They Plugged in a Credit Card and Called It AI. The Enterprise Illusion

Описание: Enterprise AI adoption fails when leaders confuse tools with strategy — and when human communication breaks down under speed, automation, and agentic workflows. In this episode (Part 2), we unpack what surfaced during a closed-door executive dinner in Helsinki about scaling AI across large organizations — and then contrast it with on-the-ground observations from Saudi Arabia, where transformation moves at a different pace and scale.

You’ll hear what executives are overhyping, what they’re missing, and why the real bottleneck isn’t Claude, ChatGPT, or “agentic workflows” — it’s how humans align, trust, and communicate while everything accelerates. We also discuss what “AI champions” inside each division can look like, how regulated industries can move without hiding behind “regulations,” and why the best leaders in 2026 will be the ones willing to say: “I don’t know — let’s learn together.”

Then we shift from Helsinki to the Middle East and explore what Saudi Arabia’s rapid modernization reveals about leading transformation: the speed of development, digitalization as a national direction, the gap between top-level vision and broad adoption, and the early signals around real estate tokenization and blockchain-based infrastructure.

If you’re a CEO, CTO, CIO, transformation leader, or innovation lead trying to make AI real (not just “corporate-card AI”), this conversation gives you practical framing for turning experimentation into scalable change.

Work with Espeo Software
Przemysław Koper:   / przemyslawkoper  
Aleksandra Los:   / aleksandra-los-1423615b  
Espeo Software: https://espeo.eu/contact/


If you want a pragmatic roadmap for enterprise AI adoption (from discovery to pilot to production), reach out — we support leaders with strategy, governance, delivery, and change management.



00:00:00 Intro + why Part 2 matters
00:00:38 Why we hosted a closed-door executive dinner in Helsinki
00:01:48 “Corporate card ≠ AI strategy” — what enterprises get wrong
00:03:05 How Polpharma operationalizes AI: ideas → POCs → production
00:03:55 The real goal: organize the organization around AI
00:04:34 What’s overhyped vs underrated in enterprise AI adoption
00:04:38 The surprising bottleneck: human communication
00:06:31 Who should lead AI adoption? The “AI champions” model
00:07:16 Why process understanding matters more than tools
00:08:14 Lessons from RPA-era automation teams (what AI leaders can reuse)
00:09:06 Two camps: “all-in AI” vs “stay out” — what to tell cautious leaders
00:09:33 Why waiting 12 months makes adoption harder
00:10:36 Regulated industries: privacy fears vs practical options
00:11:50 “Regulation” as a narrative — how leaders can move responsibly
00:12:48 The new leader profile: humble, hands-on, learning in the trenches
00:14:06 Shadow AI is already happening in companies
00:15:23 Why small POCs scale faster than leaders expect
00:16:05 From 1 year to 5 seconds: building with AI (Lovable example)
00:17:44 From Helsinki to Saudi Arabia: why the trip happened
00:18:54 First impressions of Riyadh + speed of development
00:20:19 The societal transition: vision vs mindset change
00:22:48 Real estate tokenization: what was announced, what’s known
00:23:20 Why blockchain fits national-scale infrastructure
00:26:48 Public institutions + growth: why the state role is central
00:27:56 Biggest challenges: society, incentives, “wild west + futuristic hologram”
00:30:04 What matters most there: digitalization (and how buzzwords spread)
00:32:09 Hyper-growth reality: quantity over quality + the need for focus
00:34:01 Wrap-up