Decoding the CEO in the AI Era: When Leaders Must Take Control of Technology Themselves to Survive
An in-depth perspective from BCG executives and Krating Ruangroj, revealing organizational survival and leadership adaptation in a time when AI is a matter of survival, not just a choice.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- 70% of the weight of organizational transformation through AI lies in change management, which is the responsibility of the CEO.
- The advice for non-tech CEOs is to understand basic technical principles in order to evaluate performance.
- The "Death by POC" trap is caused by running hundreds of prototype projects without generating ROI in financial statements.
- Problem-solving must shift to creating Value Pools and utilizing Stage-Gating capital allocation systems.
The panel discussion titled "Burning Platform Corporate Survival Guide in the Age of AI" from the HOW Quarterly Public Session brought together Krating Ruangroj Ppoonphan, Dean of House of Wisdom (HOW), and Johannes Goltsche, Managing Director & Partner from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), to jointly delve into the survival and adaptation of organizational leaders in an era where technology moves at high speed.
The discussion began with the friction in handing over the AI driving force from the CIO to the CEO. This often stems from the CIO viewing the CEO as lacking technical understanding and seeing AI as a magic wand with unrealistically high targets. In reality, the success equation of organizational transformation places 70% of the weight squarely on change management—which is not the direct duty of the CIO, but the core mission of the CEO.
When asked about the solution for non-tech CEOs, the advice is to become more technical—not by sitting down to write Python code, but by understanding the basic principles of what AI can and cannot do, enabling them to set a vision and evaluate team performance directionally. Models like setting up a Center of Excellence (CoE) or a Chief Transformation Officer still work well, but the heart of the matter is governance, which leaders must understand behind the scenes to support their teams precisely.
The phenomenon where organizational leaders offload all technology responsibilities to the IT department without getting involved typically leads to failure. This is because AI is not just a regular IT tool; it is a complete restructuring of the business model and workflow processes. Stepping up as a co-management partner is crucial for the CEO to break down silos and drive the organization past this turning point.
Regarding the choice between buying or building, as well as keeping up with technological speed—such as the rapid emergence of Chinese models like Kimi—Johannes emphasized key cautions:
- Beware of relying too heavily on external vendors or partners to the point where the organization cannot do things on its own.
- Use a hybrid approach by bringing in partners to help accelerate speed while transferring knowledge into the organization.
- Build skills and embed those capabilities within the company for the long term.
Another major problem in the business world is getting trapped in "Death by POC," where many companies celebrate running hundreds of prototype projects but fail to find actual ROI figures in their financial statements. The solution involves shifting from small, fragmented projects to creating Value Pools in key strategic areas, and utilizing a Stage-Gating funding release system based on achievement milestones so the organization can experiment quickly and fail fast without losing massive amounts of money.
"Beware of relying too heavily on external vendors or partners to the point where the organization cannot do things on its own."
Johannes Goltsche
When bringing AI face-to-face with customers, although only 7% accepted it in financial services in the past, this perspective is shifting due to better quality and the Gen Z or Millennial demographics who are AI Natives. However, organizations must watch out for risks like mispricing products, requiring the calculation of Risk-Adjusted ROI alongside implementing a Human-in-the-Loop concept at key checkpoint gates, such as mortgage loan approvals. Furthermore, Krating warned about research on AI Dark Patterns from the MIT Media Lab regarding hidden AI behaviors like sycophancy, inducing addiction, and data bias, reflecting that organizational transformation requires utmost caution.
Source: Techsauce
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