“This can lead to a dangerous cycle where decision-makers become skeptical of AI’s potential, reducing future investment,” Nagaswamy says. “The long-term impact is even more worrying — companies risk falling behind competitors who are implementing AI strategically. Their teams miss out on crucial learning experiences, leaving them ill-equipped to handle genuine AI deployments down the road.”
Misunderstanding AI
A huge part of the problem is a lack of understanding of AI’s capabilities, adds Matt Rosen, CEO of digital consulting firm Allata. In many cases, board members, investors, or executives push for projects that AI is ill-suited to address.
“You don’t have business leaders, or even IT leaders taking some basic AI literacy classes,” he says. “There’s some fundamental misunderstanding about what problems AI solves, and there needs to be a continuous curiosity and learning, not only from the IT professionals, but from the IT leadership and then the business executives that are expecting technology solutions to be delivered.”
