The Excuse That Won't Fly in Enterprise AI

Why mode one thinking keeps most companies stuck—and what it takes to build a company that can keep reinventing itself with AI. In this episode of AI Radicals, host Satyen Sangani talks with ServiceNow’s Brian Solis and Dave Wright and authors of Infinite, about why so many enterprises get stuck chasing ROI on isolated AI use cases instead of using AI to become something genuinely new. Brian and Dave unpack their "mode one, mode two" framework: deciding what existing work deserves to scale with AI (mode one) versus using AI to unlock entirely new value the business couldn't create before (mode two). Using stories like Ford's costly rehiring of quality engineers after over-automating, and IKEA's Billie bot freeing thousands of agents to launch a billion-euro design business, they explain how the real ROI conversation starts with strategy, not use cases. They also dig into why most companies are still stuck optimizing yesterday's workflows, why trust and psychological safety are prerequisites for innovation, and why AI governance has to evolve from a checkbox exercise into managing AI as a true enterprise asset. "AI is not the strategy. If it does become the strategy, it very much limits the impact it's going to have on the organization." Listen to this episode to learn: Why leading with use cases limits AI's impact, and how IKEA turned 8,200 agents into a billion-euro business Why most companies stay stuck optimizing yesterday's workflows instead of reinventing them Why governing AI as an asset is key as agentic AI scales