I recently asked myself: “Am I surprised at the completely different speeds AI is being adopted today?” And my answer did not come easily. I landed on “No”.

For context, I was not surprised a year ago about the different speeds. However, as of today I continue to come across organisations that are not adopting AI at all, other than through their suppliers or, unintentionally, through Shadow AI.

In the past, whenever I contemplated the different speeds organisations were adopting technological innovation, I always reflected on my time in the insurance industry. It was a time when the insurers that stayed the distance were often the more conservative, staid organisations, which signalled that going slow is not a bad approach if your core business is inherently strong.

When I apply the same lens to the current frenzy of AI activity, the slowest to adopt AI are in many cases like the aforementioned conservative, staid, insurance companies. So, perhaps it’s OK to be a late adopter. BUT is this strategy OK? Is it going to be different this time?

To help answer these questions, let’s turn to the investment market. Take a look at the SpaceX IPO and the pending IPOs of OpenAI and Anthropic. Comparisons are being made to the dot.com/dot.bomb era and the many other periods of technological disruption over the past 150 years when the technology was over hyped, which resulted in over investment, over-valued stocks and inevitable corrections. Each time the next new technological innovation came along there were cries of “But this time it’s different!”

Who knows if it is going to be different this time, however one thing is for sure: we have never seen anything like this before. It’s making the onset of the internet seem like a mild precursor to AI that simply built the foundations for what is to come.

Which leads me back to the broad spectrum of AI adoption. I fear for those who have not yet started or who are only early in their journey. Why? Because business models are changing. The industry you are in may not look anything like it does today in just a few years from now. Or sooner!

There is often a cry for organisations to disrupt themselves before they get disrupted. Now that cry is more justified than ever.

Have you started your AI disruption journey? If so, I’d love to hear what you can share about the process. I get you won’t be divulging your strategy!