Rather than a strategic transformation, the rush to adopt generative AI (GenAI) feels like walking into a casino with the company payroll in one's pocket. I have been in rooms where leaders buy graphics processing units, sign one-year enterprise licenses, and redraw org charts within the same quarter, all because the scoreboard says "AI." That behavior is a high-stakes gamble with people's jobs, customer outcomes, and the stability of the business.

The numbers backing that up are brutal. Ninety-five percent of GenAI pilots deliver no measurable return on investment. At the same time, corporate and private investment in AI has ballooned. Corporate AI spending topped roughly $252 billion in 2024. When you pair the scale of that spending and investment with a 95% failure rate, you start to see why calling this a "money pit" is not hyperbole. The global AI market is being built on experiments, not operating models, and experiments do not pay salaries.

What are executives gambling with? Not theoretical KPIs but real livelihoods. The most immediate casualty is human capital. When investments fail to produce efficiencies or revenue, budgets tighten. The largest lever leaders pull is headcount. I have watched leaders dismantle........

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