RRA AI CEO Lab

Russell Reynolds Associates partnered with 100 leading CEOs to explore how leaders can unlock the vast potential of AI.

Despite the buzz and potential of Artificial Intelligence, many CEOs find themselves at a crossroads, grappling with a critical question: How do we actually implement AI in our organizations?

There is no doubt that the challenges of AI transformation are complex—from knowing where to start, to addressing skills gaps, and managing ethical concerns. It’s also true that the stakes are high to get it right—and not be left behind.

To navigate a path forward, we brought together RRA experts and 100 high-profile CEOs across a range of industries and geographies who are actively implementing AI across their organizations for our RRA AI CEO Lab roundtable series.

Here we share their invaluable insights and practical lessons, providing you with a roadmap to harness the true power of AI and drive your business forward.

Building on the CEO feedback from the AI roundtable series and the collective input of RRA experts, we have highlighted below practical steps that CEOs can take in 2025 to chart their own paths forward on an accelerated transformation journey.

1. Educate All Employees to Create Foundational AI Literacy, with Cultural Alignment
CEOs must prioritize foundational AI literacy across all levels This includes tailored training for all levels of the organization starting with the CEO, board of directors, and leadership teams.

2. Reimagine the Business with AI’s Transformative Potential in Mind
AI offers an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the very fabric of how organizations operate. Rather than viewing AI as a tool to optimize existing processes—as has been the modus operandi of previous generations of digital innovations—leaders should approach it as a lever for wholesale reinvention. By examining core business workflows through an AI lens, CEOs can identify areas for significant transformation, from supply chain automation and customer experience personalization to new products and services.

3. Engage the Board in Your AI Transformation Journey
The transformative potential of AI necessitates that it become a standing priority in boardroom discussions. Boards play a critical role in balancing long-term transformation with short-term performance. By recruiting “future-focused” board members with strategic insight into technology-driven business evolution, companies can ensure robust oversight without relying solely on technical experts.

4. Act with Urgency by Prioritizing Impactful AI Initiatives and Rapid Experimentation
The pace of AI development requires leaders to act decisively to avoid falling behind. By prioritizing initiatives with clear value creation potential, CEOs can demonstrate early wins that build confidence and momentum across the organization, with special focus on initiatives that directly impact customers, solve pressing business challenges, or tangibly contribute to the organization's strategic goals.

5. Embrace Skunkworks Where Needed to Avoid Traditional Change-Management Resistance
Transformation efforts often face significant resistance due to organizational inertia, skill gaps, fear of disruption, or even just resistance to change. A novel approach emerging from leadership conversations is creating a parallel, AI-enabled replica of a business unit. This method bypasses the lengthy, traditional transformation process by leveraging greenfield tech stacks and outsourced expertise to quickly prototype and deploy automated workflows. CEOs who have embraced this approach report drastically reduced timelines and minimized resistance.

6. Empower Leadership with Adaptable, Cross-Functional Alignment and an Enterprise Mindset
AI transformation demands a new level of collaboration and adaptability from leadership teams. CEOs must align their C-suite to adopt an enterprise-wide perspective, breaking down silos to foster seamless cross-functional collaboration. Leadership skills such as systems thinking, curiosity, and adaptability are essential to navigating the complexities of AI-driven change, as is understanding that learning is a life-long and constant journey. It is also important to create the Future Success Profiles for each business function and to have an assessment framework that can evaluate an executive’s learning agility and future potential in navigating an uncertain future.

7. Build the “AI Factory”
It is important for CEOs to identify the tech and data platforms needed to support their change agenda and to prioritize the upfront investments needed to modernize the business. This includes building new leadership capabilities internally as well as developing the ecosystem of technology infrastructure and application providers in support of the business.

8. Engage Employees Through Early Champions, Pilots, and Showcasing Benefits
Employees are more likely to embrace AI when they see clear, tangible benefits. Early adopters and champions within the organization play a critical role in demonstrating AI’s potential. Leaders should showcase successful pilots and share stories of how AI is improving workflows, productivity, and customer outcomes. This level of encouragement or promotion will engage employees, reduce skepticism, and allow teams to feel empowered rather than threatened by AI.