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Artificial intelligence is transforming the way companies workeven at the top. C-suite executives now rank AI literacy as the No. 1 skill needed to navigate business change, according to a recent LinkedIn report. In fact, 88% of leaders surveyed in this report said speeding up their businesses adoption of the technology is a priority this year. Although business leaders across many sectors agree AI is important, some acknowledge it can be difficult to know how and when to implement it, especially since it is constantly changing. Its still an early technology, in terms of its capabilities, says Heather Redman, cofounder of the venture firm Flying Fish Partners and board member at several companies. Were all watching with both anticipation and trepidation as to how good it gets. With AIs momentum showing no signs of slowing, here are the key things board members and the people who advise them are keeping in mind when it comes to integrating AI into businesses. Focusing on where is AI actually usefuland where its just hype Before adding AI to the business, whether internally or externally, those who advise board members on new technology say the most important thing is not to get caught up in the hype surrounding AI. Instead, they tell board members to think about how the technology could truly benefit the businessfor example, finding new uses for AI that set a company apart from competitors. You dont want to neglect your core business because youre shifting everything towards AI, says Christoph Wollersheim, AI consultant at the leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder. To cut through the noise, many board members are focusing their conversations about AI around four main questions: where does AI fit into the companys strategy? What regulations govern the new technology? How can the company use it responsibly? And how will it change the workforce? Communicate plans with the rest of the company With so many questions to consider with AI, its easy for boards to get bogged down. However, Redman urges companies to take time to really nail down their AI strategy so they dont hold employees back from innovating. People tend to fixate on the technology, and I think we need to also be thinking about the human side as well as the strategy in the business side, Redman says. Were seeing a lot of surveys now where employees are incredibly nervous but also incredibly eager to use the technology, and the senior levels of the company are sometimes holding them back. To overcome this indecision and learn to communicate more effectively about AI, some leaders are looking at how peers in their businesss competitive landscape are using the technology and trying to imagine similar uses in their own work. In my past six months of conversation with board members, many of them have become AI savvy, says Beena Ammaneth, executive director of the Deloitte Global AI Institute. But they also want to learn more about what others in the industry are doing. They’re looking for those best practices. Some best practices, Ammaneth says, are thinking of how to use AI to set your company apart, empowering managers to innovate quickly, staying ahead of emerging risks and regulatory changes that will impact AI, and creating a structure of governance around AI initiatives. Balance the risks and opportunities AI brings Once boards decide that bringing AI into the company is worthwhile, there are still lots of risks and opportunities to consider. Especially since the technology is both new and always changing, many of its risks are still unknown. When it comes to any new technology or innovation, I think the immediate reaction among board membersand its for good reasonis . . . trying to understand what potential risks it introduces, says Dylan Sandlin, program manager of digital and cybersecurity content at the National Association of Corporate Directors. With new technologies, it always offers a potential to impact your strategy in a way you didnt anticipate. So far, inside the boardroom, Redman estimates only 1% to 2% of boards are actively using AI. However, she says it can be a great way to get some non-human bias in the room, eliminating some biases in human decision making. For example, board members may be swayed by recency bias, or a bias toward trying solutions that worked in the recent past instead of exploring other options. An AI tool trained on a variety of solutions may pick one that was used less recently but may be better suited for the current situation. Still, Redman warns against AI being used in a way that could expose sensitive data or information that is not meant to be public. Outside the boardroom, there are similar risks. AI programswhether internal or client-facingcan hallucinate and generate misleading or harmful information. As the technology continues to change, leadership teams will need to be prepared to change with them. The boards going to need to maintain an appropriate oversight that matches the scale of the impact of this technology, Sandlin adds. Start small with implementation Since there are risks associated with AI programsand it is time-consuming and costly to implement themsome boards are inclined to take it slow when it comes to introducing AI to the workplace. The biggest issue isnt so much bringing AI into the boardroom, Redman says. Its to get your whole board to feel comfortable [with AI]. To help bridge the gap in comfort and get projects moving, some board advisors suggest bringing an AI expert onto the board or starting with an AI workshop to help leadership teams understand the technology and its uses. Others suggest starting by implementing smaller AI projectssuch an internal AI program with a relatively narrow scope, such as one automating marketing or finance processesto build confidence and support across the business before moving onto larger and more impactful uses for AI. Not using AI is not an option, Ammanath says. You have to use AI no matter what business or what domain you are inand thats not just true from a business perspective, but also from a job perspective. Continuous education Above all, board members looking to implement AI in their companies are working to educate themselves about the technology as much as possible. With constant education, they hope to be prepared for the next questions that the tool brings to their governance. AI shouldnt be a topic that one expert knows everything about, Wollersheim says. Its a core strategic topic that everyone should know something about.
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E-Commerce
Discomfort is common in leadership training, but its especially palpable when you walk into a room of police commanders and ask them to say Yes, and… Thats the scene I step into regularly as part of my work with the Policing Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago Crime Lab. These sessions bring together leaders from some of the most high-risk, high-pressure precincts in the country. At first, theres skepticism. Arms crossed. Blank faces. Theres a quiet but unmistakable undercurrent: What is this? Why are we here? Then, something shifts. Within 30 minutes, theyre not just participating; theyre connecting. Theyre not just answering; theyre listening. And whether they realize it or not, theyre building the skills of an improviser: agility, curiosity, presence, and trust. The challenge facing law enforcement leadership Police leadership today demands far more than operational expertise. Commanders are expected to be strategic communicators, culture builders, and community connectors, all while navigating constant scrutiny, high-stakes decision making, and immense public pressure. Yet many of these leaders rise through the ranks without ever receiving formal training in communication or emotional agility. Their development often emphasizes tactics, not trust. And that leaves a gap between what their roles require and what theyve been prepared to do. This isnt a critique of individuals. Its a systemic truth. And it mirrors challenges in other industries: elevated expectations without the human-centered training to meet them. Why improv is the unexpected solution Improvisation is often misunderstood as spontaneous silliness. But at its core, improv is structured practice in navigating the unknown with others. Its the skillset of presence. Of curiosity. Of listening before reacting. At Second City Works, we use applied improvisation to help professionals build real-world capabilities, ones that align perfectly with the demands of modern leadership. Skills like: Yes, and: A mindset that builds momentum rather than shutting it down. It trains leaders to acknowledge others ideas while adding their own, creating space for collaboration, not control. Intentional listening: Listening not to respond, but to understand. Its a discipline that reduces conflict and strengthens relationships. Agility in complexity: The ability to make clear, grounded decisions without a script. Something every leader (especially in law enforcement) needs daily. As my colleague Kelly Leonard often says, Improv is yoga for your social skills. It stretches our empathy, it strengthens our communication skills, and it builds the kind of flexible resilience that todays workplaces demand. What happens when police leaders learn to improvise These skills arent just interesting, theyre effective. A 2023 study published in Science Direct found that participants in improv-based training improved their adaptability, confidence, and clarity under stress. In high-pressure environments, those outcomes arent optional. Theyre essential. At the Policing Leadership Academy, Ive seen those outcomes firsthand. In nearly every session, theres a moment when one participant turns to the group and names what everyone is feeling: that this work matters. That shift in energy is immediate. The room leans in. And more often than not, the person making that statement is later chosen by their peers to deliver the graduation speech. In every case, theyve referenced our session as a turning point. And the data backs this up. A 2024 review in the International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology found that leadership programs emphasizing communication, teamwork, and conflict resolution led to increased officer safety, fewer misconduct reports, and stronger public perception. Similarly, a two-year study involving 101 first-line supervisors in the ILEA School of Police Supervision program found that service-oriented leadership rose from 63% to 77% after training. Among those who reported communication gains, that number jumped from 35% to 93%. The lesson is clear: When we train for communication, trust, and presence, whether through improv or other human-centered methods, we dont just make better leaders. We make safer, more connected communities. What every industry can learn from this The conditions that challenge law enforcement (uncertainty, complexity, rapid change) arent exclusive to policing. Theyre everywhere. Across sectors, leaders are being asked to connect across differences, navigate conflict with empathy, and make quick decisions that carry real consequences. Theyre also leading teams that are more dispersed, more diverse, and more stressed than ever before. And yet, many industries still treat communication and relational skills as secondary, if theyre addressed at all. Thats a mistake. According to Gallup, business units with higher employee engagement (which is closely linked to better communication and leadership) see up to 23% increases in profitability and 18% higher sales. And in that same Science Direct study, individuals who participated in improv training saw meaningful increases in creative self-efficacy and self-esteem. These two qualities are essential for innovation and confident leadership. The message is simple: The workplace doesn’t need more perfect scripts. It needs more people who can lead without one. Why now We are living in a time of disruption. New technologies, new expectations, and new ways of working are reshaping the workplace faster than most organizations can adapt. But some truths remain constant: People want to feel heard. They want to feel understood. They want to follow leaders who can communicate clearly, respond flexibly, and model confidence under pressure. Improv doesnt just help you react; it helps you relate. And whether youre commanding a precinct or running a board meeting, those are the skills that make leadership work. Tyler Dean Kempf is creative director of Second City Works.
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E-Commerce
For as long as weve imagined the future, weve imagined computers that talk with humans. From the calm, ever-listening computer in Star Trek to J.A.R.V.I.S. in Iron Man, voice-enabled AI has been the centerpiece of sci-fi and a symbol of technological advancement. Well, that future is now. And voice AI is in the middle of a gold rush. Voice AI interactions have evolved from clunky text-to-speech tools with voices that sound like robots to new conversational voice AI technology that resembles human speech so closely its eerie. We can talk to ChatGPT and get voice responses that feel thoughtful, funny, and authentic. Googles AI search can now talk to you while searching the web and answer questions like a well-briefed assistant. These voicebots dont just talk, they converse. They demonstrate that they actually understand what were saying while closely mimicking real spoken communication with pauses, inflection, emotion, context, and tone. And this is only the beginning. Without a doubt, voice is AIs next frontier. But its progress depends on the quality and integrity of the voice data on which its trained. The real gold? Voice data Whats powering this new generation of voice AI isnt just better codeits voice data on which voice models are trained. More specifically, its massive datasets of high quality and diverse human voices, representing the range of human speech in all its complexityacross languages, dialects, vocabulary, patterns, emotions, inflections, and context. Now that the industry sees where AI is headed, its understanding the mission-critical value of voice data, and everyone wants access to this data. Tech giants and startups are scrambling to collect, license, or build it from scratch. Everyone wants to create the next, most lifelike talking AI, and they need the voice data to fuel it. This is the voice data gold rush. But just like the original gold rushes of the 1800s, the current frenzy comes with risk and consequence. If you dont have permission, its stealing I firmly believe that to build voice AI the right way, technically and ethically, the data training your voice AI models needs to satisfy three criteria. The data must be High quality: Clean, extremely high-fidelity human voice recordings that are free from background noise or distortion, represent diverse voices and speech patterns, and offering rich emotional and linguistic content. High volume: Enough data to meaningfully train a model. High integrity: Ethically-sourced with clear licenses and proper consent for use in AI training. Many existing datasets can meet one or two of these requirements. Getting data that hits all three is the hard part. Dont take shortcuts I dont hear many companies talking about how theyre building AI ethically, or clearly stating the sources or permissions behind the data used to build their voice AI. Yes, theyre able to move fast. Many voice AI startups go to market within months. But when theyre able to produce life-like voices that quickly and with very limited capital, I cant help but wonder: Where did all their training data come from? To save time and cut costs, companies are taking shortcuts by scraping audio off the internet, relying on datasets with murky or unknown ownership, or using data thats licensed for AI training, but fails to meet the quality standards needed to train convincing voice models. This is the fools gold of AI: data that looks shiny, but cant stand up to legal scrutiny or meet the appropriate quality standards. The reality is that voice AI is only as good as the data its trained on. And if youre building a voice model meant to reach millions of users, the stakes are high. Your data needs to be clean, consented, licensed, and diverse. Just look at the headlines: AI voiceover company stole voices of actors, New York lawsuit claims. Companies are being called out and sued for cloning and using voices without permission. When you take the unconsented route, youre not just risking a PR headache; you open the door to lawsuits, reputational damage, and most importantly, you risk a major loss in customer trust. Build AI that lasts Were entering a new era of human-to-computer interaction, one where voice is the default interface. AI that talks will soon become the standard way we shop, learn, search, work, and even forge relationships. But for that future to be truly useful, human, and trustworthy, we need to build it on the right foundation. Were still relatively early in the generative AI boom, and navigating the legal landscape around training data rights and licenses is complex. If theres one thing we know for sure, any lasting, successful AI voice product will rely on quality data obtained the right way. The gold rush is here. The smart players arent just chasing shiny things. Theyre building voices that last. Jay OConnor is CEO of Voices.com.
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E-Commerce
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