HBR IdeaCast Strategy Summit 2026: Why AI Transformation Needs a Human Touch
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Mar 12, 2026 
Nigel Vaz, CEO of digital transformation firm Publicis Sapient, talks about why AI change efforts stall without trust, incentives, and the right talent plans. He explores choosing the right problems, linking strategy to unit economics, connecting data across the business, building responsible AI into systems, and preparing people to work alongside autonomous agents.
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Choose AI Pilots In The Strategic Sweet Spot
- Pick AI problems that are big enough to matter across the company but small enough to prove value fast.
- Nigel Vaz says that sweet spot prevents pilots from being dismissed as irrelevant or stalling before results appear.
Use Precursor Projects To Validate Bigger Change
- Start with the organizational problem, then identify precursor use cases that can validate the broader transformation strategy.
- Nigel Vaz suggests modernizing one hard-to-change legacy application first, proving agent-first orchestration before expanding across the enterprise.
Linear Planning Kills AI Strategy
- The biggest AI strategy killer is linear baton-passing between functions instead of redesigning work around shared data flows.
- Nigel Vaz argues value now comes from linking sales, marketing, manufacturing, people, context, and OKRs rather than optimizing each silo separately.