As the holiday season sets in, most leaders finally get a little breathing room.
Calendars open up. Decisions slow down. And for a moment, you’re no longer reacting—you’re reflecting.
So instead of another tactic or trend, we want to offer one framing that quietly determines whether AI becomes an accelerant or a distraction next year.
If you’re short on time, here’s the one-minute summary below 👇
The 20% Executive Summary
Most leaders don’t struggle with AI because of execution. They struggle because they aim it everywhere.
AI amplifies whatever it touches.
If your strategy is clear, it sharpens clarity.
If your strategy is fuzzy, it creates chaos faster.
The leaders who win in 2026 won’t be the ones doing the most with AI.
They’ll be the ones who decided— early —what actually matters.
The Deeper Dive
Across our work with organizations pursuing AI-driven leadership, we see a consistent pattern:
When leaders feel behind, they respond by peanut buttering AI across the organization.
More tools. More pilots. More experiments across every function.
It feels proactive. But it’s usually not. Because AI doesn’t reward activity. It rewards focus.
The most effective CEOs we work with start by asking a different question:
What is the 20% of our business that drives 80% of our results—and how do we aim AI there first?
That single decision changes everything.
It prevents teams from enthusiastically optimizing the wrong work.
It gives leaders a clear filter for saying no.
And it turns AI from a productivity layer into a strategic amplifier.
As the year winds down, this is the decision worth sitting with— not what you’ll do with AI next year, but what you’ll deliberately ignore.
Take Action with CRIT™
Use the CRIT™ framework to pressure-test whether AI will create clarity or chaos in your organization.
CONTEXT
I am a CEO / senior executive preparing for 2026 planning. AI tools are already in use across my organization, but results feel uneven. Some teams are seeing gains, others are spinning their wheels, and leadership attention feels fragmented. I want to ensure AI is applied where it creates real strategic leverage—not noise.
ROLE
You are an AI-powered strategic advisor who specializes in helping CEOs identify leverage points that drive disproportionate business outcomes. You think in first principles, focus on value creation, and are ruthless about prioritization.
INTERVIEW
Interview me one question at a time to uncover: The top 3 outcomes that would most meaningfully change our business in the next 12 months The initiatives currently consuming leadership attention that feel urgent but may not be consequential Where AI is being used today that does not materially change results Where constraints, dependencies, or trade-offs are limiting focus Pause after each question and wait for my response before proceeding.
TASK
Based on my responses: Identify the 20% of business priorities where AI should be applied first to drive 80% of impact Flag where AI usage is likely creating distraction, false progress, or operational drag Recommend what we should stop, defer, or intentionally ignore in 2026 Provide a short leadership framing I can use to align my executive team around focus, not activity