The loudest voices say AI will fix everything; the quieter truth is that behaviour, incentives, and trust decide whether it works at all. We sit down with CPO Brian Parkes to get past the noise and talk about what actually moves an organisation from AI theatre to real outcomes. 

Fear, imposter syndrome, and quarterly pressure make leaders cling to control, yet value shows up only when teams collaborate across silos and redesign workflows end to end.

TL;DR:

• Hype versus behavioural reality of AI
• Executive fear, imposter syndrome, and incentives
• Gap between C-suite intent and frontline capacity
• Reverse mentoring and small experiments
• Board-level questions on mission, analysts, and ethics
• Reframing AI as augmentation, not replacement

We dig into the gap between C-suite intent and frontline reality—where overloaded teams are asked to learn a “second job” just to keep up. Instead of rolling out tech first and patching people later, we map a different path: start with a precise problem, anchor it to mission, and assemble a cross-functional owner group with shared accountability. 

Reverse mentoring becomes a zero-budget unlock that lets senior leaders learn from practitioners already using AI. Small, time-boxed experiments replace 18-month slide decks. And partner selection shifts from brand comfort to proven speed and scars, because the right three-month pilot often beats the wrong long programme.

Brian also offers three board-level questions to stop “faster crap” before it starts: What problem are we solving and how does it align to mission? Which analyst concerns or customer pains does this address? What are the ethical and risk implications? 

The throughline is culture: trust enables decentralised decisions, and decentralised decisions let AI cut through politics and deliver across workflows. 

The final nudge is a reframe—treat AI like the jump from dial-up to broadband. It felt awkward until it didn’t. Respect the risks, invest in people as much as platforms, and let human intelligence amplify artificial intelligence. 

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