--- title: "Leading AI: The Human Variable in the ROI Equation" description: Join a conversation with Paul Gibbons on why AI adoption is easy, but capturing value is not and why it depends on transforming how people work in your organization. image: https://www.growth-arc.com/hubfs/Paul%20Gibbons%202.png --- [Skip to content](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/leading-ai-the-roi-equation#main-content) [![GA_Web+Logo-01](https://www.growth-arc.com/hubfs/GA_Web+Logo-01.png)](https://www.growth-arc.com) - [Home](https://www.growth-arc.com) - Consulting - [Sales & Marketing](https://www.growth-arc.com/commercial-excellence) - [Innovation](https://www.growth-arc.com/innovation) - [Strategy](https://www.growth-arc.com/strategy) - [Case Studies](https://www.growth-arc.com/cases) - Executive Coaching - 1 on 1 Coaching - [Group Mastermind](https://www.growth-arc.com/breakthrough) - [Exec Roundtable](https://www.growth-arc.com/roundtable) - [Articles](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/executive-development) - About - [Results](https://www.growth-arc.com/clients-results) - [Case Studies](https://www.growth-arc.com/cases) - [Our Firm](https://www.growth-arc.com/about) - [Contact](https://www.growth-arc.com/contact-us) - Newsletter - [Subscribe](https://www.growth-arc.com/subscribe) - [Business Growth](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/business-growth) - [Exec Career](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/executive-development) - [Roundtable](https://www.growth-arc.com/roundtable) Search Growth Arc - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # Leading AI: The Human Variable in the ROI Equation [Kendall Justiniano](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/author/kendall-justiniano) 21 August Join a conversation with Paul Gibbons on why AI adoption is easy, but capturing value is not and why it depends on transforming how people work in your organization. ![Paul Gibbons, Board Advisor, Paul Gibbons Advisory](https://www.growth-arc.com/hubfs/Paul%20Gibbons%202.png) ## **- Leading AI: The Human Variable in the ROI Equation -** --- ### a conversation with Paul Gibbons Two-thirds of companies report using AI. Fewer than one in twenty use it systematically, and the P&L impact is lagging adoption by a wide margin. If you're living in that gap, you already know it isn't a technology problem. The pilots ran, the licenses got bought, and the tools do what they say. What's missing is harder to name. The organization hasn't changed how it works, and the value everyone promised is still sitting on the other side. My guest was Paul Gibbons, AI adoption strategist, author of Adopting AI: The People-First Approach, and one of the clearest voices on why AI transformation succeeds or fails on people rather than technology. ### What we covered: - Why the productivity gains your people are genuinely getting stop at the department line, and why that is structural rather than a failure of your rollout - Paul's three modes of adoption, personal productivity, vendor AI on the stack you already own, and agentic workload redesign, and why only the third one reaches the P&L - Why the mode that pays is less than a year old, and what that means if you set your AI strategy in 2023, 2024, or 2025 - The harness rather than the model: persistent memory, working context, guardrails, and connection to the systems where work actually lands - Why your organizational memory, scattered across drives and formats and locked down by access controls, is the real gate - Why organizations whose senior leaders build with AI are twice as likely to see positive returns - Who actually takes the business from an incumbent, and why it probably isn't the competitor across the street ### Who should be in the room: - BU and division leaders in chemicals, materials, and process industries who own a P&L and are being asked what AI does for it - Commercial and R&D leaders deciding where AI actually belongs in their function - Executives past the hype and past the dismissal, who want a grounded conversation with peers who think the same way ### Show notes: - [Executive Summary](https://www.growth-arc.com/hubfs/260910%20Exec%20Summ%20RT%20Gibbons%20AI.pdf) of the Event (5 min read) - Guest contact: [paul@paulgibbonsadvisory.com](mailto:paul@paulgibbonsadvisory.com) [![- Join the Discussion -](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/19923746/interactive-186971123775.png)](https://www.growth-arc.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLLGUMV275b3lUkJx0WqRAUbsHoAytRZH32ylV%2Bas%2ByIe9Hry4JBtQNMIsNKedX4BrvrWND3DpahbuoUQciVUYR0G0aRiMho2Z%2B6kF39qv8ot29VOTwkuTDBnH7fgSvVuIwtH99xWr%2BxMoRJ%2BJ6oxkGNZsfL8meqQYTiP7hHqIN4c0ycaScszL8%3D&webInteractiveContentId=186971123775&portalId=19923746) ![Paul Gibbons 2](https://www.growth-arc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Paul%20Gibbons%202.png?width=250&height=272&name=Paul%20Gibbons%202.png) Paul Gibbons **Guest Speaker** CEO, Paul Gibbons Advisory Paul Gibbons has spent 30 years helping leaders work through the human side of technological change. He's the author of nine books, including [Adopting AI: The People-First Approach](https://paulgibbonsadvisory.com/books/adopting-ai) (rated AI Book of the Year) and [The Science of Organizational Change](https://paulgibbonsadvisory.com/books/science-of-change), the first to bring behavioral science into change management.   - Ranked among the "Top 52 to follow in AI," and a member of the Anthropic and OpenAI partner networks - Former leadership roles at IBM Consulting, Deloitte, and PwC - Creator of the Adaptive Adoption, AI Leadership Delta, and RIST Trust frameworks   Bring your own version of the gap. The best part of a roundtable is finding out how differently peers are solving the same problem.   [AI & Digital](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/ai-digital) [\*Executive Development](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/executive-development) [\*Executive Roundtable](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/executive-roundtable) [\*Business Growth](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/business-growth) ## Related Posts ### [07 May When R&D Meets AI: Compressing Materials Development Timelines](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/when-rd-meets-ai) ### [12 September Why Competency Thinking Limits Executives](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/competency-thinking) ### [03 March Why BigCo Execs Often Fail in SmallCo's](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/bigco-smallco-execs) ![Growth Arc](https://www.growth-arc.com/hubfs/mstile-150x150.png) **Growth Arc Advisors LLC** Annapolis, MD 21403 - [About Us](https://www.growth-arc.com/clients-results) - [Our Story & People](https://www.growth-arc.com/about) - [Clients & Results](https://www.growth-arc.com/clients-results) - Resources - [Cases](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles) - [Newsletter](https://www.growth-arc.com/subscribe) - Executive Roundtable - [Contact Us](https://www.growth-arc.com/contact-us) - [Schedule Call](https://www.growth-arc.com/meetings/kendall-justiniano) - [Email Inquiry](https://www.growth-arc.com/contact-us) Branding & Design by Migo Design Co. - migodesign.com © 2026 by Growth Arc Advisors LLC. 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