I helped grow a steel company from $750 million to $12 billion. CEOs should use AI before they grade employees on it

详细摘要

Usage isn’t the skill that matters.

I was standing on stage at the annual Great Places to Work convention in Las Vegas, and every one of the 500 CHROs I was in front of put their hands up. These were all HR leaders in mid-market and enterprise companies.

“Now, keep your hands up if every single person on your executive team is using AI to make themselves more valuable.”

I ask this question at every speaking engagement, and I’ve seen a pattern–and a problem. Company leaders are mandating the use of AI. With that mandate, they’re expecting increases in the productivity of their workforce. But they’re not holding themselves to the same standard.

Executives often think that “leading AI” in their organizations means delegating the adoption and strategy of it to IT, a Chief AI Officer, or an outside consultant. That’s not delegation–that’s abdication.

CEOs and executive teams need to learn to use AI, and become AI-driven leaders, before they can build AI-driven organizations.

I say this as I’m starting to see companies increasingly tying AI goals and skills directly to employee raises and promotions. Should compensation be tied to AI skill? It depends on the company. If you’re an organization that typically ties performance to specific skills that will grow in value, it makes sense. If you don’t, it’s a break from precedent–but it doesn’t mean it’s the wrong move.

What does concern me is when a CEO who doesn’t use AI is the one making the call. And by “use AI,” I don’t mean to help them write better emails–I mean truly leveraging it to think strategically and make themselves more valuable. Without that experience, a leader will limit their vision for what AI can actually do for their organization. It’s tough to describe color when you’ve only seen black and white.

The first time I saw AI, it was December 2022. I was the Chief Growth Officer at Jindal Steel, and ChatGPT had been out for about two weeks.

And like most leaders, I said to myself, “I’m really busy. I’ll revisit this later.”

文章开头，摘自Fortune。如需阅读全文，请前往媒体网站。