As companies race to embrace artificial intelligence, the award-winning author of The AI-Savvy Leader challenges executives to rethink a dangerous assumption: that moving faster always means moving forward.
Artificial intelligence has become the defining business obsession of our time. Corporate executives face mounting pressure to implement AI, automate operations, improve productivity, and demonstrate that their organizations are keeping pace with technological change. Every new breakthrough seems to raise the stakes, creating an atmosphere in which hesitation can feel like failure. But what if the greatest danger facing business leaders isn’t adopting artificial intelligence too slowly? What if it’s adopting AI so quickly that they lose sight of why they needed it in the first place? That provocative question lies at the heart of recent research by Dr. David De Cremer, internationally recognized AI leadership expert, behavioral scientist, and bestselling author of The AI-Savvy Leader: Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work.
In a July 2026 Harvard Business Review article titled When Developing an AI Strategy, Beware the Urgency Trap, De Cremer challenges the widespread assumption that rapid AI implementation automatically produces competitive advantage. His warning arrives at a critical moment, as organizations invest heavily in new technologies while struggling to translate those investments into measurable business results. For executives navigating the AI revolution, his message is both timely and uncomfortable: the pressure to act quickly can become the very thing that prevents organizations from making intelligent decisions.
The AI Urgency Trap: When Speed Replaces Strategy
Across industries, business leaders are confronting a familiar dilemma. Competitors announce ambitious AI initiatives, investors demand evidence of technological progress, and employees wonder how automation will change their jobs. Faced with this uncertainty, organizations often respond by accelerating implementation. The problem, De Cremer argues, is that urgency can distort strategic thinking. Instead of beginning with fundamental questions about business objectives, customer needs, and organizational capabilities, leaders may focus on immediate operational problems that AI appears capable of solving. They identify inefficiencies, purchase technology, and launch initiatives without adequately considering whether those efforts support a larger strategic purpose.
This approach can produce visible activity without meaningful transformation. A company may automate routine processes, introduce AI-powered customer service tools, or deploy generative AI across departments while leaving its underlying business model and organizational challenges largely unchanged. The distinction is important. Improving efficiency is valuable, but efficiency alone does not guarantee that a company is becoming more innovative, competitive, or responsive to customers. De Cremer’s research invites executives to reconsider the starting point of AI strategy. Rather than treating implementation as an objective in itself, leaders must first determine what their organizations are trying to accomplish and whether artificial intelligence is the most appropriate means of achieving it. In other words, the smartest AI strategy doesn’t necessarily begin with technology. It begins with leadership.
AI Is Not Inevitable: A Surprising Argument From David De Cremer and Garry Kasparov
De Cremer expanded this argument in another provocative 2026 publication, co-authored with legendary chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. Their July article in California Management Review, AI Is Not Inevitable; It Is a Choice! And Leaders Should Start Acting Like It, challenges one of the most deeply embedded assumptions surrounding artificial intelligence: that organizations have no meaningful choice but to adopt it everywhere. The authors argue that the widespread portrayal of AI as an unstoppable force can create an illusion that technological adoption is no longer a decision. When executives accept that narrative, they may stop asking whether a particular application is necessary, appropriate, or beneficial. This is not an argument for rejecting artificial intelligence. Both authors recognize its extraordinary capabilities and potential to create value. Their concern is that technological enthusiasm can gradually replace deliberate human judgment.
For business leaders, the implications are significant. Not every decision should be automated. Not every interaction benefits from removing human involvement. And not every business problem requires an AI solution. Consider an organization seeking to improve customer satisfaction. AI might help identify recurring service issues, analyze feedback, or accelerate responses. But if the underlying problem involves broken relationships, poor communication, or a lack of employee empowerment, automation may address symptoms without resolving the deeper challenge. The same principle applies to leadership, hiring, healthcare, financial services, and other environments where context, trust, and ethical judgment matter. De Cremer and Kasparov ultimately return responsibility to the people making these decisions. Artificial intelligence may expand what organizations are capable of doing, but leaders must still determine what they should do.
Why Human Judgment Remains a Competitive Advantage
One of the most compelling aspects of De Cremer’s work is his insistence that AI transformation is fundamentally a human leadership challenge. As a behavioral scientist whose research spans organizational psychology, management, and emerging technology, he approaches artificial intelligence differently from experts who concentrate primarily on algorithms, computing power, or technical capabilities. His focus is on the relationship between people and technology: how employees respond to AI, how leaders establish trust, and how organizations can combine machine intelligence with human expertise. These themes are central to his award-winning book, The AI-Savvy Leader: Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work, published by Harvard Business Review Press. The book received BookPal’s 2024 Outstanding Works of Literature Award in the Leadership category, recognizing its contribution to contemporary business leadership.
De Cremer argues that leaders must understand enough about AI to make informed strategic decisions rather than surrendering responsibility to technology specialists. Technical expertise is essential, but organizational strategy cannot simply be delegated to the people who build or operate the systems. Executives must be able to evaluate potential benefits, recognize limitations, communicate priorities, and consider the effects of technological decisions on employees, customers, and society. This becomes particularly important when organizations introduce AI into decisions involving people. An algorithm may identify patterns or generate recommendations, but leaders remain responsible for considering fairness, context, long-term consequences, and the values their organizations claim to uphold. The goal is not to make human judgment obsolete. It is to use artificial intelligence in ways that strengthen the organization’s ability to make better decisions.
Dr. David De Cremer Discusses Human-Centered AI Leadership and The AI-Savvy Leader
The Hidden Cost of Following the AI Crowd
The AI urgency trap also exposes a broader problem in modern business: the temptation to confuse following competitors with developing a strategy. When organizations see competitors investing in AI, they may feel compelled to announce similar initiatives. Yet adopting the same technologies does not necessarily produce the same results, particularly when companies differ in their customers, employees, capabilities, and long-term objectives. An organization that introduces AI without preparing its workforce may encounter resistance or confusion. Another may automate processes that were poorly designed to begin with. A third may discover that employees have access to sophisticated tools but lack clear guidance about how to use them responsibly.
These outcomes illustrate why successful AI transformation requires more than financial investment. Leaders must establish a compelling purpose, identify appropriate applications, prepare employees, and evaluate whether implementation is producing meaningful improvements. De Cremer’s human-centered approach emphasizes that AI should contribute to value creation rather than become a technological end in itself. That requires executives to remain curious, question assumptions, and resist the pressure to treat every emerging capability as an immediate business necessity. In an environment where speed is often celebrated, the willingness to pause and ask difficult questions may itself become a competitive advantage.
Five Questions Every CEO Should Ask Before the Next AI Investment
De Cremer’s recent research offers a useful framework for thinking more deliberately about AI adoption. Before committing resources to another initiative, business leaders should consider several fundamental questions. What specific business problem are we trying to solve, and how will we know whether we have solved it? Is artificial intelligence genuinely the best solution, or are we responding primarily to competitive pressure? Where can AI strengthen employee capabilities, and where must human judgment remain central? Have we prepared our people, processes, and organizational culture for the proposed changes? And finally, will this investment create lasting value for customers, employees, and the organization, rather than simply producing short-term efficiency gains? These questions are not a substitute for a comprehensive AI strategy. They are a starting point for restoring strategic discipline to conversations too often dominated by urgency. For executives, the larger lesson is that artificial intelligence should serve organizational purpose, not determine it.
The Future Belongs to AI-Savvy Leaders, Not Simply AI-Driven Companies
The central message emerging from De Cremer’s 2026 publications is not that organizations should retreat from technological innovation. It is that leaders must reclaim responsibility for how innovation is pursued. AI will continue to create extraordinary opportunities to improve operations, discover new insights, and develop products and services. Organizations that ignore those opportunities may face genuine competitive disadvantages. But organizations that adopt technology without clear objectives, informed leadership, and thoughtful consideration of human consequences face risks of their own.
De Cremer’s work offers a timely alternative to the prevailing narrative of technological inevitability. It encourages leaders to replace reflexive adoption with deliberate choice, to measure progress by meaningful outcomes rather than implementation speed, and to recognize that human intelligence remains essential even as artificial intelligence becomes more capable. The most successful leaders of the AI era may not be those who adopt every new technology first. They may be those who understand when to move quickly, when to question conventional wisdom, and when to choose a different path entirely.
Book AI Leadership and Digital Transformation Keynote Speaker Dr. David De Cremer
As organizations navigate the opportunities and uncertainties of artificial intelligence, few voices bring together the depth of academic research, international business experience, and practical leadership insight offered by Dr. David De Cremer. A globally recognized expert in AI leadership, organizational behavior, and digital transformation, De Cremer has advised major international organizations and contributed influential research to publications including Harvard Business Review and California Management Review. His bestselling book, The AI-Savvy Leader, provides executives with a practical perspective on taking responsibility for AI transformation while preserving the human capabilities that make organizations successful.
For corporate leadership conferences, technology summits, executive retreats, association meetings, and innovation events, Dr. De Cremer delivers a timely message that challenges conventional thinking and equips audiences to approach artificial intelligence with greater confidence, purpose, and strategic clarity. His presentations help leaders move beyond the excitement surrounding AI to examine the decisions that will determine whether technological investments produce meaningful business value. At a time when organizations are being told to move faster, Dr. David De Cremer offers a powerful reminder that the future of business will be shaped not simply by the technology companies adopt, but by the wisdom of the leaders making those choices.
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