The modern CEO is an expert buyer of software. You know the drill: You identify a process that is slow, expensive, or error-prone. You seek out the best software solution and listen to all the vendor pitches. Then you sign off on the purchase. It could be a new CRM, a new ERP, or a new applicant tracking system.
Now that AI has arrived, CEOs are reaching for the same playbook. But the old method of buying software doesn’t fit this new category of technology. The CEOs who treat AI as the next generation of process automation will only capture a fraction of its value while wondering what all the fuss was about.
AI Is a Different Kind of Purchase
I suggest a different mental model for CEOs. When you deploy AI in your company, you aren’t buy a tool. You’re hiring someone.
AI has much more in common with a smart, hyper-educated employee than it has with traditional software. A CRM has a defined function that does not change unless it’s on the vendor roadmap. But AI can absorb information, reas…
