From vision to value: AI leadership in action

As organisations around the world implement AI tools, many of them are realising the most important differentiator is the human element: culture, change management and leadership.

Leading through uncertainty

Sam Altman, Co-founder and CEO of pioneering AI company OpenAI, spoke at CommBank’s Accelerate AI event about the pace of change in AI and its impact on businesses and leaders. In conversation with CommBank CEO Matt Comyn, Altman says he asked a management consultant “how fast a company could grow, without breaking its culture”.

“He said 25%, and they said there was no way that we were going to be growing at less than 25%, so you just have to accept that stuff is going to be a little broken and you are constantly going to be fixing it,” says Altman.

That is a challenging environment for employees.

“The thing to do is just to remind people what the company is doing and why,” says Altman. “Our mission is very clear, and it is how to scale this incredible technology and how we want to put it in people’s hands, and there’s a lot of chaos around that and I think we just learned to live with that.”

“The thing to do is just to remind people what the company is doing and why.”
– Sam Altman, Co-founder and CEO, OpenAI

Tough questions

Altman says OpenAI had a goal that by March 2028, the company would have a “true, automated AI researcher” and this has been one of his major leadership challenges.

He was fascinated “watching the company react to that, how we prepare for that and what our researchers think about that, and planning for the good and bad impact”.

In contrast, when dealing with clients, Altman says the most common question for leaders is “where is the revenue?”

Both internally and externally, other leaders are asking about the return on investment of AI tools.

“Organisations are implementing AI tools and staff feel they are being productive and don’t want us to take the tools away but, at the same time, leaders are still looking for productivity gains,” says Altman.

“My best answer to that is that it’s all still very new, and it’s just going to take a little bit longer. If in a year from now we’re still talking about that same question, I’d be more concerned.”

Doing more with more

CommBank’s Matt Comyn says the bank has made significant investments in technology, including AI, with the goal of “getting more done, versus the same done with less.” Counter to the concerns that AI will replace staff, the bank is adding headcount, with around 2000 new people joining the organisation last year.

The AI technology initiatives are both internal and customer-facing, with the focus on delivering a “really rich customer experience.” For example, CommBank recently announced that it is currently piloting a virtual companion to help personal and business customers who do not currently have access to a relationship manager.

Doing more with more significantly increases the pace of change and decision-making within a business.

“We see the need for near real-time management of issues with humans setting the policy and architecture, but we’ve got a lot of automation now,” says Comyn.

“We see the need for near real-time management of issues with humans setting the policy and architecture.”
– Matt Comyn, CEO, CommBank

Leading by example

Australian graphic design software company Canva is one of the biggest local technology success stories. Co-founder Cliff Obrecht says the business realised at an early point that it had to adopt AI, “because if we weren’t going to disrupt ourselves, we were going to be disrupted and would end up on the startup history pile”.

Obrecht says he doesn’t believe it is possible to lead the charge into AI “without going into it headfirst, as a leader”.

“If you don’t deeply know and use the product, and are at the forefront of these AI products and their capabilities, you’re never going to drive a successful AI strategy,” he says.

“If you don’t deeply know and use the product, and are at the forefront of these AI products and their capabilities, you’re never going to drive a successful AI strategy.”
– Cliff Obrecht, Co-founder, Canva

Sharing knowledge

Leah Weckert, CEO, Coles, says the company is implementing two types of AI. There are the “big, top-down programs where you identify significant value” and then there are “pocket tools”, where staff members use ChatGPT, Copilot and other AI tools at work, which they were already using at home.

Asked to give some advice to other business leaders on AI implementation, Weckert says her main recommendation is to “find some other peer organisations you can work with and have open discussions about what is working from a cultural perspective”.

“If you can find some that are willing to have open conversations, particularly in the US, it’s hugely valuable,” she says.

“If you can find peer organisations that are willing to have open conversations, particularly in the US, it’s hugely valuable.”
– Leah Weckert, CEO, Coles