Editors note: The pace of developments in artificial intelligence over the past few weeks has been impossible to ignore. The conversation has shifted from speculative to immediate, and I felt compelled to address what may be the most consequential technological inflection point of our lifetimes.

The Artificial intelligence train is accelerating. The question is whether we plan to bring the people on board with it or not.

For most of my professional life, I thought I was in the technology consulting business. In hindsight, I was in the disruption business.

I helped global companies rip out financial and supply chain systems and replace them with integrated enterprise platforms. On Powerpoint slides, these were described in consulting speak as “modernization initiatives” or “transformational changes”. In reality, they were controlled detonations.

When you replace a company’s core systems, you are not simply changing software. You are changing how thousands of people do their jobs every single day. Workflows shift. Authority structures change. Reporting lines are redrawn. Routines and muscle memory are disrupted. Most importantly, trust is unsettled.

Over time, I learned a lesson that now feels eerily relevant. The greatest risk in those projects was almost never technical. It was human.

The most successful implementation of my career was the largest Oracle payroll rollout ever attempted by a Fortune 500 retailer. It worked not because the code was flawless, but because leadership invested heavily in change management. They funded training. They hired dedicated specialists. They communicated relentlessly. They treated employees like adults navigating real disruption. They understood that when you change payroll, you are not changing math. You are changing trust.

On the other end of the spectrum, I was helping a printed circuit board manufacturer replace its entire enterprise system. The CFO proudly shared his philosophy of change management. “Either you are on the train,” he said, “or you are on the tracks.”

At first, I thought he was talking about me. He was not. He was referring to his employees and his approach to preparing them for the disruption ahead.

It sounded decisive. Tough. Efficient. But it was a warning sign. That project........

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