Be the AI Leader, Not the Fast Follower

Part 5 of 5 in The CHRO’s Reframe series
Designing Human-AI Collaboration That Competitors Can’t Copy

Welcome to Week 5 of this five-part series on the big conversations every CHRO should be leading around AI.

If you’ve made it this far, you know what’s at stake. You’ve assessed risk, evolved your workforce, managed governance, and reframed investment strategy.

Now it’s time to lead at the highest level, by designing how people and AI work together across the business.

Because here’s the truth: Everyone’s talking about AI tools. But the companies that win will be the ones that design collaborative systems their competitors can’t replicate.

This is where CHROs stop reacting and start reshaping how the business works.

🔹 Domain 5: Strategic Leadership in the AI-Transformed Business Landscape

AI will change how every decision gets made, how every employee spends their time, and how fast your business responds to the market.

The following questions help you lead from a systems-level perspective, with talent, time, and transformation at the center.

1. How are we building AI-human collaboration models that create sustainable competitive advantage?

What this really means:
There isn’t just one way for humans and AI to work together. Most companies only use one or two. The best ones are using five or six, and creating performance models others can’t replicate.

How to answer it in your next ELT meeting:

• "Level 1: AI helps with grammar. Level 2: It does research. Level 3: It analyzes options. Level 4: It co-creates with us."

• "Our finance team is at Level 3. Our sales team is still at Level 1. Let’s get everyone to Level 3 or higher this year."

• "The real value isn’t from AI alone, it’s from how our people use it better than anyone else."

Position yourself as:
The collaboration architect: “I can guide each function to build the right AI-human workflows that give us a durable edge.”

2. What’s our strategic plan for the 30 percent of work hours AI will automate by 2030, and how does it position us competitively?

What this really means:
You’re about to get 12 hours per person back every week. What you do with those hours will determine whether you lead the market or fall behind.

How to answer it:

• "AI will free up 6,000 hours per week across our company, like gaining 150 full-time employees."

• "Sales: those hours go to finding new customers. Product: faster iteration. Support: real problem-solving, not scripts."

• "Let’s design this shift before we get buried under it."

Position yourself as:
The strategic workforce architect: “I can help us redeploy time in ways that make us faster, smarter, and more innovative than the competition.”

3. How are we accelerating business decision-making and competitive response using AI?

What this really means:
AI can give you answers in minutes that used to take weeks. If you’re still making decisions at the old pace, you’ll lose to faster competitors.

How to answer it:

• "Why does it take 3 weeks to answer which customers are most likely to renew? AI can tell us in hours."

• "We should be stress-testing 100 go-to-market strategies in the time it used to take to build one."

• "Faster insights mean faster wins, and I want our teams to get there first."

Position yourself as:
The decision enabler: “I can help teams adopt AI in ways that give us first-mover advantage in every market we serve.”

4. In three years, will we be known as an AI leader who reshaped the industry, or a follower who adapted to others’ innovation?

What this really means:
This is your long game. Your culture, your systems, and your people will either lead the transformation or respond to someone else’s.

How to answer it:

• "By 2027, I want us to be the case study, not the cautionary tale."

• "Let’s be the brand top talent and analysts cite as the AI innovator in our space."

• "The companies that win in the next decade are laying the foundation right now."

Position yourself as:
The transformation leader: “I can design and lead the AI journey that makes us the company others study and try to copy.”

🧠 How to Make It Land in the C-Suite

• Lead with vision, what success looks like three years from now

• Show how AI strategy connects to culture, talent, and long-term advantage

• Make it about being the brand everyone wants to join or invest in

• Emphasize your ability to lead transformation across people, process, and performance

👇 That’s a Wrap on the 5-Part Series

If you’ve followed along, you now have the playbook to lead five critical AI conversations:

• Risk and opportunity assessment

• Workforce transformation

• Risk governance and intelligence

• Strategic investment

• Long-term leadership and transformation

🎯 Want to shortcut all five conversations and get real examples from CHROs already navigating this?

Join me in Dallas on September 12, 2025, for The Big CHRO Event.

It’s not about tools. It’s about transformation, led by people like you.

👉 Secure your seat here: https://www.chropartners.com/bigchro25dfw 

Be well,

Cindy Lu