Wharton Confirmed What I Already Knew: Leaders and Managers Are Not Living in the Same AI Reality
A new study from Wharton just confirmed something I’ve believed for a long time: AI isn’t failing because companies aren’t trying hard enough. It’s failing because leaders and managers don’t see the same reality.
Here’s what the numbers show. Nearly half of executives say AI is delivering strong returns. Only 27% of managers agree. Executives think their companies are moving faster than competitors at twice the rate managers do. And across multiple major studies, fewer than 10% of companies are seeing real results from AI at scale.
You can read the full HBR article here: https://lnkd.in/gWjD8FAC
I saw this coming. Not because I had access to better data, but because I was living inside organizations where it was already happening. That’s what pushed me to start writing An Inbox Between Us before most people were asking these questions.
Here’s what I think is still missing from the conversation. The problem isn’t that managers are slow or resistant. The problem is that most AI plans are built on how work is supposed to happen, not how it actually happens. Managers live in that difference every day. They deal with the broken handoffs, the unclear ownership, and the informal workarounds that keep things moving when the official process falls short.
AI walks into that reality. And when it does, it doesn’t fix those problems. It reflects them.
One source in the HBR article said it well: “AI transformation has to reflect cultural and human realities, not just executive ambitions.” That line sat with me, because it’s what this book is about.
The article offers good advice for leaders who want to close the gap. But before any of that works, leaders have to be willing to look honestly at what’s really going on inside their organizations. Not what’s in the plan. What’s actually happening.
That’s what An Inbox Between Us is built to help them do.
Pick up a copy here: https://a.co/d/0hXBeoT5