The AI Execution Gap (Part 2, AI Ready Series)

90% of Australian companies have invested in AI. Only 12% say it's changing how they operate. The global average is 25%.

Same spend. Less than half the outcome.

Anthony Mittelmark and I recorded Part 2 of our AI Ready series about why.

The Two-Track Trap.

Organisations measure one dimension of AI maturity: usage. Tools deployed, processes automated, time saved. That's Track A. It shows up in board reports. It looks like progress.

Track B is whether the organisation is built to carry the AI it's deploying. Culture, data architecture, governance, and whether leadership can articulate why they're doing any of this commercially.

When Track A outpaces Track B, capex starts to burn $...

I've watched this happen in organisations spending north of $30M. The technology works. The business rejects it. The people reject it.

Run this diagnostic before your next ELT meeting.

Most can't answer all five.

1. Can leadership articulate why you're investing in AI in commercial terms, not efficiency terms?
2. Where is the business actively resisting AI adoption, and who is driving that resistance?
3. What does your customer experience look like in 12 months, on a single page?
4. Does your technology team have an AI architecture mapped to a commercial roadmap with cost-benefit attached?
5. For every AI initiative currently running, is the organisation built to support it, or is technology running ahead of the business?

The question your board isn't asking (yet)

What boards ask today: "What will our organisation look like in 2030?"

Wrong question.

"How will our organisation be valued in 2030?"

AI-first businesses are already quantifying the intelligence IP inside their architecture. It must change how you sequence every decision you make this year.

The full conversation

I go deeper in the episode: where most ASX 300 companies are stuck, how one multinational reframed their AI investment as a valuation narrative, and a 48-hour audit you can run this week without budget or approval.

Remember - your board doesn't need another AI update.

Listen to Part 2:

🎧 Full episode: Spotify | Apple

Forward this to your CFO with one question: "Can we answer all five, or are we measuring the wrong track?"

Ramon