From Pilot Purgatory to Real Impact: How to Lead Successful AI Adoption

Hi everyone, This week on Lead The Machine, I had the opportunity to sit down with Colleen Campbell, Founder and CEO of A-Human-I. Colleen is one of the most grounded, practitioner-oriented leaders I’ve spoken with about AI adoption. Colleen has spent decades leading large-scale transformation efforts across industries and complex enterprises. She’s been in the room where strategy meets reality, and where AI ambition collides with organizational friction, cultural resistance, and unclear accountability. Why We Stall Colleen is refreshingly direct about why so many AI initiatives stall. It’s not because the technology doesn’t work. It’s because organizations treat AI like a software deployment instead of what it really is: an enterprise change that reshapes how people work, how decisions get made, and how value is created. In our conversation, she breaks down why involving employees early and often isn’t a “nice to have”, it’s the difference between momentum and resistance. When people feel AI is happening to them, adoption slows. When they’re invited to help shape it, trust builds and capability grows. We also tackle one of the biggest misconceptions in AI: that governance slows innovation. Colleen explains why the opposite is true. Clear governance, aligned leadership, and defined decision rights actually enable speed by preventing tool sprawl, disconnected pilots, and wasted investment. This episode is packed with practical insight for leaders who are tired of experiments that never scale and are ready to turn AI into real impact. As always, thanks for being part of this community. — Kirstin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit leadthemachine.substack.com