Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
The tech industry sits at a precipice where initial AI-everything fever gives way to a more complex, systemic reality.
AI is no longer at the periphery of our work. According to the 2025 DORA report, 90% of respondents have integrated it into their day-to-day, with 80% reporting increases in individual productivity.
For leadership, the focus has shifted from wondering if AI works, to figuring out how to manage “uneven progress” at scale. True cross-company use cases remain elusive, as both data and experimentation silos persist.
The most significant lesson of this past year, as fractional CxO Paul Johnston pointed out, is that, while AI tools provide “very solid support for humans,” they cannot yet replace them for most tasks.
