The Executive AI Playbook

Artificial intelligence is no longer experimental. It is reshaping customer trust, operating models, and competitive advantage faster than most leadership teams are prepared for.

This white paper provides a practical, executive-level framework for governing AI, aligning it to business outcomes, and moving from isolated pilots to durable impact.

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Why This Paper Exists

AI failure is rarely technical. It is almost always a leadership and execution problem.

Ambition Without Ownership

AI is frequently declared a strategic priority, yet executive ownership, decision rights, and success metrics remain unclear.

Without explicit accountability at the C-suite level, initiatives fragment into pilots that never compound into enterprise value.

Leadership Risk Has Changed

AI introduces ethical, regulatory, reputational, and customer-trust risks that traditional governance models were not designed to manage.

Systems that learn and adapt require new forms of oversight and decision-making.

Delay Is No Longer Neutral

Inaction carries cost. Early movers benefit from compounding advantages in data, learning velocity, and execution maturity.

Waiting for clarity often results in falling behind faster than anticipated.

What You’ll Learn

An execution framework for leaders navigating irreversible change.

The Three Forcing Functions

How AI fundamentally alters leadership decision cycles, competitive dynamics, and accountability models.

Pitfalls: Shiny Objects & Black Boxes

Why organizations chase tools without strategy and deploy systems they cannot explain, govern, or trust.

The Execution Framework

A structured model connecting AI initiatives to business outcomes and executive ownership.

Governance & Guardrails

Practical guidance for managing risk, ethics, compliance, and decision rights at scale.

A Phased Roadmap

How organizations move from pilots to repeatable, enterprise-grade AI capability.

Leadership Behaviors

The executive habits required to sustain advantage in AI-driven organizations.

The Collaboration

Authors and contributors to the Executive AI Playbook.

Bill Sanders

Alignment & Transition

Specializes in aligning AI strategies with business goals and guiding executives through technology transformations.

Andrew Stevens

AI & Cloud

Executive leader and technologist who has scaled AI/cloud ventures across security, fintech, and gaming sectors.

Olivia Storelli

AI & Governance

Data scientist specializing in modern data platforms and governed metadata; co-host of “Hot or Hype”.

Jennifer Capo

Program Development & Facilitator

Designs executive programs to navigate AI adoption; partner with the Roebling Strauss & Sakura Sky AI Executive Accelerator.

From Strategy to Action

A companion experience designed to turn executive intent into decisive execution.

The custom Executive AI Accelerator program translates the frameworks outlined in this white paper into focused executive action.

This program compresses months of internal debate into a structured, decision-driven engagement aligned to your organization's strategy, governance requirements, and operating reality.

Explore the Executive AI Accelerator