There is no meaningful path to success today that doesn’t deeply embed AI and data into the core of the business. Not as an add-on. Not as a side initiative. And definitely not as something managed in a silo, away from the day-to-day realities of how the business actually runs. It has to be foundational. Non-negotiable. Baked in, not bolted on.
Too much of what’s being called “AI transformation” right now is driven by hype cycles, hearsay, and glossy vendor decks. It looks good on paper. It rarely lands in practice.