The Digital Transformation Playbook

Kieran Gilmurray

Kieran Gilmurray is a globally recognised authority on Artificial Intelligence, intelligent automation, data analytics, agentic AI, leadership development and digital transformation. He has authored four influential books and hundreds of articles that have shaped industry perspectives on digital transformation, data analytics, intelligent automation, agentic AI, leadership and artificial intelligence. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 does Kieran do❓When Kieran is not chairing international conferences, serving as a fractional CTO or Chief AI Officer, he is  delivering AI, leadership, and strategy masterclasses to governments and industry leaders.  His team global businesses drive AI, agentic ai, digital transformation, leadership and innovation programs that deliver tangible business results.🏆 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: 🔹Top 25 Thought Leader Generative AI 2025  🔹Top 25 Thought Leader Companies on Generative AI 2025  🔹Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Agentic AI 2025🔹Top 100 Thought Leader Agentic AI 2025 🔹Top 100 Thought Leader Legal AI 2025🔹Team of the Year at the UK IT Industry Awards🔹Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Generative AI 2024 🔹Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Manufacturing 2024🔹Best LinkedIn Influencers Artificial Intelligence and Marketing 2024🔹Seven-time LinkedIn Top Voice.🔹Top 14 people to follow in data in 2023.🔹World's Top 200 Business and Technology Innovators. 🔹Top 50 Intelligent Automation Influencers. 🔹Top 50 Brand Ambassadors. 🔹Global Intelligent Automation Award Winner.🔹Top 20 Data Pros you NEED to follow. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 Kieran's team to get business results, not excuses.☎️ https://calendly.com/kierangilmurray/30min ✉️ kieran@gilmurray.co.uk  🌍 www.KieranGilmurray.com📘 Kieran Gilmurray | LinkedIn

  1. 21 Jul

    The Biggest Mistake Scaling Companies Make With Talent

    AI can make work faster, but faster is not the same as better. We sit down to look at the talent landscape 2030 through a practical lens: what work will still need doing, what skills will matter most, and why so many organisations are mistaking tool rollouts for real transformation. If 2030 feels far away, it is not, and the choices we make now will shape whether we build capability or spend the next few years firefighting. TL;DR / At A Glance shifting workforce planning from roles and headcount to work, skills, and capabilitywhy layering AI on top of old workflows creates faster output but not better outcomesthe middle manager squeeze: quality control, bias checking, and coaching under pressurepreserving entry-level learning by designing deliberate practice and critical thinkingtraining as part of the operating model rather than a once-a-year development eventbuilding internal talent pools and smarter hiring for hybrid AI plus domain rolespsychological safety, fear of job loss, and the burnout risks of removing “breathing space”using AI to improve decision quality by 1% every day across the organisationWe dig into the hard truth we see across sectors: AI often gets layered on top of the usual way of working, creating a “fast car in traffic” problem. The result is pressure in the middle, with managers acting as the buffer between executive promises of efficiency and the reality of nervous teams, messy processes, and quality risks.  We talk about “AI slop”, why managers end up checking accuracy, relevance, and bias, and how juniors can lose the learning loops that build judgement, resilience, and professional confidence. From there, we move into what actually helps: redesigning workflows, planning for skills not job titles, and treating learning and development as part of the operating model.  We explore internal talent pools, smarter hiring for hybrid AI plus domain expertise, and the role of psychological safety when staff fear that “efficiency” really means job cuts.  The big takeaway is simple: use AI to augment thinking, create time for deep practice, and improve decision quality by 1% every day across the business. If you want a clearer, more human approach to workforce planning, people leadership, and AI strategy for 2030, listen now.  Want to learn more about human centred leadership? Then go to my new 8 part series on the Human Operating Model Human AI Operating System a guide to how modern businesses need to be shaped to win in the era of AI. Subscribe, share with a manager who is feeling the squeeze, and leave us a review with the one work process you would redesign first. Support the show 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 my team and I to get business results, not excuses. ☎️ https://calendly.com/kierangilmurray/results-not-excuses ✉️ kieran@gilmurray.co.uk 🌍 www.KieranGilmurray.com 📘 Kieran Gilmurray | LinkedIn 🦉 X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/KieranGilmurray 📽 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KieranGilmurray 📕 Want to learn more about agentic AI then read my new book on Agentic AI and the Future of Work https://tinyurl.com/MyBooksOnAmazonUK

    The Biggest Mistake Scaling Companies Make With Talent
  2. 16 Jul

    Candid Feedback Should Be Normal, Not Dramatic - Here's Why Leaders Fail

    The most dangerous thing in a workplace is not a lack of talent. It is the gap between what leaders say they want and what people experience when they try to deliver it. TL;DR / At A Glance: • a gap between asking for ownership and creating the conditions for it • leadership avoidance and the cost of dodging hard conversations • why candid feedback should be normal not dramatic • feedback as continuous coaching through better questions • defining leadership from the board to the front line • perception gaps where senior intent does not match junior experience • role modelling openness by acknowledging challenge and changing your mind • psychological safety built by how we respond to feedback Kieran Gilmurray and Laura Lawless get provocative about “adults in the room” and why accountability often collapses in modern organisations. Teams are told to take ownership, speak up, and challenge decisions, yet many systems still run on outdated rules, meeting theatre, and unspoken consequences. We talk about leadership avoidance, the politics that punish honesty, and why no amount of AI, strategy decks, or new buzzwords can fix poor management behaviours. From there we get practical. We unpack radically candid feedback that strengthens performance without turning every conversation into vinegar, and we explore psychological safety as something you can observe in real time: how a leader reacts when challenged, whether they defend immediately, and whether they act on what they hear. We also dig into curiosity and decision intelligence, why great leaders ask better questions, and how small changes in language can unlock better thinking, better engagement, and better results. You will leave with experiments you can run fast: design a “bad leadership meeting” on purpose to surface patterns, introduce a red card rule to stop avoidance in the moment, and replace autopilot check-ins with questions that create clarity.  If you are stuck in a toxic culture, we also share ways to make a small difference while you build credibility and plan your next move.  Subscribe, share with a leader who needs to hear it, and leave us a review with the question you want your workplace to ask more often. Support the show 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 my team and I to get business results, not excuses. ☎️ https://calendly.com/kierangilmurray/results-not-excuses ✉️ kieran@gilmurray.co.uk 🌍 www.KieranGilmurray.com 📘 Kieran Gilmurray | LinkedIn 🦉 X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/KieranGilmurray 📽 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KieranGilmurray 📕 Want to learn more about agentic AI then read my new book on Agentic AI and the Future of Work https://tinyurl.com/MyBooksOnAmazonUK

    Candid Feedback Should Be Normal, Not Dramatic - Here's Why Leaders Fail
  3. 14 Jul

    Why AI Adoption Is Missing This Critical Piece | IBM Partner Plus

    #IBMPartner Generative AI is easy to try and hard to run safely. If you’ve ever watched a brilliant demo fall apart when it hits real data, real users, and real governance, this conversation is for you.  We sit down with Brian Syring, Director of Sales at TechD, to get practical about what enterprise AI adoption actually demands and why trust becomes the deciding factor when GenAI still feels like a black box to many leaders.  We cover:  Unpack what it means to be an IBM Gold business partner and how TechD works as an extension of IBM across pre-sales, delivery, and ongoing management. Brian shares what he’s seeing in the market, especially the surge of interest in IBM Watsonx and the wider generative AI platform approach, where organisations want flexibility, security, and strong governance rather than a one-size-fits-all tool. Aligning AI programmes to business outcomes such as time saved, cost reduced, and better decisions.Replacing spreadsheet-driven operations with secure, scalable systems to improve auditability and resilience.We also dig into the cultural shift: aligning senior stakeholders, defining the ROI, and ensuring employees truly adopt the new ways of working. We finish with a look at what’s next on IBM’s roadmap, including orchestration capabilities and the longer-term excitement around quantum. The most actionable part is the reality check on why AI programmes stall: the data. Clean, secure, trustworthy data is the foundation for reliable outputs, and without it you get “garbage in, garbage out” at scale.    If you found this useful, subscribe, share it with a colleague who owns AI delivery, and leave a review with the biggest blocker you’re facing in taking GenAI from pilot to production. Learn more about IBM Partner Plus: https://ibm.biz/~xQR9HYClh   Watch this on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NHZ4Bz9NZR0     #IBMPartnerPlus #AIAdoption #ArtificialIntelligence #HybridCloud #Automation Support the show 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 my team and I to get business results, not excuses. ☎️ https://calendly.com/kierangilmurray/results-not-excuses ✉️ kieran@gilmurray.co.uk 🌍 www.KieranGilmurray.com 📘 Kieran Gilmurray | LinkedIn 🦉 X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/KieranGilmurray 📽 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KieranGilmurray 📕 Want to learn more about agentic AI then read my new book on Agentic AI and the Future of Work https://tinyurl.com/MyBooksOnAmazonUK

    Why AI Adoption Is Missing This Critical Piece | IBM Partner Plus

About

Kieran Gilmurray is a globally recognised authority on Artificial Intelligence, intelligent automation, data analytics, agentic AI, leadership development and digital transformation. He has authored four influential books and hundreds of articles that have shaped industry perspectives on digital transformation, data analytics, intelligent automation, agentic AI, leadership and artificial intelligence. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 does Kieran do❓When Kieran is not chairing international conferences, serving as a fractional CTO or Chief AI Officer, he is  delivering AI, leadership, and strategy masterclasses to governments and industry leaders.  His team global businesses drive AI, agentic ai, digital transformation, leadership and innovation programs that deliver tangible business results.🏆 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: 🔹Top 25 Thought Leader Generative AI 2025  🔹Top 25 Thought Leader Companies on Generative AI 2025  🔹Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Agentic AI 2025🔹Top 100 Thought Leader Agentic AI 2025 🔹Top 100 Thought Leader Legal AI 2025🔹Team of the Year at the UK IT Industry Awards🔹Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Generative AI 2024 🔹Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Manufacturing 2024🔹Best LinkedIn Influencers Artificial Intelligence and Marketing 2024🔹Seven-time LinkedIn Top Voice.🔹Top 14 people to follow in data in 2023.🔹World's Top 200 Business and Technology Innovators. 🔹Top 50 Intelligent Automation Influencers. 🔹Top 50 Brand Ambassadors. 🔹Global Intelligent Automation Award Winner.🔹Top 20 Data Pros you NEED to follow. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 Kieran's team to get business results, not excuses.☎️ https://calendly.com/kierangilmurray/30min ✉️ kieran@gilmurray.co.uk  🌍 www.KieranGilmurray.com📘 Kieran Gilmurray | LinkedIn