AI is making every job better, easier, and faster. Every enterprise is adopting AI in at least one business function, be it data analytics, copilots, or automation powered by large language models or LLMs. Yet for all the enterprise AI adoptions, there’s a striking disconnect; only a few organizations can point to measurable, enterprise-wide impact and, most importantly, ROI.
Surveys by leading research firms echo this gap. For example, just 19% of 118 US C-suite executives surveyed by McKinsey recently claimed that GenAI boosted their company's revenue by more than 5%. AI is somewhere in their stack, but only a fraction can quantify real business returns.
So why does this gap exist?
The answer, as Syren’s COO Vasim argues in his latest article, is that it comes down to leadership. His experience says that the right way to leverage AI capabilities requires vision, governance, and cultural alignment at the highest levels of the organization.
Why Leadership Matters in AI
Technology alone does not have the power to transform a business. What makes the difference is how leaders shape purpose and direction. An AI pilot without clarity of intent often stays a pilot. On the other hand, when leaders set a business-driven objective, foster accountability, and encourage adoption across teams, AI can quickly shift from an experiment to an operational advantage.
At Syren, we’ve seen this play out across industries. Companies that treat AI as a strategic priority, anchored by leadership commitment, achieve faster decision-making, better visibility across operations, and measurable cost savings. Those who treat AI as a collection of side projects often struggle to scale beyond prototypes.
The COO’s Perspective
In his article, Vasim shares a practical perspective on what it takes for leaders to move AI from promise to performance. Rather than focusing on abstract ideas, he outlines the concrete decisions leaders must make.
- Align executive teams to adopt the AI adoption framework.
- Focus on impactful use cases instead of scattered pilots.
- Put governance in place early to balance flexibility with trust.
- Measure success through operational outcomes, not innovation slogans.
- Empower people to embrace AI as a supportive capability rather than a threat.
- Build toward an integrated, scalable foundation instead of siloed projects.
These points form the basis of what he calls a leadership playbook for AI adoption. The emphasis is not on the technology itself, but on the behaviors and choices leaders need to embody to make it meaningful.
Why This Conversation is Timely
GenAI, LLMs, and intelligent automation are evolving faster than most enterprises can absorb. Leaders often rush into pilots or make grand announcements about transformation. But without anchoring these efforts in governance, measurable impact, and people enablement, the results are not satisfactory.
The organizations that will lead in the next decade are those where leadership takes ownership of AI adoption as an enterprise shift. As Vasim points out, AI maturity is about the outcomes you deliver and the confidence with which your teams can use them.
Read the Full Playbook
The complete article offers a structured yet practical roadmap for leaders who want to guide their organizations through AI adoption with clarity and confidence. It combines industry insights with examples from Syren’s work, helping global enterprises embed the right AI adoption framework into supply chain and operations.
