AI Advice Keeps Irvine Business Leaders in Control

Irvine-area business leaders urged companies to use artificial intelligence to address specific business problems. They also warned that employee turnover and shifts in customer behavior can reveal trouble before financial reports do. The panelists said companies should involve employees transparently as they adapt, though executives and business owners drove most of the discussion.

What Leaders Watch

David Coffaro, President & CEO of the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce, moderated the discussion. Colin Fraser, Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, and Eric Gallagher, Partner at Withum, spoke on the panel. Fraser litigates real estate, intellectual property and appellate law. Gallagher is an audit partner with more than 25 years of experience in accounting, external auditing and business advisory services.

Coffaro began by describing the gap between strong Wall Street economic indicators and uncertainty on Main Street. Gallagher said decision-makers face the speed of change. “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 against choosing technology simply because they fear missing out. “Instead of asking yourself which AI tool should we be investing in, perhaps the better question to ask is: ‘What business problems are we trying to solve here?’” He said firms should first identify their objectives, then consider possible solutions, including AI.

Fraser urged executives to look past financial results, which he called a lagging indicator. They should watch newer customers and consider where their strongest employees might go next. “It's not their core customers who are loyal no matter what,” he said, describing the need to track customer behavior on the margins.

Structures, Contracts and Labor

Gallagher said a company may have outgrown its structure if one person still holds concentrated decision-making power. Growth brings complexity, he said, and a system in which a single person makes decisions may no longer fit.

Fraser warned that contracts drafted when a company was small can cause problems as it grows. He pointed to intellectual-property protection, liability and data security as areas of risk. Companies should review and update contracts periodically, he said, rather than wait for problems to arise.

On organizational values, Fraser said principles such as integrity and judgment should endure as markets change. Hierarchical structures may need rethinking. The discussion identified employee turnover as a signal for leaders to monitor, but no worker or union representative appeared among the listed speakers.

AI and Employee Participation

Fraser drew a distinction between using AI to amplify employees’ abilities and using it as a substitute for thought. “It's not their ideas that are being presented, it is the AI's ideas,” he said, adding that people using the same tools may produce similar ideas. He called AI a strategic priority that requires executive direction and company-wide education, not just attention from IT.

Fraser urged broad employee participation and transparency during major changes. “Keeping everyone involved in the decision-making process about how it works is probably the most important way,” he said. He also advised leaders to be transparent about what they know and don't know.

Gallagher recommended starting with a time-consuming task and finding ways to automate it. Fraser urged leaders to reconsider one assumption, preferably a structural one. Waiting for complete information could leave decision-makers too late, Gallagher said; he advised using the best available information, making a decision and evaluating the result afterward.