Why CEOs Need to Think Differently About Automation

Incremental efficiency matters, but scaling AI teams demands more ambition.

• Automation only: A sales group leverages AI to write emails quickly.
• Integration: AI constantly monitors customer actions, creates customized campaigns, while human reps use judgment and establish trust.

That’s not only speed—it’s a competitive advantage. As a matter of fact, businesses using AI in sales and marketing have experienced a 10–20% increase in ROI (Deloitte, 2022).

The lesson: CEOs need to treat AI as not just a tool, but as a partner in the future of work with AI.

The Barriers to Scaling AI Talent

Why aren’t most organizations breaking through the experimenting stage?

• Hesitation on the part of leadership. 79% of CEOs admit AI will revolutionize how they add value in five years (PwC, 2024). But too many are still piloting pilots rather than integrating AI into core processes.
• Short-term pressures. Quarterly goals and risk-aversion spur tiny, incremental automation rather than reframing talent deployment.
• Skills gap. 60% of the workforce will need to be reskilled by 2027 because of AI adoption (World Economic Forum, 2023). Without an active reskilling strategy, businesses risk leaving people behind.

Two Paths for CEOs: Reshape and Invent

1. Reshape Workflows with AI-Human Integration

Reshaping is about redesigning processes in a way that humans and AI complement each other.

Example: Marketing analytics. In the past, analysts spent days bringing data into dashboards. With AI talent deployment, models execute insights in real time, generating draft recommendations right away. Humans edit strategy, storytelling, and ethical review. What used to take a week now takes hours—with improved results.

The effect is staggering. Worldwide, AI can bring $2.6T–$4.4T of productivity benefit annually (McKinsey, 2023). Strategically scaling AI teams will be CEOs who get the lion’s share of that value.

2. Create New AI-Human Offerings

In addition to rebuilding current functions, CEOs need to ask: What new value can AI-human systems offer customers?

• L’Oréal’s Beauty Genius: AI personalizes product suggestions, while human expertise guarantees authenticity. The outcome? 30–70% increased engagement compared to static content.
• Penske’s Catalyst AI: Turned fleet data into real-time insights, empowering managers to make new decisions and monetizing data as a product for commercial sale.

This is not the future of work with AI—happily doing old things quicker—but creating entirely new businesses.

CEO Playbook: How to Scale AI Talent

1. Build AI-human incubation teams. Make them lean, cross-functional, and empowered to experiment and scale.
2. Create a hybrid operating model. Establish what AI excels at best (analysis, speed, scale) and where human beings shine (judgment, relationships, creativity).
3. Prioritize reskilling. Your employees need to know how to collaborate with AI “teammates.” Otherwise, scaling AI teams builds silos rather than synergy.
4. Balance your AI portfolio. Combine incremental automation with disruptive bets that reimagine customer experience or unlock new revenue.
5. Think beyond the curve. The technology moves more rapidly than business change. CEOs need to think ahead of today’s possibilities.

Final Word: The Human Factor Is the Differentiator

At Expert360.ai, we see the winners not as those who simply automate, but those who bring AI into the workforce at scale. The winning CEOs will not just optimize operations but also write the future of work with AI—redesigning how value is created, how talent works, and how customers are served.

The choice is obvious: pursue small wins, or construct the AI-human future.