Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and one of the executives who helped scale the modern internet, made a comment last year that should stop every executive cold:
AI will change everything you know about your business in the next five years.
Not ten.
Five.
Today, I want to name the single most important leadership shift required before 2026—and why delaying it is already a strategic risk.
If you’re short on time, here’s the one-minute summary below 👇
The 20% Executive Summary
The most important leadership shift CEOs must make before 2026 is ownership.
AI is still being treated like an IT initiative, a tooling rollout, or a consulting project. But when a technology can reshape how decisions are made, how work is structured, and how advantage compounds, delegation becomes a liability.
If you wouldn’t delegate a five-year existential shift in your market, you can’t delegate AI.
Real transformation only happens when the CEO personally engages with the technology. The leaders who win aren’t the ones who “approved AI.” They’re the ones who use it themselves—and then lead from experience.
The Deeper Dive
Eric Schmidt isn’t an alarmist. He’s a former CEO who oversaw Google’s transformation from a promising startup into a global operating system for the internet.
When someone with that vantage point says a tidal wave is coming, the right response isn’t procurement. It’s preparation.
Yet most CEOs are still operating under an outdated mental model.
“We got everyone ChatGPT.”
“We rolled out Copilot.”
“Our IT team is figuring it out.”
“We hired a consultant.”
Those moves feel responsible. They also miss the point.
AI doesn’t change organizations from the bottom up. It changes them from the top down.
The real shift is this: the CEO must become an arm’s-length leader with AI. Close enough to use it every day. Far enough back to see how it reshapes judgment, systems, and strategy.
When you personally use AI to pressure-test decisions, explore scenarios, and sharpen thinking, two things happen.
Your leverage increases.
And your leadership becomes credible.
Leaders don’t drive change by telling people what tools to use. They do it by modeling a new way of thinking.
If you can’t clearly explain how AI makes you a better leader, your organization won’t know how to use it strategically. And if ownership stays abstract, AI remains a tool instead of becoming a capability.
2026 will reward the CEOs who stopped watching early and started practicing.
Take Action with CRIT™
Use the CRIT™ framework to define what CEO-level ownership of AI actually looks like for you:
CONTEXT
I’m a CEO preparing my organization for 2026. AI has the potential to reshape decision-making, roles, and strategy, but I haven’t fully defined my personal responsibility in leading that shift. My goal is not to become technical, but to become personally fluent enough with AI to lead credibly, model the behavior, and set the right strategic expectations for my organization.
ROLE
Act as an executive coach who works with CEOs navigating major technology-driven inflection points. You specialize in helping leaders move from delegation to ownership without turning them into operators. Your role is to challenge my assumptions, surface blind spots, and translate AI engagement into leadership leverage.
INTERVIEW
Ask me one question at a time (up to 5) to understand: • How I currently engage with AI personally • Where I still treat AI as a delegated or abstract capability • Which decisions I wish I had more clarity, speed, or confidence around • How my leadership team currently takes cues from my behavior • What success would look like if AI genuinely elevated my role as CEO
TASK
Based on my answers, do the following: 1. Define what “CEO ownership of AI” means specifically in my role and context 2. Identify the biggest gap between where I am today and where I need to be by 2026 3. Recommend 3 concrete ways I should be using AI personally on a daily or weekly basis 4. Explain how my personal AI usage should shape expectations, culture, and accountability across my leadership team 5. Summarize this into a clear leadership principle I can communicate internally Focus on clarity, leverage, and action. Avoid technical jargon, tool lists, or generic advice.