One of the stories I share often starts with a leadership team who had been working together for years and that felt like they were doing everything right with AI, pilots were running, tools were rolled out, and believed there was real momentum. And you could feel their energy because they were really proud of their progress. And as we continued talking, I asked them: "What decisions are actually going to be faster or better in the next 90 days as a result of your AI strategy?" And the room went quiet. Not awkward, simply one of those moments where everyone realizes they missed a step. Because they felt they had activity and momentum. But they *didn’t* have clarity. So we paused and reset. Instead of starting with AI tools or data conversations, we focused on the decisions that actually mattered to the business. Decisions where speed and better judgment would change actual outcomes. Once that clicked, everything moved differently. The ideas flowed and the leaders became acutely aware of what was needed to succeed, their 'AI why.' It’s a simple moment, but it resonates across every industry, because it reflects what so many organizations are experiencing right now. Without knowing and communicating your 'AI why,' it's impossible to move forward.

I’ve always been drawn to emerging technologies, long before AI became a boardroom (or front page) conversation. I started my career as a geospatial engineer, working in what was, at the time, a brand-new field. What drew me wasn’t just the technology itself, but what it made possible, how data could be used to solve real problems, and how quickly things changed when people understood how to apply it. As my career evolved across product, strategy, and go-to-market leadership, that curiosity stayed constant. I found myself naturally moving into roles where I could connect the technical side of innovation with the business side, helping teams build new capabilities - and actually use them in ways that mattered in the world. And I kept seeing the same pattern with leaders who were trying to figure out how to make AI work in practice. That became especially clear in a meeting with a senior technology executive a number of years ago. On paper, he was exactly who you’d expect to lead a fast growing tech company with real interest in harnessing AI. He had a deep technical background, strong team, smart people around him. And after our first meeting, he walked with me to the elevator and said something I hear more often than people realize: “I’m not sure I know how to lead this. I don’t know what questions I should be asking or what steps I should be taking to 'do this right.'” And that really stuck with me. Because it wasn’t a technology gap. It was a leadership gap. And he wasn’t alone. He was experiencing something I have seen across almost all industries. Leaders who are being asked to guide their organizations through one of the biggest shifts in how we work, decide, and compete… and without a clear playbook. *That’s* the work I do today. I help leaders get unstuck, connect AI to real business value, and move forward with clarity and confidence, so they can make smart, responsible decisions that strengthen their teams (rather than overwhelm them), support their clients, and grow in the market. Because AI isn’t only a technology shift. It’s a deep leadership shift.