The greatest AI risk? Moving too slowly.

Digital Norway's panel debate during Arendalsuka today brought together a very high-profile panel around the question: Must the top leader be an «AI-maniac»?

Nicolai Tangen set the pace from the start and challenged both the panel and Norwegian leaders, while Liv Dingsør moderated the debate well and kept it both sharp and relevant.

Tangen was clear on how fast this is now moving. He pointed to businesses being able to increase productivity by around 20% in one year, and that those who succeed over 2–3 years can be around 50% ahead of competitors.

More leadership teams should take that perspective on board.

We do not need to look far either. Denmark and Sweden are ahead of Norway on AI use in businesses, and Tangen himself highlighted Sweden as a country we risk being left behind by if we do not increase the pace.

At the same time I experienced an interesting tension in the panel between offensiveness and critical distance.

Critical judgement is necessary. But a critical default stance can become a strategic weakness, and responsibility must not become another word for paralysis.

We should of course have governance, human in the loop, data security and clear frameworks for sensitive data.

But if the starting point is first and foremost to look for what can go wrong, we also risk limiting what Hans Christian Holte called our «digital imagination»: the ability to see what is actually possible now.

AI is here to stay. I believe we must work with the technology, challenge it and pursue the opportunities offensively.

That also requires leaders to get into the tools themselves.

Test. Play. Build.

Tangen was focused on exactly this, and Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer described how Telenor's top leaders had built applications themselves in a sandbox.

I recognise that well.

After working practically with this over time, I have now built close to 20 AI solutions and prototypes. From Control Tower for operational and commercial governance, to sales development and customer dialogue, team dynamics and leadership support, decision support and agentic workflows.

Not everything necessarily needs to become a commercial product.

The point is also the learning. When you build yourself, you see more clearly both the opportunities, the limitations and where the technology can actually create value.

It is fun, educational and rewarding.

And it builds judgement.

For me, therefore, the main question is not whether top leaders must be «AI-maniacs».

👉 The question is whether leaders can afford to keep their distance from a technology that is already changing productivity, ways of working and competitiveness.

I do not think they can ❗

#AI #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #Strategy #Execution