Why I Am Writing A Thank You Note To The AI Universe
A leadership-level reflection on the long arc of AI, from Turing and sci‑fi to world models and governance, and what it means for how you lead now.
Writing archive
Writing - Page 4
Older essays on agentic systems, governance, operations, incentives, and the work of making AI useful in real organisations.
117 pieces
Essays and notes
Published archive
Page 4 of 5
Why Your AI Agents Will Choke On Your Docs (And What To Fix Before 2026)
If your documentation lives everywhere and nowhere, your AI agents will fail. Here is how leaders can fix the chaos before it kills automation and onboarding.
The One AI Prompt That Can Turn 30 Minutes A Night Into Real Skills At Work
A simple, leadership-friendly way to help you and your team build practical AI skills in 30 minutes a night using one smart prompt
No, 20-Somethings Won’t Run Rings Around You With AI
why am i writing this blog post? Because every week I see the same line on LinkedIn: if you do not learn AI now, some twenty-something will run rings around you and take your job.
Why Am I Still Designing Databases For Systems That Think?
How leaders can simplify their agentic architecture with Markdown and JSON, and still stay robust, auditable and future proof.
Why Context Boundaries Are Suddenly at the Top of Every Board Agenda
Why information boundaries matter for trustworthy business automation-and how leaders can turn implicit rules into explicit agentic guardrails.
When Should Agentic AI Step In? Confidence, Handovers, and Trust in Procurement
A leader’s guide to building agentic AI that knows when to act-and when to call in a human. Real-world lessons, actionable steps, and honest stories.
Is Using AI in Creativity Really 'Cheating'? Why Business Applauds What Art Still Fears
Here’s a dilemma I keep noticing: when you automate a business process with AI, people celebrate your cleverness. But use the same tech to write a song or design art, and suddenly it’s “cheating.” That split is more than odd, it reveals what we really value in
Redefining our world Using AI: from consumer to producer
If you grew up thinking creativity belonged to professionals - the musician on stage, the coder in Silicon Valley, that “talented” one in the corner; you might be one leadership decision away from rewriting that story for your people, your family, or even your
From Machine to Memory: Making Agentic AI Learn Like Us
Most agentic routines in the enterprise run like clockwork they complete the task, log an outcome, and move on. But here’s the thing: a system that only executes is like a worker who forgets yesterday’s best ideas. This week, I realised our agentic routines co
The Hidden Cost of Sticking to Default
If you ask your team who’s played with AI today, chances are many will say yes. But go deeper - who’s tinkered? Most will admit they haven’t touched project creation or explored any settings at all. This isn’t a minor gap - it’s a defining leadership challenge
Why 'Bring Your Own AI' Is Quietly Changing the Rules of Work Meetings
This morning’s team meeting gave me pause: seven people dialled in, and five different AI note-takers logged attendance alongside us. Instantly, the old fantasy of a single “company AI” looked almost quaint. We’re quietly moving to a world where everyone bring
Are We Really Teaching Critical Thinking?
Over coffee, parents keep asking me the same thing: is AI making it impossible for kids to think for themselves? They worry their children won’t know how to question, solve, or decide. But maybe the bigger problem is this — most of us (including schools and wo
The Breakfast That Vanished and What It Teaches About AI Routines
At breakfast in Morocco, prepping for a CEOs’ conference, I got the best metaphor for digital transformation I’ve seen in months. “Why am I writing this blog post? Because this morning, at breakfast in Morocco...I was handed the perfect metaphor for agentic wo
AI Slop or Human Slop? Why the Real Risk Isn’t the Technology
Let’s get honest: the story dominating boardroom conversations this month isn’t about AI gone rogue – it’s about leadership that leaves oversight on autopilot. The Deloitte–Australia incident didn’t just raise eyebrows; it exposed how fragile reputation and bu
Unintended Consequences: AI, Customer Service, and the Costs No Board Sees Coming
Most boards hear the promise: AI in customer service unlocks speed, data, happier customers. But here’s the thing when you supercharge customer interaction with automation, the rest of your business rarely gets the same upgrade. The operational fallout? That’s
The Real AI Bill Is Coming Due – Is Your Cloud Spend Out of Control?
Open any Q3 board pack right now, and there’s likely a new line item: “AI Cloud Costs – Unplanned Overage”. Sound familiar? Over the last year, I’ve watched multiple leadership teams discover that chasing AI capability through cloud providers often means losin
From Unlimited Instinctive Tasks to Accountable Agentic Action
I’ve spent months working with “Agentic Workers” in production. AI agents that respond to requests, automate routine jobs, and run entire processes at digital speed. The possibilities are exciting, but the wake-up call is even bigger: every new AI-powered task
The Hidden Cost of the Mundane (AI and Water) - With Morale's and Cultural values added)
It is a startling statistic that a single pair of jeans can have a water footprint equivalent to thousands of AI conversations. But this begs a more important question for 2025: Why is our intuition so wrong about this? Why is it so easy to picture a data cent
The Hidden Cost of the Mundane (AI and Water)
Here’s a thought to start your day. Before you worry about the water used to train a large language model, ask yourself: how much water are you wearing?
AI Data Centers’ Water Use in Context
Minimal Usage in UK: Contrary to public perception, most commercial data centers in the UK use very little water. A recent techUK survey (with the Environment Agency) found 64% of English data centers consume under 10,000 m³ of water per year , which is less t
Why Boasting 'No AI' on LinkedIn Could Cost You £10K in Lost Productivity This Year
Recent data shows AI-generated content floods LinkedIn, yet boasting "no AI" signals effort over outcomes—missing out on efficiency gains that add real value.
When Agentics Meet Privacy: What Every Board Needs to Know Now
The game changed after The New York Times secured a US court order that could force OpenAI to keep all ChatGPT conversation logs—maybe forever. For firms across England, it’s the watershed moment we always said would come. OpenAI’s own CEO, Sam Altman, isn’t m
Operational Discipline is the CEO’s Hidden Advantage in the Age of Agentic AI
"Board of Directors", "C-Suite", "Risk & Compliance Leaders"] tags: ["Agentic AI", "Board Leadership", "ISO 27001", "Operational Resilience"