Putting AI To Work: From Hype To Action – Gihan Perera – Futurist Australia – Futurist Perth – conference speaker, author – AI, disruption, change, leadership, innovation

A year ago, when I was talking to clients about AI, many were still asking Why questions: Why is it important? Why should I care? Why should I make it a priority? Now we’ve moved on from those questions, and it’s good to see most leaders are convinced AI is important and here to stay. We’re moving from scepticism to action and from curiosity to application. The next steps are What, How, and Who – and it’s important you get them right. How are you going on your AI journey – that is, using AI for yourself, your team, and in your workplace? I was speaking with a client last week about an AI presentation I’m delivering for 75 leaders in her organisation. We were talking about outcomes, and she said one of the things should would like everybody to know is which AI tools they should use in different situations – rather than just ChatGPT every time. This is a good question, because there are now five strong competitors to ChatGPT (Copilot, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Meta AI), and they all have their pros and cons. But more importantly, I’m pleased that she – like many other leaders – are thinking about putting AI into action. This is a real shift in thinking. Even 12 months ago, many leaders were asking me “why” questions about AI: Why is it important? Why should we make it a priority? Is it a fad? Is it hype? Why should we divert time, effort, money, and other resources into it? Now we’ve moved beyond those “why” questions. Leaders know that it’s important, and now they’re rolling up their sleeves and actually putting it into practice. They are asking different questions: What should we do with AI? How should we do it? Who should we involve in that journey? I hope you’re there on that journey, too. It won’t always be a smooth journey, but it’s important right now. To help you on that journey, I’m running a free virtual masterclass soon to address some of the mistakes many people make on this journey. These are not the obvious mistakes people made a year ago – like ignoring AI, banning it, or deferring it. These are some of the non-obvious mistakes now that you’re on the journey. Register here, and invite others in your team and network as well.