Trends (and bears) I’m Spotting While Touring the US

 

TL;DR – Out in the Wild: What I’m Seeing, Hearing & Learning

• The reinvention race is on. I’ve been crisscrossing the country and it’s clear—people and companies are sprinting toward more time, more innovation, more life. It’s a land grab.

• AI is here. The rules aren’t. Employees are already running with “Bring Your Own AI,” while leadership is pumping the brakes. The winning move? Meet in the middle with a blended top-down + bottoms-up strategy.

• “Safe enough to try” is the new sandbox. The smartest teams aren’t waiting for perfect policies—they’re experimenting now, within smart boundaries. Think internal petri dishes marked “beta” where people can learn, iterate, and unlock time.

• Everyone just got a PhD-level intern. AI is brilliant—but brand new to the job. It still needs a human chaperone. Leaders: help your teams get excited and skilled up.

• Use your best judgment, but use it. Progress requires motion. Companies leaning into low-risk AI use (like time-saving Copilot prompts) are already gaining serious edge.

• Write your own rules. In a meeting with more bots than humans, we invented “AI Etiquette” on the fly. That’s where we are—writing the manual in real-time.

• Inspiration without action is empty. I’m not here to just inspire—I’m here to activate. Real, lasting change starts when individuals learn to motivate themselves from the inside out.

• P.S. I startled a bear in Jackson. Yep, it’s wild

 

The only way to truly get our finger on the pulse and understand the current state of reality is to be out in the wild, listening and connecting with people in person to spot the trends. I’ve been all over the country doing just that. (Oh, and I also just spotted and spooked a bear up very close. Keep reading.) 

 

Gridlock vs. Unlock 

It’s a land grab out there and I’m seeing the massive reinvention race before my eyes. A race toward more time, resources, innovation, revenue, savings and quality of life.

The top down vs. bottoms up tension when it comes to AI Adoption is tangible. Individuals are using the BYOAI to work model (“Bring Your Own AI to Work.”) because they see the intrinsic benefit it has on their life both personally and professionally. 

With AI, everyone just got an assistant and an intern with a PhD in every topic, but it’s their first day on the job and walking the planet so in many cases they need to be chaperoned by a human. It’s every leader’s job to get their teams excited about AI to take advantage of the new open-sourced talent and time at our finger tips.

 

No Rules…Yet

There are no “rules” yet and BYOAI seems like a rogue liability to leadership, especially CTOs, CHROs and Legal council. “Wait until we have rules.” or “Wait until we build that internally.” The companies that are getting that 5% and soon to be 500% edge have been those who blend the top down and bottoms up momentum to meet in the middle and create an integrated horizontal strategy. 

They’re focusing on empowering employees to find safe ways to test low-risk use of AI. For example, saving time on tasks and reducing cycle time. Experiment – commit that this will look differently and we need to move forward or we are losing ground every moment on this land grab to radically multiply talent and manipulate time. 

 

Safe Enough To Try

Rather than govern and dictate, these companies are opening the flood gates to experiment within a secure and protected petri-dish of agreed-upon uses. Then they are leaning on the “use your best judgement” policy until they get formal policies in place. Basic education on the table stakes use of AI is what puts companies in the leading position because that unlocks capacity, time and resources for their best talent to build the bigger solutions that are forward-facing to their clients and customers. When we teach people how to experiment in a safe way, they can’t fail, they either win or learn so they can iterate. If there’s a substantial misstep, it’s likely not an AI issue, it’s an employee/HR issue. When it comes to security — reminder, if you’re not paying for the AI product, you are the AI product.

Encourage experiments (petri dishes with “beta” marked on the side) where employees can experiment in a “safe enough to try” way. These could be Copilot super prompts for internal efficiency. For example, integrate your calendar with your email and your Teams communication and then ask Copilot to analyze and pressure test where your time is being spent based on your quarterly goals. 

Here’s an example of how to use AI as a valuable thought-partner: Video. It not only saved me hours of time and thousands of dollars but it spotted a leverage point in a negotiation that can result in even more ROI. 

We had a real-world scenario of writing our own AI rules. I recently attended a meeting with more AI bots than humans (explained in this video with spirited comments by many.) So, we created our own AI Etiquette.  

 

Inspiration Isn’t Enough

Company leaders are seeking to “inspire” their teams. I’m being brought in to “inspire” and teach, but my agenda is to motivate and drive action. Sure, inspiration can be a spark, however, it’s fleeting if the inspiration doesn’t convert to tangible momentum. 

Sustainable innovation and progress comes from individuals learning how to inspire and motivate themselves — intrinsically. As company leaders realize their team members are equally burnout and bored at the same time, they’re scrambling for an outside quick fix, but the key is to teach people how to motivate themselves to take action because perceived progress (dopamine release) is the fuel that keeps innovation going. 

Lastly, while in Jackson recently, I had this unique encounter with a bear out in the wild. It feels like the wild, wild west out there right now which is where reinvention is born.  

This week I’m in Whistler. I’ll get to hangout with more wildlife. Please holler if you have anyone I should meet, know or recommendations on bites, hikes or sights!

Let’s go,

Ajo