05-08-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

26 leaders discuss the shifting attitude toward AI

AI is becoming table stakes.

[Photo: Getty Images]

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of top leaders and experts who pay dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership, and more.

BY Fast Company Impact Council

Artificial intelligence is constantly in the news, and it’s one of the most talked about topics among our Fast Company Impact Council members. Its use and acceptance levels are changing daily, with company direction on how to approach it changing alongside that. Boards, leadership, teams, and customers are also reassessing AI usage in the workplace and in the work product. We asked our Impact Council members what kinds of attitude changes toward AI they are seeing in their ecosystem. This question drew an onslaught of replies—clearly a topic everyone has thoughts about. We are sharing 26 of their responses, ranging from the theoretical to unusual use cases.

1. MOVE AWAY FROM GENERIC USES

There’s a divide in how leaders are using it in their communications with teams and the public. There’s a group that is being more passively led by the capability, writing generic content which doesn’t actually sound like them, full of “it’s not this, it’s that,” and dramatic three-word sentences. Arguably it’s doing more harm than good for them. And then there’s a smaller group that is investing time in it to make the LLMs an extension of themselves, using it for their passions, creating custom GPTs, vibe coding useful web apps, training it how to write like them. And you can see them scaling their impact in a really cool way. — Neil Barrie, TwentyFirstCenturyBrand

2. FROM INVESTMENT TO OPERATIONALIZATION

Across the board, we’re seeing a shift from what AI investments you’ve made to how AI is operationalized, into process and workflows. Grand pronouncements about AI are meaningless if the benefits aren’t made tangible. For our teams, that translates to a shift from general AI training sessions to functional, role-based sharing of use cases and how AI can streamline work, save time, and drive efficiency, in practice versus theory. We’re also seeing a surprising dichotomy, especially in our younger staff, between those who fully embrace AI and those who are skeptical, if not resistant to AI based on its ethical and environmental impact. — Celia Jones, FINN Partners

3. AI’S IMPACT IS DRIVING URGENCY

There has been a clear shift in attitude toward AI across the board, especially among our customers. While education has traditionally adopted new technologies with caution, the profound impact AI is already having on the workforce is driving urgency. That urgency is accelerating experimentation, but it’s also raising the bar. Educators and institutions are no longer just exploring what AI can do. They are now asking how it can be applied in ways that meaningfully solve real challenges and drive improved learning outcomes. — Darren Person, Cengage

4. IT’S NOW EXPECTED, NOT EXPERIMENTAL

The conversation around AI has flipped. It’s no longer experimental, it’s expected. Boards and customers aren’t asking “if,” they’re asking, “where’s the impact?” Internally, our team members are moving faster than expected past the fear narrative to curiosity and adoption. — Steve Holdridge, Dayforce

5. IMPACTS TO GOVERNANCE

Governance leaders are shifting their focus from “How do we slow this down?” to “How do we move faster without losing control?” Because when governance doesn’t keep pace with AI’s speed and scale, the risk is both operational and existential. Businesses don’t just risk AI projects going live without proper guardrails—and the compliance and trust issues that follow. They also risk stalling innovation and losing ground to competitors. This reality is reshaping the mindset around AI governance, where speed is no longer a nice-to-have but a fundamental requirement. — Blake Brannon, OneTrust

Attitudes toward AI are shifting quickly. AI’s potential is strong, and it’s increasingly being used........

© Fast Company