Industry: Global industrial corporation
Function focus: Leadership, data, IT, HR, business

Context

The board declared GenAI a strategic priority.
Responsibility “landed” with the Head of Data Science.

At the same time, HR, Marketing, and Sales started sending files and requests:
“Automate this.”
“Summarize that.”

Subject-matter experts were not involved.
The data science team designed solutions in isolation.

Many outputs were never used — because they didn’t match real workflows.

Challenge

• GenAI treated as a technology service
• Data science teams overloaded with leadership responsibility
• Business functions disengaged after handover
• No shared framing of GenAI’s role
• No governance or prioritization
• High effort, low adoption

Approach

• Establish executive ownership for GenAI beyond the data function
• Redefine GenAI as a leadership and organizational capability
• Clarify roles between business, data, IT, and functions
• Involve subject-matter experts in use case design
• Anchor GenAI in leadership routines and governance early

Outcome

• Clear leadership ownership for GenAI
• Reduced overload on data teams
• Higher adoption of AI-supported workflows
• Fewer ad-hoc use cases, more strategic focus
• GenAI embedded into leadership and operating model

Leadership Insight

GenAI doesn’t fail because the technology is unclear.
It fails because leadership ownership and organizational design are unclear.