AI Adoption Isn’t IT: Exec Alignment Comes First

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In this episode of AI Unfiltered, Kristen Perdue explains why AI adoption fails when leaders treat it like standard software instead of a fundamental shift in how organisations operate. The conversation focuses on executive mindset, cultural alignment, and communication gaps that quietly derail AI initiatives. Kristen shares how to prioritise the right use cases, close AI literacy gaps, and re‑engineer processes so AI drives growth rather than amplifying broken workflows. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/812  

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why AI adoption is a leadership and culture challenge, not an IT rollout 
• How executive misalignment undermines AI strategy and execution 
• How to prioritise AI use cases based on real operational bottlenecks 
• Why overconfidence in AI skills creates risk across organisations 
• When process re‑engineering must happen before automation 

✅ Highlights 

• “AI is a different way of doing business. It’s not really a tool.” 
• “It doesn’t work like software. It is a completely new way of doing business.” 
• “Most approached it going, well, should I roll out AI?” 
• “We started throwing darts at a dart board anywhere it landed.” 
• “AI multiplies good and it multiplies bad.” 
• “Only 21% of the companies deploying AI even touched re‑engineering their processes.” 
• “That lack of communication is the reason initiatives fail.” 
• “People are confident, but they score 40 out of 100.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Generative AI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_artificial_intelligence 
• Process re‑engineering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering 
• McKinsey study on AI and process re‑engineering: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-how-organizations-are-rewiring-to-capture-value 
• Section AI literacy report: https://www.sectionai.com/ai/the-ai-proficiency-report 

✅Keywords 
ai adoption, executive alignment, ai strategy, generative ai, ai literacy, change management, process re-engineering, business transformation, leadership mindset, ai governance, organisational culture, applied ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

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Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith