Fortune describes leaders at HPE, Palo Alto Networks and Lennar connecting AI progress to a rethinking of work rather than a series of pilots. For CEOs, the change reaches beyond software access: roles, skills, managerial expectations and outdated practices all have to be reconsidered.
From experiments to process redesign
The Fortune article shows a shift relevant to CEOs: AI has moved beyond an intriguing pilot in many organisations and into everyday activity, yet that is not the same as transformation. It cites ServiceNow data suggesting only 9% of organisations have made notable progress with complex autonomous workflows. The figure underlines the difference between widespread use of tools and the ability to redesign an operating model. HPE executive Stacy Dillow frames a useful test: if AI is merely inserted into the old process, the result may be much the same, only faster. A CEO’s AI programme should therefore start with a map of the work. Which steps could disappear? Where does responsibility need to move? Which decisions require a different flow of information and human review? A faster copy of a broken workflow is not a breakthrough. The management interpretation is that value depends on a willingness to revise assumptions about how the organisation is structured, not on automation for its own sake.
Leadership expectations and the skills of the team
A second theme is the C-suite’s responsibility for the pace and quality of change. Dillow links the ability to work with AI to the modern competence expected of an executive. For the CEO, that makes AI part of core management rather than a peripheral innovation project. Fortune does not present it simply as direct replacement of people. The stronger theme is a change in work standards: leaders are expected to keep thinking about redesign, while teams need opportunities to learn and to let go of habits that no longer help. Palo Alto Networks offers employees tools including NotebookLM, Claude and Gemini, while emphasising adaptability, curiosity and the ability to unlearn in hiring. If AI is to affect culture, rules about tool access are not enough. Signals sent through recruitment, talent assessment, promotion and expectations of managers also have to change. Otherwise a company may gain an array of tools without changing behaviour, leaving potential improvements stuck at the level of individual productivity.
The decisions to make now
Fortune includes examples of companies moving from demonstrations toward operating economics. Palo Alto Networks says its own AI agent reduced IT support tickets and now supports workflows in HR, finance and legal work. The number of tickets matters less than what changes behind it: how employees get help, how exceptions are escalated and how human teams spend time that the system releases. Lennar gives staff tools and training while expecting individuals to take responsibility for upskilling. This illustrates a boundary between the support a company should provide and the discipline it asks of employees. For a CEO, the next decision is not merely whether to scale model licences. It is which processes warrant redesign, which capabilities become necessary, which people remain accountable for outcomes and how to measure a change in work rather than just a rise in usage. Technology added to the old structure may produce isolated gains. Organisational redesign makes it possible to connect those gains to a different service model and a more capable team.
Key takeaways
- CEOs should revisit which management layers, processes and roles still add value as AI changes the work.
- The article moves the focus from deployment to organisational design, learning and the ability to work differently.
- An AI initiative should identify where work will be done differently, not merely faster.
What this means for CEOs
AI becomes a management programme when the CEO changes the mechanics of work. This is a case about organisational design and accountability, not another catalogue of automation tools.