Howdy👋🏾. I’m on vacation in Spain this week, diving into tapas, all the jamón, and as much Manchego as possible! So, for this week, I’m sharing the introduction to my book, The AI Evolution, but first, I want to remind you of a few upcoming events.

On November 7th, I’ll be moderating a panel with the World Trade Center Institute on “AI at the Crossroads”—it’d be great to see you there. After that, I’m headed to New York for the AI Summit, followed by CES in Las Vegas.

If you’re interested in beta reader access, preorders for The AI Evolution are still open until the end of November. Get your copy now before the price goes up!

Now, here’s the intro to The AI Evolution—enjoy:

I still remember one day in the early 90s when my Dad came home with a computer that would change everything. Our family had computers before, but this one was different. It came with a modem and a copy of IBM’s Prodigy—my first taste of the Internet. Suddenly, we could dial into an online community, chat with others, and read the news from around the world. It was magic. Prodigy CompuServe and AOL eventually gave way to what we now know as the open Internet, but that moment marked the beginning of a new era.

Even before the Internet began to grow, the complexities of software, networks, and computers in the workplace started to transform business operations. In response, the 1980s saw the birth of a new executive role: the Chief Information Officer (CIO). Companies needed someone to manage the increasing importance of PCs and their software—tools like spreadsheets and word processors that revolutionized office work. As businesses became more networked and complex, this role expanded to oversee policies and ensure seamless software integration across departments.

The late ’90s and early 2000s brought another seismic shift. The Internet I experienced with IBM Prodigy evolved from a novelty to a necessity. Companies scrambled to create websites and eCommerce platforms, fundamentally changing how work was done. Being a brick-and-mortar business was no longer enough; a business needed a robust online presence to survive and thrive. Technology also radically altered internal processes: email became the standard for communication, new software revolutionized supply chains, and ERP platforms streamlined everything from inventory management to accounting.

Initially, CIOs focused on supporting this growing infrastructure and managing the expanding IT footprint. However, as technology became deeply integrated into every aspect of business, more specialized roles were needed. Companies started pushing for connective tissue between departments to supercharge their processes, requiring complex software platforms like an ERP to communicate with web applications. Off-the-shelf software couldn’t meet their unique needs, leading to the creation of custom solutions to tighten supply chains and production processes, creating efficiencies unattainable through standard software.

This need for customization and innovation led to the creation of another crucial role: the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), a role first introduced in the late 90s by dot-com startups focused on building and integrating with software as a competitive advantage. As large companies lost ground to these nimble startups that adopted technology in new ways, they began to adopt both the role of a CIO and a CTO—the former focused on IT infrastructure, the latter on leading engineering and development teams to create new products and custom software.

CTOs became the builders, creating products and integrations where no existing solutions were available. CTOs understood that the tools needed to make the company better might not have existed yet. They created systems that allowed for just-in-time delivery, tighter inventory tracking, predictive analysis, and deeper customer understanding, transforming entire industries by offering the ability to create competitive advantages where off-the-shelf software simply could not.

But as software became an intricate mix of products and custom solutions, new challenges emerged—particularly in the realm of security. Hackers began exploiting poorly written software, leading to the dark days when Windows was plagued by viruses, spyware, and malware. This introduced the world of cybersecurity solutions and new development processes. Citigroup, which suffered a hack costing it over 10 million dollars, responded by establishing the first-ever Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). These executives were tasked with hardening infrastructure and ensuring the security of increasingly complex systems.

So many of these C-suite titles have become normal, but the reality is that many of these titles are less than 40 years old yet still crucial to how any business operates today.

Now, we stand on the brink of the next great transformation. It’s clear that AI will significantly impact how we run businesses in the future. Just as the roles of CIO, CTO, and CISO emerged to meet the challenges of previous technological revolutions, it’s time to create a new role to ensure companies are prepared for the AI revolution—the Chief AI Officer (CAIO).

“While some worry that AI may take their jobs, someone who’s an expert with AI will.” – Jensen Huang, CEO Nvidia

This sentiment applies equally to businesses. Those businesses that learn to harness AI will create a competitive advantage that could make the difference between thriving and merely surviving in the coming years.

I’m older now, but like the time sitting with my dad connecting for the first time to a BBS or the Internet, I couldn’t help but realize the importance of AI in my role as CTO of a consulting company. As I worked with our clients, from startups to Fortune 50 organizations, helping them learn how to adopt AI, I saw the same catalyst that I did during the creation and need for CIOs, CISOs, and CTOs before—something that required a new position.

My experience working across various industries has given me unique insights into the challenges and opportunities that AI presents. I’ve seen firsthand how AI can transform businesses, but I’ve also witnessed the struggles companies face when trying to integrate this technology without proper guidance and strategy.

“Think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing, and the Internet, among others.” Jamie Dimon, CEO and Chairman of JP Morgan Chase

After all, could you imagine doing business today without the internet or computers? You might ask yourself that same question about AI and its growing importance, which is why businesses must take it so seriously. Jamie Dimon, CEO and Chairman of JP Morgan Chase, has said: “We are completely convinced the consequences will be extraordinary and possibly as transformational as some of the major technological inventions of the past several hundred years; think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing, and the Internet, among others.”

Under Jamie Dimon’s leadership, JP Morgan Chase has hired more than 2,000 AI and Machine Learning experts and pushed his organization to incorporate AI in everything the company does. This level of commitment underscores the critical nature of AI in modern business.

As I’ve had the chance to work with many different businesses and help them adopt AI, I’ve come to realize that many assume that because AI is a technological advancement, it should be led by the technical teams that build and implement tools with it. However, things are much more complex than that, and the companies I see who are laying the groundwork to be successful understand that AI is more than just a technical challenge.

Processes are a big part of understanding where and how AI can help. For many organizations, using bots means first understanding, documenting, and having a good feel for processes that exist across the organization. This requires deep collaboration and understanding across many disciplines within the business to journal, map, and understand what processes are ready and the lowest-hanging fruit for potential benefits of AI use.

A big part of this is data. Within many organizations, there is a lot of data, but much of that data is not as valuable as the owners might think. It’s easy to grab data and think it should be fed into a system or used for training a model, but the more you comb through it—especially considering the tons of consumer and other data—you might be surprised to find the data is less valuable than the process that interacts with it.

Of course, like any new and powerful technology, fears are high, and teams are concerned for good reason that this technology may replace jobs or replicate the hard, creative, and thoughtful work they’ve put years into learning simply to move them out of a job or worse. Some of this concern may be true, but it’s early, and much still needs to be decided around ethics, copyrights, and government regulations domestically in the US and abroad before we truly know how this tech might work. For perspective, it took decades before states or the federal government could decide on online taxes.

Once teams adopt AI, the numbers seem to show that many workers are using it, and even if their employers do not explicitly allow it in their organizations, they don’t necessarily know how best to use it. This is frightening if you imagine the many professionals unaware of the best practices for writing prompts or simply knowing that AI can hallucinate or give back bad data while they trust the responses. Teams need to learn what they can and cannot use and the policies for how the data they enter could be used or consumed to further train AI models with confidential information.

“AI will utterly change how we live our lives, online and off.” – Bill Gates, Co-Founder Microsoft

These are nascent days for AI, and understanding what’s next and possible means planning for the needs and for the very fast evolution of AI solutions that could fundamentally transform how we work and how our businesses run.

If even one of these issues seemed important, then you already realize you need someone to collaborate with subject matter experts, business leaders, technologists, and groups throughout your organization to help get your company ready for now, and to help prepare the company for a transformation that may be more seismic than the Internet.

As Bill Gates said “AI will utterly change how we live our lives, online and off.” The responsibility of the Chief AI Officer is to prepare your organization for this seismic shift and make sure it’s ready.

Today, the roles of CTO, CIO, and CISO are commonplace, and the people in these roles have been instrumental to the success of companies like Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Nvidia, Amazon, and Google. Just as these roles have been core to the last 40 years of business, the role of the CAIO will be core to the next 40 years.

This book is your guide to harnessing AI as a competitive advantage for your business. Whether you’re a C-suite executive charting your company’s AI strategy, a manager or director tasked with implementing AI solutions, an aspiring AI leader, or simply someone fascinated by the intersection of business and AI technology, you’ll find invaluable insights within these pages. We’ll explore the critical need for strategic AI leadership in today’s business landscape, delve into the core responsibilities of those driving AI initiatives, and share practical advice from my experience as a fractional AI executive. You’ll also gain front-line perspectives from pioneering AI leaders across various industries, offering a comprehensive view of this rapidly evolving field.

The AI revolution is here. Are you ready to lead it?

---

There’s still time to get your copy! Pre-order to join my beta reader group and enjoy early access to The AI Evolution at a special discounted price.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of you in Baltimore, New York, or Las Vegas soon. Stay tuned for more updates!

-jason

Also, in what might be the most-shared LinkedIn job update, Ryan Salame just updated his title to “inmate.” I’m not sure the celebration emoji is a fit for this one.