How to lead with focus during a company

Sam was barely a month into his CIO role when he saw the writing on the wall. The company’s much-touted AI transformation was already unraveling.

AI had been declared the centerpiece of the company’s enterprise strategy months earlier and placed under the chief innovation officer’s remit. But after his predecessor left, ownership splintered. Sales launched their own pilots. Marketing spun up a “tiger team.” The CTO declared AI strategy now belonged to his team.

By the time Sam arrived, priorities overlapped, resources were being drained by pet projects, and internal turf wars threatened the company’s ability to compete—not just externally, but against itself.

Sam’s experience isn’t unique. We’re living through a new era of hyper-competition—where the gap between AI and digital leaders,