Wake-up call: Part 2 – Demystifying AI in business

 AI challenges the very foundations of traditional leadership 

For some companies, the wake-up call comes with a jolt — a disrupted business model, a shrinking customer base, or a sudden loss of relevance. For others, it’s more immediate: a competitor launches a GenAI-powered product and seizes market share almost overnight. But for the bold, the catalyst is internal — a forwardthinking leader who dares to challenge the organisation to evolve before circumstances force it to. The smartest companies don’t wait for disruption. They actively prepare. They run “what-if” scenarios, pilot AI tools in real-world settings, explore ecosystem partnerships, and welcome fresh, external perspectives

•  From awareness to action: How leaders can embrace the shift

Where we left off

The first part of this article explored the profound shift Artificial Intelligence is bringing to our daily lives and business ecosystems. From subtle yet constant consumer interactions to structural changes in the customer journey, AI is no longer a back-office tool — it’s a frontline force. We saw how general-purpose technologies like ChatGPT are not just innovations but catalysts of a larger transformation. As AI continues to reshape how we live, work, and decide, the question for business leaders is no longer whether to respond, but how.

Let’s now turn our focus to how AI can be practically understood and applied in a business context. In this second part, we’ll attempt to demystify AI in business, moving beyond the hype to explore how it can be embedded meaningfully into strategy, operations, and culture. Because at its core, AI is not about futuristic disruption — it’s about relevance, enablement, and rethinking how value is created and captured.

Demystifying AI in business

AI is often misunderstood—perceived as an expensive, complex, or futuristic solution that’s out of reach for many. Common refrains include: “We’re not ready,” “It’s too costly,” or “It doesn’t apply to our business.” But AI isn’t a plug-and-play tool or a software system like ERP that requires a multimillion-dollar rollout. Nor is it confined to backend automation or superficial tools like chatbots and data capture widgets.

At its core, AI is a strategic enabler, a journey that reshapes how businesses engage with internal teams and external customers. It’s about staying relevant across the customer journey, not just today, but into the future. When embraced thoughtfully, AI doesn’t just automate; it anticipates, personalises, and unlocks entirely new value streams, enabling businesses to lead markets instead of merely catching up.

Yes, becoming an AI-first organisation can be demanding, and that’s where the mindset gap often emerges. But here’s the good news: the journey doesn’t have to start with a moonshot. Even a mid-sized business, for instance, can begin with AI-powered inventory optimisation or customer pattern analysis, practical, scalable steps that deliver real value.

The customer journey – Ground zero for AI integration

Adopting AI doesn’t require an immediate overhaul of your entire organisation. It starts with something far more fundamental: understanding the evolving customer journey. By mapping this journey, businesses can identify specific moments where digital capabilities can enhance the experience. Sometimes, it’s as simple as improving an omnichannel interface. But in today’s dynamic landscape, that alone is no longer enough.

Take retail, for instance. Businesses must go beyond standard touchpoints to unlock deeper insights—developing AI-powered gateways that capture real-time behaviours, preferences, and intent.

The starting point? Your data. Understand where it resides, how it’s structured, and how it can be used to build an AI bridge that better serves both internal and external customers.

Equally important is the role of your internal customers—your employees. For AI to truly work, it must be trusted. That trust is built by introducing small, targeted AI initiatives that directly support their day-to-day roles. When staff begin to experience how AI enhances their impact and improves customer outcomes, confidence in the technology naturally follows.

So, here’s the truth:

You don’t need a big-bang transformation, massive budgets, a parade of high-tech consultants, or a ready-made AI solution you can plug in overnight.

What you do need is:

• Curiosity to identify opportunities and start small

• A clear roadmap for improving both internal and external customer journeys

• A culture of trust, where employees feel safe, supported, and empowered throughout the process

• A focused AI task force—a small, agile team that drives the initiative with purpose and adaptability

Success with AI isn’t about scale at the start; it’s about direction, mindset, and momentum.

Can you survive without AI? Technically, yes — but at what cost?

Can an organisation survive without AI? Technically, yes. Not every business is cloud-enabled, equipped with enterprise-grade ERPs, or built on a fully digitised infrastructure—yet many continue to operate.

But here’s the catch: surviving isn’t the same as thriving. Unless you’re serving a hyper-localised niche—like a self-sufficient community in a remote area—your total addressable market will remain limited. You might feel like a big fish, but only because you’re swimming in a very small pond. If that’s your strategic intent, so be it.

However, if your ambition is scalable, sustainable growth, and if you’re serious about outpacing competition, remaining AI-agnostic may not be the smartest path forward. In today’s volatile, hyper-connected landscape, staying future-ready is non-negotiable. Choosing to ignore digital tools—especially AI—means constantly risking disruption, displacement, or worse, irrelevance.

What amplifies this risk is the rise of digitally native customer segments. These customers expect intuitive, seamless, and personalised experiences—and AI is rapidly becoming the baseline technology to meet those expectations. Not leveraging it doesn’t just slow you down; it can fully disconnect you from tomorrow’s market reality.

The comfort trap: When success becomes a blindfold

Many companies today appear to be doing just fine. Customers are loyal, teams are performing, and revenue is steady. So why change?

Because AI isn’t just coming for struggling businesses — it’s coming for complacent ones. Too often, leaders mistake stability for security. They lean on legacy systems, human intuition, or a “high-touch” culture as their competitive moat. But AI is already breaching those moats — automating operations, scaling personalised experiences, and enabling entirely new business models.

Comfort feels safe. But in the age of AI, comfort can be fatal. The businesses that thrive won’t be those standing still. They’ll be the ones that evolve before disruption forces their hand.

Market signals: The subtle whispers before the storm

The signs are everywhere. AI copilots are embedded in productivity suites. Algorithms are designing logos, generating reports, writing code, and answering customer queries. Industries are no longer just digitising workflows — they’re reimagining them to be AI-native from the ground up.

And yet, in many boardrooms, AI hasn’t even made it to the strategic agenda. It’s still seen as a tech experiment, delegated to IT departments or innovation teams. But the market isn’t whispering anymore — it’s shouting.

Consider this: in 2023, Airbnb replaced a significant portion of its customer service operations with an AI model, improving resolution speed and saving millions in operating costs. At the same time, startups with fewer than 10 employees are using generative AI to deliver creative, analytical, and operational outputs once reserved for teams of 50.

The lesson? AI is not the future. It’s the present. The only real question is: are we listening — or will we wait until the storm hits?

The ‘Too Late–Too Little’ syndrome: Why waiting costs more than acting

As with every major technological revolution, there’s a window—a brief period where early adopters don’t just gain ground; they reshape the playing field. AI is that window.

Right now, forward-thinking businesses are building competitive advantages that will be difficult to dislodge. Tomorrow, those who delayed will find themselves playing catch-up, often at a much greater cost. It’s not just about spending more; it’s about being outpaced by AI-native competitors who operate faster, leaner, and smarter.

Consider the retail sector: companies like Amazon, which adopted AI early for everything from logistics to personalised recommendations, now function at a vastly different level of efficiency and insight. Meanwhile, legacy players who hesitated are struggling to remain relevant.

In the age of generative AI, delay is no longer caution — it’s a risk. And the cost of inaction may be the highest price a business ever pays.

Leadership denial: How ego and legacy cloud judgment

For decades, leadership has been anchored in experience, gut instinct, and time-tested playbooks. Now, those same leaders are being asked to place trust in algorithms and data models — systems they may not fully understand — and to rethink strategies that have served them well for years. It’s not an easy ask. But it’s a necessary one.

Ignoring or dismissing this shift isn’t caution — it’s a risk. What may feel like prudence can quickly slide into complacency.

AI challenges the very foundations of traditional leadership: decision-making, expertise, and control. And this is where leadership must evolve. The leaders who will thrive in this new era aren’t the ones clinging to legacy models — they’re the ones willing to relearn how to lead in a world where human judgment and machine intelligence must work in tandem.

Awakening moments: Catalysts that jolt companies to action

For some companies, the wake-up call comes with a jolt — a disrupted business model, a shrinking customer base, or a sudden loss of relevance. For others, it’s more immediate: a competitor launches a GenAI-powered product and seizes market share almost overnight.

But for the bold, the catalyst is internal — a forward-thinking leader who dares to challenge the organisation to evolve before circumstances force it to.

The smartest companies don’t wait for disruption. They actively prepare. They run “what-if” scenarios, pilot AI tools in real-world settings, explore ecosystem partnerships, and welcome fresh, external perspectives. Most importantly, they ask:

“What would our business look like if AI had been in our DNA from the start?”

They don’t just wake up — they leap forward.

Choosing discomfort: Why transformation is a deliberate pain

There’s no elegant, disruption-free path to integrating AI. It challenges how teams are structured, how success is measured, and what skills the future demands. Transformation hurts — but so does being replaced.

The organisations that will lead in the AI era are those willing to unlearn legacy habits, retrain their people, rebuild their systems, and embrace the discomfort that comes with becoming truly AI-native. This isn’t just about optimisation — it’s reinvention.

This isn’t a tweak. It’s a teardown and rebuild. And only the bold will make it through. But that doesn’t mean everything changes overnight. The journey begins with a mindset; a willingness to rethink, reimagine, and take the first bold step forward. Because in the AI era, the truly successful won’t be those who wait for disruption, but those who lead the transformation, one deliberate move at a time.

From wake-up to step-up: Making the shift real

Answering the AI call isn’t about forming a task force or dabbling in chatbots. It’s about embedding AI into the very fabric of your strategy — not as an add-on, but as a core mindset shift.

That means:

• Rethinking customer experiences through AI-driven personalisation

• Redesigning operations with AI-powered decision-making at the core

• Upskilling teams to collaborate with intelligent systems, not compete with them

• Challenging long-held assumptions about what your company does today — and what it could do if unbound by current limitations

AI isn’t just a technology. It’s a new logic for how businesses think, operate, and grow. The real transformation begins when organisations stop viewing AI as a tool and start embracing it as a strategic operating system.

The narrative thread: From blockbuster to Netflix — and now to you

Consider how quickly fortunes can change.

Blockbuster laughed at Netflix. Netflix bet on streaming — and won. But even Netflix had to pivot again, moving into original content and leveraging AI-powered recommendation engines that reshaped global viewing behaviour.

Microsoft, once seen as a legacy software giant, reinvented itself under Satya Nadella by embracing cloud computing and making an early bet on AI. Today, it stands at the forefront of enterprise GenAI through its strategic partnership with OpenAI.

Adobe, too, evolved — shifting from boxed software to a cloud-first model, and now integrating AI across its creative suite. Not to replace creators, but to amplify them.

The lesson? You’re never too big to fail — and never too late to transform.

The final bell

This is your wake-up call. AI and GenAI aren’t just tools — they’re transformative forces. They are reshaping industries, redefining roles, and redrawing the competitive landscape.

Leaders have a choice: ignore the shift and risk becoming the next cautionary tale or embrace the opportunity and help shape the next era of business.

There’s an old story about a man stranded on an island. He prays for rescue. A boat comes by — he waves it off, saying, “God will save me.” A helicopter arrives — he refuses again, still waiting for divine intervention. Eventually, he dies. In heaven, he asks, “God, why didn’t you save me?” God replies: “I sent you a boat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you waiting for?”

You won’t get a louder signal than this. The only question now is:

Who will answer the call — and who will miss the moment?

(The writer is the current Chairman of FAPRA (Federation of Asia Pacific Retailers Associations), a senior corporate leader, and a recognised thought leader with over 35 years of experience. He is also deeply engaged in exploring the role of AI in business. He can be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/muraliprakash.)