“I need to talk to someone who gets it.” Why Your Next Forum Could Decide the Future of Your Company in the Age of AI
2025-06-11 13:25
Yesterday, on a call with an EO member, I heard a phrase that’s becoming more and more common: “I need to talk to someone who really gets this.”
He shared how his 150-person team is implementing AI—but while 92% of companies are increasing their AI investments, only 10% consider themselves mature in using it (source: McKinsey, Dec 2024). His company is generating $8M in revenue and growing 40% annually. And yet, he feels like he’s playing a game where the rules change every week.
“No one around me truly understands the scale of what’s happening,” he said.
“My friends think AI is just ChatGPT for writing emails. My board is full of people who built businesses in the pre-internet era. And I feel like I’m building a plane mid-flight.”
If you’re an EO member, you’ve already won the first round of entrepreneurship. You’ve done what 99% never do—turn uncertainty into results.
But the AI era isn’t just about new tools. It’s about rewriting the DNA of business. And your old mental models might be your biggest liabilities.
“It is said, ‘It’s lonely at the top,’ and EO gave me a platform where vulnerability met experience.”
— Vipul Jain, EO Gurgaon
But that isolation has taken a new form.
We used to feel isolated from people who didn’t know what it’s like to make payroll for 50+ employees.
Now we’re isolated even from other entrepreneurs—those who don’t grasp the exponential nature of AI.
The Illusion of “We’ll Figure It Out”
A fellow EO member recently said,
“We’ve got 80 people, $12M in revenue, and we’ve weathered every tech wave. We’ll figure out AI too.”
The problem?
AI is evolving faster than most companies can adapt. AI-native startups are redefining entrepreneurship through accelerated scale.
Reality check: While you're "figuring it out," someone in a garage is building something that could make 50% of your team redundant—not fired, just obsolete—in 6 months.
Forum Question: At your last Forum, did anyone raise AI not as a tool, but as a fundamental shift in how business works?
Underestimating the Pace of Change in Your Own Industry
Lumen uses Microsoft Copilot to analyze sales data, reducing processes that once took hours to just minutes. This adoption has led to substantial time and cost savings, according to Microsoft case studies.
But the real story isn’t speed. It’s that the nature of competitive advantage is changing.
It used to be about team experience, networks, and capital.
Now? It’s about how fast your systems can learn. AI agents can double your team’s capacity in sales and support—and compress time to market like never before.
Forum Prompt: Ask your group,
“If someone launched our business from scratch today using AI from day one, how long would it take them to catch up?”
False Confidence in Your “Moats”
“I’ve got 15 years of client relationships, deep industry expertise, and proven processes.”
I hear this at nearly every EO event.
But as Wharton’s Ethan Mollick notes:
"Generative AI is now widely available, giving individuals and organizations around the world access to powerful tools for coding, communication, and productivity—transforming the landscape of global competition."
The painful truth: Your “moats” could become prison walls if they slow your ability to adapt.
Forum Thinking in the AI Era: New Rules for Vulnerability
In Forum, we “share experiences, not advice; practice humility and beginner’s mind; listen with head and heart.”
But in the age of AI, experience can be a trap.
From “I’ve been through this” to “No one has been through this”
Forum strength used to come from shared past experiences.
Today, no one has been through what we’re facing now.
What if we add a new sharing format:
Not “when I went through something similar,” but
“Here are the questions I’m asking myself…”
“Here’s what I’m most afraid of right now…”
Explore the Unknown—Together
There are five breakthrough technologies shaping the next wave of AI impact:
Forum Experiment: For the next 3 meetings, have each member bring one “crazy” idea for how AI could disrupt your business model.
Not how AI helps—but how it might replace what you do.
Leverage EO to Navigate the Age of AI
Opportunity #1: Cross-Chapter AI Intelligence
With 19,774 members in 220 chapters across 61 countries, EO is the world’s most powerful business intelligence network for understanding AI’s industry-specific impact.
Action Step: Form an AI Alliance with EO members from other chapters in your core verticals.
Hold monthly 30-minute calls to exchange insights on how AI is reshaping your markets.
Opportunity #2: EO Universities 2.0
EO Universities have connected entrepreneurs with thought leaders and visionaries for over 30 years.
But most speakers talk about AI in vague terms.
Proposal for your chapter:
Host an AI-Native EO University—not with AI “gurus,” but with EO entrepreneurs who have already transformed their businesses using AI.
Focus on case studies, ROI, and mistakes.
Opportunity #3: MyEO for AI Experiments
MyEO lets you form interest- and industry-based groups.
Use it to launch experimental AI projects.
Tactical idea:
Create an AI Experiments Club — 8–12 EO entrepreneurs who launch one small AI test in their companies each month and share results.
No theory—just practice.
Your EO membership isn’t just a network.
It’s the most powerful early-warning system for how AI is reshaping the future of business.
“Speakers are great, but the real value is in the hallway conversation that unlocks something you didn’t even know you needed.”
Now, those hallway conversations could literally transform—or save—your business.
“Learning is rocket fuel for growth. Stepping into leadership within EO changed how I grow my business and see the world.”
In the age of AI, that’s not just a quote.
It’s survival.
One last question:
If your top competitor says three years from now,
“The turning point came when I started using EO to navigate the AI shift,”
what will you do tomorrow to make sure that competitor is you?
Because in the AI era, decision-making alone is not just lonely—it’s existentially dangerous.