Leadership Powered by Common Sense Leading in the Age of Digital Disruption | Ep 425
Sep 18, 2025
Mike Peterson, a performance-driven senior executive and author with 40+ years across financial services, oil & gas, healthcare and consulting. He discusses defining digital transformation and the AI leap in practical work. He explores human-centered leadership during tech change. He covers change models like ADKAR and warns against running old and new processes in parallel.
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Digital Transformation Is Process Rework Not Tool Shopping
- Digital transformation means leveraging technology to rework processes, not just adding tools; Mike Peterson emphasizes replacing paper handoffs with digital flows.
- He highlights AI's rapid improvement but still limited accuracy, requiring human oversight in validation.
Equip Employees With Paid AI Tools
- Invest in people-first technology access for employees, for example paying for enterprise AI licenses that are a tiny fraction of total labor cost.
- Mike Peterson notes a ChatGPT Enterprise license (~$200/mo) is ~0.25% of an employee's cost yet highly valuable.
AI Talk Alone Triggers Workforce Flight Risk
- Announcing AI plans without human-centered communication triggers workforce panic and flight risk.
- Doug Thorpe explains A-players polish resumes and others become nervous when leadership merely entertains AI.
