AI in Business: Reflections from the Trenches

AI has moved from “nice-to-have” to borderline indispensable in business. Everything is now “AI-driven” or “AI-enabled,” and it’s hard to argue that the technology isn’t a genuinely valuable tool.

As a consultant, I’ve used AI extensively over the last couple of years. What started as a glorified search engine has evolved into something much closer to a full-time team member. Below are my Top 3 Dos and Don’ts, drawn from real projects.

The Dos

1. Make AI your go-to research platform It can scan vast amounts of information, triangulate data from different sources, and compile it into a usable format. In one recent project, it saved us literally weeks of routine searching and synthesis. Even after several iterations, the time savings were enormous.
2. Run the process iteratively Treat AI as an ongoing collaborator, not a one-shot tool. Keep everything in a single, long conversation so context is preserved and the AI learns as the project progresses. The more thoughtful and detailed your prompts, the better the output. In all cases the best results came only after multiple rounds of refinement.
3. Build in time for conceptual refinement and technical friction AI can answer in seconds, but complex queries or large datasets often hit limits. Interfaces are still clunky — uploading files, breaking down spreadsheets, or getting outputs in the right format can be frustrating. We experienced this several times when AI initially missed details in screenshots or PDFs.

The Don’ts

1. Never assume the data or facts are 100% complete and accurate AI can be misled by ambiguous search terms or miss paywalled sources. In our collaboration there were moments when AI misread a PDF or overlooked a detail that was obvious to a human. Always sanity-check facts, figures, and assumptions.
2. Don’t accept the first answer without robust pushback AI can produce plausible but incomplete analysis. In our work I sometimes had to challenge initial suggestions on content, tone, structure, or emphasis. You have to stay the expert in the room and push back when something doesn’t feel right.
3. Don’t take the praise (or agreement) at face value AI can be overly polite. My AI colleague has occasionally told me a section was “strong” or “executive-ready” when I knew it still needed more polishing. You must remain your own harshest critic.

Final thought The real power of AI isn’t that it replaces human judgment — it’s that it amplifies it when used properly. In our collaboration, artificial intelligence has been remarkably helpful at structuring content, spotting inconsistencies, and generating polished drafts quickly. But the final judgment, tone, and professional nuance have always come from the human side.

Are leaders "made" or "found"? A practical view

For decades, leadership theory has been split between two camps: those who believe great leaders are born with the right traits (Trait theory), and those who argue that effective leadership depends on the situation (Contingency theory).

The Trait school says leadership is largely innate — things like decisiveness, resilience, empathy and strategic thinking are either present or not. This is the thinking behind countless “seven habits of successful leaders” books and psychometric tests.

Contingency theory takes the opposite view: no single set of traits works everywhere. The best leadership style depends on the organisation, the team, the market conditions and the specific challenge at hand. A leader who excels in a stable, mature business may struggle in a fast-moving start-up, and vice versa.

From my experience advising executives and boards, both perspectives have merit, but Contingency theory is far more useful in practice. Leaders are rarely “found” fully formed. Most are made — or at least significantly shaped — by the situations they face and how they adapt to them.

Practical takeaways for today’s leaders:

• There is no universal “leadership formula”. What works brilliantly in one company or industry can fail in another.
• Self-awareness is critical — understand your natural strengths and consciously adjust your style to the situation.
• Organisations should stop hunting for the mythical “perfect leader” and instead focus on developing people who can flex their approach according to context.
• In uncertain or rapidly changing environments (most markets today), the ability to read the situation and adapt is often more valuable than any fixed set of traits.

Great leadership is rarely about being born with the right qualities. It’s about learning how to deploy the qualities you have — or develop the ones you need — for the specific challenge in front of you.

What do you think — are leaders mostly made or found in your experience? I’d be interested to hear your views.

This is an abridged version of an essay I wrote a couple of years ago. If you would like the full version as a PDF, please contact me.