This episode’s guest was Maria Niiniharju, VP AI Strategy & Transformation at Siili Solutions, a Helsinki-based frontrunner in AI-powered software development. Maria works with leadership teams at the point where AI ambition meets the reality of the organisation.
Why AI transformations fail
Maria’s answer is accountability. Someone has to own the results, the budget, the resources and the processes that AI will transform. When that ownership is spread thin across IT, a data team and a handful of pilots, the transformation stalls, whatever the quality of the technology.
The CEO must own the mandate
Her conclusion follows directly: the CEO needs to personally own the AI mandate and drive it from the top. AI changes how work gets done across functions, and only the CEO has the authority to reallocate budget and redesign operating model at that scale. Delegating it to a single function keeps it narrow and the impact too insignificant.
What this means for leadership teams
I have seen the same pattern in large operating model transformations. The programmes that deliver have a named owner at the top who treats it as a business transformation. The ones that drift have a steering group and no owner. AI is no different.