It's Not an AI Strategy. It's a Business Strategy.

Bernie Borges recently completed his first three required presentations as a certified Vistage speaker, all three sessions held over Zoom with CEO groups in California. Presenting remotely meant losing the visual feedback he normally relies on when he teaches, so he leaned on a round robin at the end of each session led by Vistage Chair, Danielle Baldwin and an anonymous audience poll to find out what actually landed.

What he found surprised him. In every room, without hearing what the other groups said, at least one leader arrived at the same conclusion: AI transformation is a business strategy question, not an AI strategy question. The poll numbers told an even sharper version of the same story. Identical material produced 85%, 50%, and 100% trust scores in three different rooms, proof that the technology isn't the variable. The leader's ability to build trust is.

In this episode, Bernie shares what happened when three rooms of Vistage member CEO and executives reacted honestly, including the pushback he received, the leaders who admitted their own fear out loud, and the quiet realization that most leaders reward the wrong kind of work.