Don’t hire a Chief AI Officer...

...if you're running a small business

If you're running a small business and thinking about hiring a Chief AI Officer, stop.

You don’t need one. And in most cases, it’ll slow you down or at least distract you.

Here’s why:

Generative AI is too new. No one has 10 years’ experience with it - because it didn’t exist 10 years ago. The people who claim to be experts? They’re often simply early users with strong opinions (my kind of people actually and the closest you’re going to get to an expert).

Because the real issue isn’t about credentials. It’s about mindset.

You don’t need someone who’s “led AI strategy” at a big firm. You need someone who’s obsessed with using AI to solve real problems. You need curiosity, creativity, relentless experimentation - and zero ego.

This isn’t an enterprise IT rollout

You don’t need a big bang strategy or a 50-slide roadmap.

You need someone who will:

• Learn tools in hours, not weeks

• Spot inefficiencies and opportunities and build automations fast

• Partner with every team to improve processes without creating panic

• Track what’s working and adapt quickly

• Be able to communicate this all to a handicapped board

This role is not about governance. It’s about doing. And whoever is leading on AI in your business will spend most of their time managing people through serious change.

Hire for traits, not titles

If you're hiring, look for people who are:

• Self-taught and restless

• Obsessed with process and optimisation

• Comfortable moving without perfect data

• Already testing tools, building workflows, and sharing what they find

You don’t need a Chief AI Officer.
You need a Head of Making Shit Work Better.

Still tempted?

Ask yourself: Are you hiring someone to lead AI, or to delay decisions and write strategy docs no one reads?

The best AI adoption doesn’t come from hierarchy. It comes from momentum.

Don’t wait. Build that.

My 25-step AI adoption strategy is still relevant.