Jeff Kagan: A once-in-a-lifetime AI growth opportunity for U.S. companies

May 27, 2025 at 10:22 AM EDT

As I have met with and advised senior executives of companies over several decades, I recognize that today we are living through a unique time of change and convergence in the worlds of business, technology and marketing. We have before us both a once-in-a-lifetime growth opportunity and a challenge.

What is your strategy? This cannot be ignored. AI will transform our world, and we are still only in the very early stages. Is now the time to enter this market and strike while the iron is hot?

Companies contact me for help increasing their name recognition in an increasingly noisy marketplace. I have learned that every company needs to be seen and heard by investors, customers, workers and others. However, most companies do not have the kind of AI knowledge, experience and leadership they need.

As we move to AI, leaders want to remain that way, while newer or smaller companies see this as an opportunity to jump to the next level and become industry leaders themselves. Some will seize this rare opportunity and be successful. However, most don’t know the right steps, and they will waste time and money spinning in circles rather than moving forward.

Capitalizing on AI growth

AI is the key challenge and growth opportunity faced by every company. Both early adopters and fast followers need the same thing: knowledgeable AI executives to use this new technology to achieve their goals.

That’s what they want and need, but the problem is that there is a very limited supply of AI experts to guide them today. That may change as we move forward, but that’s the reality today.

Not only does every company need to fully understand all the different AI technologies, but they also need a marketing expert to blend these ideas.

In addition, AI is not sitting still. It is a vibrant and fast-changing new technology. So, the challenge is even greater. This means that you and your company need to understand AI today, as it continually changes and matures going forward, and as it continues to fundamentally change, you need to stay on the cutting edge.

AI is like the proverbial one-two punch every company is wrestling with today. Through meeting with many different clients, I have learned that a very small number of companies have any idea about AI today or tomorrow.

To be successful, leadership needs to know the rules of the game. To develop long-term growth strategies. And while AI is amazing and powerful, it is also the great unknown today and especially tomorrow. The lack of knowledge and, therefore, direction is disturbing for every company.

A lack of knowledgeable leadership in AI

Most CEOs do not have the tools they need to succeed long-term with AI. Like always, senior-level executives are throwing ideas and strategies against the wall. Whatever sticks, they build on. Whatever falls away, they ignore. While this is how everything has always been done, the world of AI is changing things.

Some ideas won’t stick to the wall today, but they may tomorrow. So, even bad ideas that don’t work today may work tomorrow. Never throw away an idea. That makes things even more complex and confusing.

In addition, the ideas that stick to the wall today may be short-lived. They may work for a while, so you build on them. Then, when the next generation of AI shifts, this first generation will fall away and be left behind. This is a very uncertain future foundation on which to build. The CEO or CMO were not trained this way.

We see industry leaders like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and countless others using AI to transform different parts of their worlds. We also see countless smaller companies like RedChip Companies, a small-cap investment advisor, introduce RedChat, which is a Chatbot using AI to help their customers make the best investment choices in the mid-cap and small-cap arena.

Increasingly, I am hearing from these early adopters looking for strategic advice on how to strike early while the iron is hot. That’s the challenge every executive suite and Board of Directors is wrestling with today. Moving forward and growing through the fog of confusion.

That’s not stopping companies from moving forward. Roughly two years ago, the CEOs of industry leaders like Google and Microsoft admitted they didn’t yet understand the growth opportunity or the privacy risk associated with AI. Today, every leading industry company is full steam ahead. Countless smaller competitors see AI as their ticket to rewrite the rules of their industry.

This is not unlike the way Uber transformed the taxi and limousine industry. However, Uber was born in a more stable environment without AI. AI has the potential for countless companies to redefine their own industry and hopefully lead.

Looking for AI advice

Increasingly, I hear from many early adopters looking for strategic advice on how to strike early while the iron is hot. How to transform their company and their industry. How to be a leader moving forward. This is where I learn many of these important lessons to share with you here.

Are you strategizing about this? Transforming your industry is an achievable goal if you have the guts, the vision, the money and the AI talent.

Guts and vision are easier to come by. However, AI talent is crucial. As I mentioned earlier, that vision will continue to change as technology advances.

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Jeff Kagan: A once-in-a-lifetime AI growth opportunity for U.S. companies

Capitalizing on AI growth

A lack of knowledgeable leadership in AI

Looking for AI advice

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