Leading AI: The Human Variable in the ROI Equation

- 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.

On Thursday, September 10th, I'm hosting a conversation with 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'll get into:

• Why adoption is the easy part, why capturing value is the hard part, and why chemicals is lagging most industries on where the value has shown up
• How to build an organization that gets better at AI as it uses it, instead of hollowing out the bench that made you good
• What has to change about how your people work when you can't plan the rollout in advance

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

Event details:

Thursday, September 10, 2026. 9:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM CT. 60 minutes. Live and virtual, a peer roundtable rather than a webinar.

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 (rated AI Book of the Year) and The Science of Organizational 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.