Latest Learning Out Loud

Every week another Australian business decides it needs an AI Adoption Lead. Far fewer know what that person should actually do.

Ninety-five per cent of executives say roles and team structures in their organisation are already changing because of AI.

Every week someone tells me the AI market is "hot." That's a feeling, not a number. So here are the numbers.

Every week I speak with companies certain of two things: they need AI talent urgently, and they want someone who's done it all before. The brief usually reads the same — "extensive experience," "proven track record," "deep expertise in production AI systems." Reasonable, on the surface. But look at the calendar and it quietly falls apart.

Every week another Australian business decides it needs an "AI Lead." Far fewer know what that person should actually do, what to pay them, or how to tell a genuine operator from a confident talker. Get this hire right and you set the ceiling on your entire AI strategy. Get it wrong and you quietly burn six to twelve months you can't get back.

Something's changed in the briefs. Until recently, the default motion for AI hiring was contract. It made sense — the work was project-shaped, budgets were cautious, and nobody wanted to commit permanent headcount to a capability they were still figuring out. Bring someone in, ship the pilot, see what happens.