Lead with AI PRO

As executives, we don’t need AI cheerleading; we need a playbook for winning over everyone in our organizations.

In this Fireside Chat hosted by Phil Kirschner (Workplace & Future of Work expert), Maris Krieger shares how Hearst moved from open resistance (newsrooms literally unmuting to vent) to measurable uptake, without hollow hype.

What you’ll take away (and use immediately)

• How to sell “one more skill” instead of AI revolutions. When teams feel threatened, grand promises trigger defensiveness. Maris learned to reframe AI as just another skill in the toolbox—something that increases employability and agency rather than replacing talent. That shift alone defused hostility and opened people up to learning.
• How to treat AI programs as innovation projects, not standard L&D. The landscape was changing so fast that her team had to pivot multiple times and ship imperfectly. Instead of demanding fixed outcomes, she treated the program as an evolving innovation effort—iterative, fast-moving, and shaped by real user feedback. This lets the organization learn in motion instead of waiting for clarity that would never come.
• Why you need to pair CEO air cover with local ownership and champions. Executive sponsorship set direction, but real adoption came from champions embedded across business units. Maris avoided centralizing rules; instead, each function defined where AI fit and where human craft remained sacred. That combination of top-down legitimacy and bottom-up ownership unlocked practical, trusted use cases.

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Referrals of existing Lead with AI PRO members are welcome to one Lead with AI PRO Live Session.

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A recording will be available for those who can't make it due to timezone or otherwise.