Trent Gillespie
September 03, 2026
In our research, we've found that the average leader right now scores only a 4 out of 10 in confidence they have an effective plan for AI.
And that's essentially not changed in the last 3 years.
Everyone is getting better with AI. But only a small percentage of organizations actually "get it."
We just did an assessment of 15 companies in the media space, benchmarking them against our best practices for AI adoption. The median score? 37 out of 100.
But two of them broke away. One scored 84. Another scored 60. Everyone else was far behind.
That means only 13% of the companies in this group have an effective plan for AI.
Those two companies are building a lead that gets harder to close every quarter.
In my keynote talks, I often tell people that with AI, you are being asked to lead into the AI era, often without being ready. After all, few leaders are already experts at AI, innovation, organizational transformation, and the other skills needed to be successful with this change.
To help with this, I announced our new Leader Lab program two weeks ago. It's where we are going to offer all the help we can to leaders on AI. Not generic content, but actual research, advice, tools, and discussion built for those leaders who really want to succeed with AI.
I've had a lot of feedback, from "I'm so excited!" to "What exactly is it?". I've heard from leaders who say they want to join, but need to book out their schedules further to attend. I've heard that people liked the August AI SPRINT Event (watch the recording here), but they want less content and more discussion.
I love all that feedback.
Because we're building this with you. We're creating our roadmap based on what you need.
So today I'd like to ask you three questions. Your answers set the focus for our September sprint, and we'll report back on what we heard at our next meeting.
Then, make sure you RSVP to the September AI SPRINT event:
I look forward to seeing you there!
Trent Gillespie is CEO of Stellis AI and a keynote speaker helping business leaders understand and operationalize AI in their companies. He spent almost nine years leading global innovation efforts at Amazon before leaving to help other companies build the capabilities they need to compete. Book Trent to speak to your group or book a call to discuss using AI within your business.
Did someone forward this newsletter to you? If you're not already signed up, you can subscribe to AI SPRINT™ for free here.