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🎙️ EP78 - The 1% Problem | Why AI Can't Save Your Company
Three years after ChatGPT's release, $2.5 trillion wasted in 2024 alone. Forecast for 2027? $4 trillion. Meanwhile, 38% burnout rate, 77% disengaged workforce, and 90% failure rate on digital transformations.
After 77 episodes analyzing 130 people who built 52 unicorns, one pattern emerged: The bottleneck isn't AI, Agile, or capital. It's the 1% problem—the extreme scarcity of people capable of executing at elite level.
This episode is different. No guest. Just me and one year of brutal research findings. The patterns nobody wants to hear. The truth about why AI amplifies dysfunction instead of solving it.
---
🎯 WHO SHOULD LISTEN:
CEOs wrestling with failed digital transformations
CTOs scaling teams but losing quality
VCs/PEs analyzing portfolio performance
Board members demanding ROI from AI investments
Engineering leaders tired of mediocrity
If you've invested millions in AI tools and seen minimal results, this explains why.
---
📊 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
- Why 52 unicorns all pointed to the same bottleneck (and it's not technology)
- The 1% paradox: How talent scarcity lowered hiring standards to catastrophic levels
- Why IT/software lacks the professional standards that make medicine and engineering reliable
- How AI acts as a mirror—amplifying excellence OR weaponizing dysfunction at scale
- The three-layer filtering system that separates elite performers from the 99%
- Why digital transformation fatigue is structural, not temporary
- How generative culture beats process-heavy bureaucracy every single time
- The real cost of accepting mediocrity: $2.5T wasted and climbing
---
🔥 KEY INSIGHTS:
"AI doesn't fail because of technology. It fails because of who uses it."
"You can't buy the 1%. You have to build them."
"Small elite teams always beat large bloated organizations."
"77% of employees are disengaged."
"38% burnout rate is alarming."
---
🫵 READY TO FACE THE TRUTH?
Get your FREE AI-Readiness Quick Scan for software teams.
Clear data on where your team stands. Zero cost.
👉 https://brix.consulting/free-ai-readiness-assessment/
⚠️ Only 3 spots remaining for Q4 2025
---
📝 DEEP DIVE ARTICLE:
Full written analysis drops Thursday on Substack & LinkedIn
Subscribe: https://theforgeofunicorns.substack.com/
---
ABOUT THE FORGE OF UNICORNS:
Weekly insights for C-level executives, PE/VC leaders, and board members on building elite software organizations. 77+ episodes analyzing what really works in the AI era—backed by data from 130 people who built 52 unicorns.
Host: Michele (Mike) Brissoni
Background: F1-inspired behavioral engineering for software teams. 15+ years building the Software Craftsmanship Dojo. Engineer by training (robotics, telecom, software). Zero tolerance for mediocrity.
Mission: Elevate software development to F1-level mastery through systematic behavioral engineering.
🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes
📧 Join the newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-forge-of-unicorns-7184097792242458624/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
View all episodes
By Michele BrissoniThree years after ChatGPT's release, $2.5 trillion wasted in 2024 alone. Forecast for 2027? $4 trillion. Meanwhile, 38% burnout rate, 77% disengaged workforce, and 90% failure rate on digital transformations.
After 77 episodes analyzing 130 people who built 52 unicorns, one pattern emerged: The bottleneck isn't AI, Agile, or capital. It's the 1% problem—the extreme scarcity of people capable of executing at elite level.
This episode is different. No guest. Just me and one year of brutal research findings. The patterns nobody wants to hear. The truth about why AI amplifies dysfunction instead of solving it.
---
🎯 WHO SHOULD LISTEN:
CEOs wrestling with failed digital transformations
CTOs scaling teams but losing quality
VCs/PEs analyzing portfolio performance
Board members demanding ROI from AI investments
Engineering leaders tired of mediocrity
If you've invested millions in AI tools and seen minimal results, this explains why.
---
📊 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
- Why 52 unicorns all pointed to the same bottleneck (and it's not technology)
- The 1% paradox: How talent scarcity lowered hiring standards to catastrophic levels
- Why IT/software lacks the professional standards that make medicine and engineering reliable
- How AI acts as a mirror—amplifying excellence OR weaponizing dysfunction at scale
- The three-layer filtering system that separates elite performers from the 99%
- Why digital transformation fatigue is structural, not temporary
- How generative culture beats process-heavy bureaucracy every single time
- The real cost of accepting mediocrity: $2.5T wasted and climbing
---
🔥 KEY INSIGHTS:
"AI doesn't fail because of technology. It fails because of who uses it."
"You can't buy the 1%. You have to build them."
"Small elite teams always beat large bloated organizations."
"77% of employees are disengaged."
"38% burnout rate is alarming."
---
🫵 READY TO FACE THE TRUTH?
Get your FREE AI-Readiness Quick Scan for software teams.
Clear data on where your team stands. Zero cost.
👉 https://brix.consulting/free-ai-readiness-assessment/
⚠️ Only 3 spots remaining for Q4 2025
---
📝 DEEP DIVE ARTICLE:
Full written analysis drops Thursday on Substack & LinkedIn
Subscribe: https://theforgeofunicorns.substack.com/
---
ABOUT THE FORGE OF UNICORNS:
Weekly insights for C-level executives, PE/VC leaders, and board members on building elite software organizations. 77+ episodes analyzing what really works in the AI era—backed by data from 130 people who built 52 unicorns.
Host: Michele (Mike) Brissoni
Background: F1-inspired behavioral engineering for software teams. 15+ years building the Software Craftsmanship Dojo. Engineer by training (robotics, telecom, software). Zero tolerance for mediocrity.
Mission: Elevate software development to F1-level mastery through systematic behavioral engineering.
🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes
📧 Join the newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-forge-of-unicorns-7184097792242458624/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.