyabetteroptiontomorrow.Amore?exiblestrategyalsobuildsresilienceagainst

regulatoryandgeopoliticalshis

thatcanimpactaccesstomodels,data,andhighlycovetedtalent.

Bene?t#3:DemystifyingAIandSecuringGreaterBuyIn

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CEOswhouseAIandGenAIthemselvesarenotonlymorelikelytodevelopsmarterstrategiesandboostadoption—theycanalsohelpexternalandinternalstakeholdersbetterunderstandthe

valueoftheseinvestments.

BysharingtheirpersonalexperiencesofworkingwithAI,CEOscanhelpdemystifythetechfor

frontlineemployees,allowingthemtoembraceitstransformativepotential

withgreateroptimism.

Indoingso,CEOscanalsohelpembedaresponsibleAIculture.AstudybySlack,forinstance,

foundthatnearlyhalfofalldeskworkerswouldfeeluncomfortabledisclosingtotheirmanagersthattheyuseAIforsimpletasks.Whenworkersknowtheirmanagersandseniorleaders—

especiallytheCEO—areusingAIeveryday,itdestigmatizesthetechnology,encouragingemployeeswhoareusingitclandestinelytocomeoutoftheshadows.

Finally,anAIworkoutcanhelpCEOsattracttopAItalent.BCGresearchhasfoundthatthemostsought-aerGenAIexpertsplaceahighpremiumonlearningopportunitiesandinteractionswithexecutivesonhigh-priorityprojects.Ifacompanyisledbysomeonewhodoesn’tunderstandAI,lacksacrediblestrategy,orisbidingtheirtimetoseehowtheircompetitors’AIinvestmentsfare,it’sunlikelytocreatethekindofenvironmentwherethebestAItalentwantstowork.

TheCEO’sAIWorkout:FourEssentialSteps

Likeany?tnessroutine,anAIworkoutshouldbebuiltaroundaCEO’sindividualgoalsandneeds.Butthesefouressentialstepsshouldbeapartofeveryleader’strainingregimen.

CommittoworkingwithAIand/orGenAIeveryday.Ane?ectiveAIworkoutstartswithusingthetechnologyeveryday,noexceptions.It’snodi?erentthanacomputerorsmartphone.CEOs

caneventhinkofAIasadigitalchiefofsta?thattheyconferwithregularlythroughouttheday.

DesignateapersonalAI?tnesstrainer.CEOsdon’thavetimetotesteverynewmodeland

digesttheever-growingvolumeofinformationonAIanditssurroundingecosystems.ApersonalAI?tnesstrainercanhelpleadersfocusonwhatmattersmost.Thetrainercanidentifythemost

promisingtools,learnhowtousethem,andhelptheCEOgetcaughtuponthemquickly.The

trainercanalsocurateinformationtomakesureonlythemostrelevantitemslandontheCEO’sreadinglist—andcanactasanaccountabilitypartnertoensuretheCEOisadheringtothe

workout.

ThepersonalAI?tnesstrainershouldcomefrominsidetheCEO’sorganization.Theydon’t

necessarilyneedadegreeincomputerscienceorengineering—whatmattersisthattheyarea

heavyAIuser,someonewholovesplayingwithallthenewmodelsandispassionatelyseekingout

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allthelatesttrends.They’rethekindofpersonwhowaitswithbatedbreathwhenanewmodelisreleasedonaFridayandhasalreadyspenttwentyhourstestingitcomeMonday.

Knowthefundamentals—andkeeplearning.Itwouldbetoughtoimagineanairlinepilot

climbingintothecockpitwithouthavinggainedsomeunderstandingofhowanaircraworks.Oraship’scaptainheadingouttoseawithoutunderstandingthebasicsofhowawell-designedboatisengineered.ThesameappliestoleadinganAItransformation.CEOsdon’tneedtohaveadeep,

granularunderstandingofthetechnology,buttheyshouldknowthefundamentals—including

basicterminology,howAIsystemsarecreated,andhowtheylearnandbecomemoreintelligent.(Seethesidebar.)Fromthere,leaderscanstartworkingwiththetechnologyanddevelopingtheirunderstandingofwhatitcanreallydo.

-TheCEOAIWorkoutReadingList

Fortimelygeneralupdates:

·

AINews?Buttondown

,adailynewslettersummarizingthetopAI-relatedpostsanddiscussionsonDiscord,Reddit,andX/Twitter.

·

OneUsefulThing

,ProfessorEthanMollick’snewsletterexploringtheimplicationsofAIforwork,education,andlife.

·

AIExplained

,aYouTubechannelwitheasy-to-understandvideosexploringAIdevelopments.

Fordeeperexplorationofwhat’snextinAI:

·

AheadofAI

,anewsletterbySebastianRaschka,PhD.

·

HardFork

,aNewYorkTimespodcastexploringcutting-edgetechnologydevelopments.

Forexample,onlywhenaCEOhasexploredhowanAIagentcanhelpwithsimpletasks—and

thenmorecomplextasks—cantheyimaginehowthetechcouldworkacrossanentirefunction.

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Thistypeofapproachbuildscon?denceateverymilestone,helpingCEOsmorefullyenvisionhowAIcantransformtheircompany.

Talkabout“thewhy”andlistentoemployees.CEOsneedtohelptheiremployeesovercometheirdoubtsaboutworkingwithAIandGenAIbyconnectingthetechnologytothebroader

strategyandpurposeofthecompany.Putsimply,itistheCEO’sjobtoexplaininclearterms“thegreaterwhy”ofAIanditsbene?tstotheorganization.

Whenemployeesdostartworkingwiththetechnology,CEOscanaskthemdirectlyabouttheir

experienceswithit.ThiswillhelpthemidentifylessonsandusecasesthatcanhelpotherpartsoftheorganizationandgainevenmoreinsightsforconnectingAItothebroadercompanypurposeandemployeevalueproposition.Asthetechnologyscales,CEOscanalsoholdtownhallstoget

directfeedbackandencourageemployeestoshareexperiences.

AFinalWordonGettingandStayinginShape

ItmaybeearlydaysintheAIrevolution,butit’shightimeCEOsget“transformation?t”byusingthetechnologyeverydayandstayingcurrentonimportantdevelopments.It’snotsomethingtheyneedtodoalone.WiththehelpofapersonalAI?tnesstrainer,theycanmakemoreinformed

decisionsaroundtheirAIandGenAIinvestmentsandinitiatives,givetheiremployeesgreaterencouragementtoembracethetechnology,andmanageshareholderexpectationsmore

e?ectively.

ForleadersofcompaniesthatarelaggingonAItransformations,theworkoutcanhelpthem

acceleratetheire?orts.AndforCEOswhoarealreadyaheadofthecurve,theycanachieveanevenmorecommandinglead.

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