Running a business is hard. So is growing one. And keeping up with a rapidly changing operational landscape that’s being disrupted by AI more and more every day is getting even harder.

As a leader, you have to be able to see around corners, but those corners are becoming more obstructive, sharper, and harder to see around with each model update and app release. The result can be a sort of paralysis, or even stagnation, where leaders and teams adopt a “wait and see” approach that’s heavy on the “wait” and light on the “see.”

But what if it didn’t have to be like that? What if instead of being hard, AI was easy? What if all you really had to do was give your team access to an LLM, document how they use it, record the wins, and go from there? Does that sound too easy? Well, it’s not. And the faster you can figure that out, the better off you’ll be.

The Performance Gap is Widening

We know from studies at both Harvard and Wharton that people who augment their work with AI make better decisions. Ethan Mollick, one of the authors of the study “Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier” and a leading voice on AI transformation, pointed out that “consultants using ChatGPT-4 outperformed those who did not, by a lot. On every dimension. Every way we measured performance.”

If that’s not a good enough reason to give people access to AI within your organization, then consider this: when you take that individual experience and expand it out to the team, the benefits compound. In fact, the very nature of how teams collaborate changes.

According to a 2025 Harvard study titled “The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise,” the authors write, “The use of AI significantly reduces the costs of coordination and knowledge sharing, allowing teams to move faster and explore a much wider array of strategic possibilities than previously possible.”

Which brings me to the simplest point in the whole conversation: most organizations aren’t stuck because AI is too complex—they’re stuck because they’ve made adoption too complex.

Clarity Over Complexity

The reality is that if you’re feeling stuck at your organization, you’re probably just making AI way too hard. Yes, in a perfect world, you would set up your AI council, develop your AI policy and charter, and create an intelligent governance structure with all the appropriate safeguards. But if you haven’t done that yet, you’re probably not going to—and it’s past time to make AI easier. Give people access to an LLM, see how they use it, document what works, and see where it takes you.

I’m not the only one who thinks this, either. Adam Brotman, co-CEO of Forum3 and co-author of the book AI First: The Playbook for a Future-Proof Business and Brand, says that you should start with proficiency at the individual level, allowing employees to augment their own work with AI.

In other words, let people do what they do. Just let them do it with AI.

A Shift in Focus

It really doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, the question you should be asking yourself is: "What if AI were easy?" What if it was easy to get people started? What if it was easy to see what they did with it? What if it was easy to give yourself the 10x results that you’ve been looking for and hearing about from all your peers and competitors?

But making AI easy doesn’t mean making it mindless. It simply means shifting your focus from the complexity of the technology to the clarity of your results. You don't need a year-long roadmap to start seeing around those sharper corners; you just need the courage to stop waiting.

By empowering your team to experiment today, you aren't just adopting a new tool—ingrained in your culture is a new way of making decisions, solving problems, and ultimately, winning. So, stop looking for the 'perfect' time to start. Start where you are, with what you have, and let the wins dictate your next move.