Most CEOs are approaching AI transformation exactly like they approached cloud migration or ERP implementations. They’re delegating the AI strategy to their CTO or hiring a Chief AI Officer and expecting periodic updates on progress. But in a recent webinar, Lexi Reese from Lanai shared something that should make every CEO stop and reconsider this approach entirely.

“This should be the CEO’s job and everybody on their team plays a part, but the CEO cannot shove AI strategy to a third party to have said third party describe to the CEO how AI is going to transform their business. That won’t work.”

And I think she’s absolutely right. AI isn’t just another technology implementation. It’s a fundamental shift in how value gets created, and CEOs who try to delegate the strategic thinking around this transformation are setting themselves up for expensive failures.

But here’s the dilemma: if you try to own everything about AI transformation, you’ll become a bottleneck. If you delegate too much, you’ll lose control of the most important business transformation of your career. So where’s the line?

Why the Traditional Delegation Playbook Doesn’t Work

Most successful CEOs got where they are by learning to delegate effectively. You hire smart people, give them clear objectives, and hold them accountable for results. This approach works brilliantly for most business challenges, but AI transformation is different in ways that make traditional delegation dangerous.

The problem is that AI doesn’t just improve existing processes. It changes what’s possible. When your head of sales tells you they need a bigger team to hit next quarter’s numbers, you can evaluate that request based on well-established business logic. When they tell you AI could transform how your sales team operates, you need to understand AI capabilities well enough to distinguish between realistic opportunities and expensive distractions.

Lexi’s insight is that you can’t evaluate AI opportunities without genuinely understanding both the technology and how it applies to your specific business context. That’s not something you can delegate to someone else and then review in monthly meetings.

The 40-Hour Requirement That Changes Everything

Here’s the part of Lexi’s advice that will make most CEOs uncomfortable: she believes executive teams should use AI tools for 10 hours per week for 4 weeks straight before they develop their AI strategy.

“Your next off-site should happen after you have used GenAI yourselves as executive teams for 10 hours minimum a week, 4 weeks straight. Use every tool that you can. Coding tool, summarization tool, what have you.”

I know what you’re thinking. You barely have 10 hours a week for strategic thinking, let alone hands-on experimentation with new tools. But consider what happens when you skip this step.

Without personal experience, you’re making multi-million dollar decisions based on other people’s interpretations of what AI can do. You’re evaluating vendor presentations without the context to ask good questions. You’re approving use cases without understanding whether they’re genuinely valuable or just technically impressive.

More importantly, you’re asking your organization to embrace changes that you haven’t embraced yourself. How can you credibly champion AI adoption when you’re not using it in your own work?

What CEOs Should Actually Own

The 40-hour investment gives you the foundation to make smart decisions about what to own versus what to delegate.

Here’s what you can’t delegate:

The Vision for How AI Changes Your Business Model

This isn’t about specific use cases or technology platforms. It’s about understanding how AI capabilities could fundamentally change how you create and deliver value. Nobody else in your organization has the complete view of business strategy required to make these connections.

The Cultural Transformation Strategy

AI adoption is ultimately a people challenge, not a technology challenge. The cultural changes required for successful AI transformation touch every aspect of how your organization operates. You can delegate the execution of cultural change, but you can’t delegate the strategic thinking about what changes are needed.

The Resource Allocation Decisions

AI transformation requires trade-offs between short-term efficiency gains and long-term capability building. Between proven applications and experimental opportunities. Between centralized platforms and distributed innovation. These are strategic resource decisions that belong at the CEO level.

The Integration with Overall Business Strategy

AI initiatives need to connect with your broader strategic priorities, not operate in isolation. You’re the only person with the complete view required to ensure AI investments support rather than distract from your core business objectives.

What You Should Delegate (But Stay Connected To)

Once you have the foundational understanding and strategic framework, there’s plenty you should delegate to others who can execute more effectively than you can:

• Tactical Implementation Decisions: Which specific platforms to use, how to structure teams, detailed project management. Your job is to set the strategic direction and success criteria, not to manage the day-to-day execution.
• Technical Architecture and Integration: You need to understand enough about AI capabilities to make strategic decisions, but you don’t need to become an expert in model architectures or data pipelines.
• Detailed Change Management Programs: The strategic approach to cultural change belongs at the CEO level, but the specific training programs, communication plans, and adoption tactics can be effectively managed by others.
• Vendor Management and Procurement: Once you’ve established the strategic requirements and success criteria, your team can handle the evaluation and negotiation processes.

The Adobe Model: CEO Support with Distributed Execution

Don Bennion’s approach at Adobe provides a great example of how this balance can work in practice. The CEO provided clear strategic support and resources for AI transformation, but the execution happened through cross-functional teams throughout the organization.

The key was that leadership maintained enough understanding of AI capabilities to make intelligent resource allocation decisions and remove barriers when needed. They weren’t trying to manage the details, but they understood enough to provide effective strategic guidance.

This model works because it combines CEO-level strategic ownership with execution by people who understand the operational realities in different parts of the business.

The Dangerous Middle Ground

The most dangerous approach is when CEOs try to split the difference by delegating strategy development but maintaining approval authority over major decisions. This creates the worst of both worlds: slow decision-making combined with decisions made by people who don’t fully understand the implications.

You end up with AI initiatives that sound good in PowerPoint presentations but don’t drive real business value because the strategic thinking was done by people who understand the technology but not the business, or understand the business but not the technology.

How to Start Without Overwhelming Yourself

I know the 40-hour requirement sounds daunting, but it doesn’t have to be a separate project. You can integrate AI experimentation into work you’re already doing.

Use AI to help with strategic analysis, board presentation preparation, competitive research, or communication drafting. The goal isn’t to become an AI expert. It’s to develop enough personal experience to make informed strategic decisions.

Start with simple applications and gradually experiment with more sophisticated uses. The learning happens through practice, not through reading about what AI can theoretically do.

The Competitive Advantage You’re Building

CEOs who invest in personal AI fluency aren’t just making better technology decisions. They’re developing intuition about how AI will continue to evolve and impact their industries.

This intuition becomes incredibly valuable as AI capabilities continue to advance rapidly. You’ll be able to spot opportunities and threats earlier than competitors who are still learning about AI through intermediaries.

More importantly, your personal commitment to learning AI signals to your organization that this transformation is genuinely strategic, not just another technology initiative that will fade when the next trend emerges.

The Questions That Reveal Where You Stand

Want to know if you’re owning the right parts of AI strategy? Ask yourself these questions:

• Could you explain to your board how AI capabilities will change your competitive landscape over the next two years?
• When your team proposes new AI initiatives, can you evaluate them based on your own understanding rather than just trusting their recommendations?
• Are you using AI in your own work enough to credibly champion adoption throughout the organization?
• Do you understand your organization’s AI strategy well enough to make intelligent resource allocation decisions?

If you’re not confident in your answers to these questions, you’re probably delegating too much of the strategic thinking around AI transformation.

The Window That’s Closing

Here’s what concerns me about CEOs who are still trying to delegate AI strategy: the competitive advantages being built by AI are increasingly about organizational capabilities, not just technology access.

Companies like Moderna aren’t winning because they have better AI tools. They’re winning because they’ve built organizational muscles around AI adoption that will be incredibly difficult for competitors to replicate.

The CEOs who understand this are investing personal time in learning how to leverage these capabilities strategically. The CEOs who don’t are hoping their teams can figure it out without strategic guidance.

That’s not a bet I’d want to make with my company’s future.

The challenge isn’t just about implementing AI successfully today. It’s about building the strategic capabilities to continue adapting as AI evolves. And that’s something you can’t delegate to anyone else, no matter how smart they are.

Struggling to find the right balance between hands-on AI learning and strategic delegation? I’d love to help you think through what CEO-level AI engagement should look like for your specific situation and industry. Connect with me on LinkedIn to explore how to own the right parts of AI transformation without getting overwhelmed by the details.