AI Strategy Puts Business Decision Power to the Test

Irvine-area business leaders said companies should apply artificial intelligence to concrete business problems, involve employees openly and rethink decision-making structures as they grow. They warned that financial reports can trail changes in customer behavior and employee retention, leaving leaders to choose amid fast-moving economic and technological shifts.

What Leaders Should Measure

David Coffaro, President & CEO of the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce, moderated the discussion. He began with a contrast: Wall Street’s economic indicators looked strong, while Main Street remained uncertain.

Eric Gallagher, Partner at Withum, said change itself wasn’t the challenge; the speed of change was. “I don't see that people are struggling with change itself. Change has always existed, but I think what's different now is the pace of change and leaders and decision-makers are trying to navigate that as they try to make decisions on where to place their bets.”

Gallagher cautioned companies not to choose technology out of fear of missing out. Rather than asking which AI tool to buy, he said, leaders should first name the business problems they need to solve, then decide whether AI or another available solution can meet those objectives.

Colin Fraser, Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, said executives should track customer behavior at the margins and consider where strong employees might go. Financial results, he said, are “necessarily a lagging indicator.” Leaders could learn from newer customers, not just loyal core customers, and pay attention to signs that their best employees may be looking elsewhere.

Decision Power and Business Risk

Gallagher said growth can expose a mismatch between a company’s structure and its scale. One warning sign, he said, comes when a single person still holds most decision-making power. As complexity increases, a company may find that one person’s authority can’t support its ability to scale.

Fraser said contracts drafted when a company was smaller can create risk as it expands. He pointed to intellectual-property protection, liability and data security as possible concerns, and said businesses should review and update contracts regularly instead of waiting for problems. Outdated contracts, he said, can figure in lawsuits.

The speakers drew a distinction between choices that cost little to reverse and decisions with lasting consequences and high costs. Fraser said leaders should act quickly on fixable, low-cost decisions, then adjust as they go. For decisions that are costly and hard to reverse, he called for disciplined judgment, thorough input and expert advice to manage legal or organizational risks.

Waiting for complete information can make a decision too late, Gallagher said. “The goal is not to eliminate uncertainty,” he said. Leaders should use the best information they have, make a choice and review the outcome afterward.

AI, Values and Employee Involvement

Fraser said core principles and values can endure as markets change, even when organizations need to rethink their structures. At a law firm, he said, integrity and judgment remain prized, including in an AI environment; hierarchy, though, may need another look.

He warned that AI can amplify employees’ talent or replace independent thought. If workers pass off AI-generated ideas as their own, Fraser said, “everyone else already has them because they're all using the same AI tools.” AI, he said, is a central strategic priority, not just an IT concern, and calls for ongoing education across the company and direction from executives.

Fraser said involving employees broadly and communicating openly can help head off fatigue or disengagement during major changes. “Be transparent about what you don't know and what you do know,” he said.

Gallagher advised business leaders who haven't tried AI to pick a time-consuming task and see whether they can automate it, making the work faster or better while freeing employees from mundane tasks. Fraser urged leaders to question one assumption, preferably a structural one. Coffaro ended with a reminder: “Change is not an event. It's an ongoing process.”