The AI-Driven Leader

Most CEOs hear about AI and delegate it to IT or HR. Manuel Diez did the opposite.In this episode, Geoff Woods sits down with Manuel Diez, CEO of Grupo Diesco, the Dominican Republic-based leader in plastics packaging and non-alcoholic beverages operating across the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and the southeastern US.Manuel had already budgeted for an AI hire when he had a realization: if AI was going to transform the business, it couldn't be delegated. So he told his executive team, "I just hired that person. That person is me." What followed was a six-month transformation, from a non-technical CEO learning to use AI as a thought partner™, to rebuilding how the executive committee runs, to embedding an AI driven execution system across the company.In this conversation:The Eric Schmidt moment that convinced Manuel AI is underhyped, not overhypedWhy he cancelled the AI hire and took the job himselfHow the leadership team validated an AI driven strategy in two hours instead of monthsThe humbling meeting report that exposed the company's biggest bottleneckWhy the executive committee, not a use case list, was the first thing to fixThe 20% discipline: using AI and CRIT™ (Context, Role, Interview, Task) to focus on what actually drives the businessReal ROI: budget projections that used to swing wildly now landing within 2 to 3%You'll learn:Why delegating AI is the most common mistake CEOs makeHow Manuel got past the fear of being non-technical: the only way to start is to startThe blunt outside report that made him defensive, then changed everythingWhy they said "not now" to 150 AI use cases and fixed one meeting insteadThe 20% discipline and the CRIT™ prompt (Context, Role, Interview, Task) any leader can copy todayThe results: budget projections that used to miss wildly now landing within 2 to 3%If you know AI is the future but feel behind, Manuel's advice is simple: it's never too late to start, but every month you wait, you lose time you can't get back.Get The AI-Driven Leader: https://aileadership.com/book

Stephan Gratziani spent 32 years as a Herbalife distributor before becoming CEO of the $5 billion global company. When he stepped into the corporate world, his first earnings call went so badly he slept in the office. His second attempt was nearly a disaster. Then he found a better way: using AI as a thought partner™ to take everything he needed to communicate and deliver it in his own voice.In this episode, recorded live in Vienna after Geoff and Stephan trained 4,000 top Herbalife distributors, they discuss what it takes to drive AI transformation from the top of a global organization.You'll learn:How Stephan went from AI skeptic's process to holding his executive team to an AI-driven standardThe moment his writers went from fearing replacement to refusing to work without itHow Herbalife used Speed to Alignment™ to align global market leaders in 2 hours, a process that used to take monthsThe strategy behind transforming a 45-year-old direct sales company into a health and wellness platformWhy the winning move is building AI that makes the human irreplaceable

What does it take to move from “I don’t know where to start” to “I’m going to lead this”?That’s the journey we’ve taken together in Season One of The AI-Driven Leader. Across 12 episodes, you’ve heard from six executives who began where so many leaders are today — curious, cautious, even skeptical. And you’ve witnessed their transformation: from hesitation to bold action.In every interview, they shared the doubts, turning points, and decisions that changed everything. And in every CRIT™ session, you saw what happens when AI stops being a gimmick and starts acting as a true Thought Partner — surfacing non-obvious solutions in minutes, not months.The lesson is clear: you don’t have to be an AI expert to lead in this new era. You just have to become an AI-driven leader. Someone willing to think differently, cast a vision, and lead change with the courage to act before the playbook is written.As Season One closes, keep the momentum going:Subscribe to our newsletter at AILeadership.com for weekly case studies and prompts.Read The AI-Driven Leader and put it in your executives’ hands.Explore how we help C-level leaders train their teams, join the Collective™, and tie AI strategy directly to enterprise value creation.Because here’s the truth: the future doesn’t wait, and neither should you.

In our last episode, he showed how vulnerability and courage turned skepticism into company-wide adoption. But in this CRIT™ session, the challenge was different: how do you keep excitement from stalling out in confusion?Through CRIT™, AI acted as a strategic advisor to his executive team. It surfaced the need for structured listening, a weekly AI narrative, and clear success gates. It pushed him to elevate a “big bet” team into a startup studio — not just to use AI, but to sell with AI.And then came the extraordinary moment: Abraham Lincoln, on his AI board, challenged him to write a human constitution for AI: “Man shall not be replaced, but released into his greatest potential.”The clarity that emerged in minutes would’ve taken months of consultants. His reaction said it all: “Outstanding, mind blowing at times.”Today’s AI-Driven Leader is Geoff Gilmore, President, CEO, and Director of Worthington Steel.

Imagine going from saying, “AI has no place in steel manufacturing”… to declaring, “It is my expectation that you use AI” across 6,000 employees — all in under six months.That’s exactly what happened when one leader flipped the switch. At first skeptical, he was convinced AI couldn’t touch a 65-year-old steel company. But a persistent senior leader put the right books in his hands — Co-Intelligence and The AI-Driven Leader — and suddenly, curiosity turned into conviction.Within months, he vulnerably admitted, “I wasn’t an expert, but I led anyway.” That courage gave his people permission to act. Pilots surged: predictive inventory, machine reliability, contract analyzers, and more — initiatives powerful enough to potentially move stock price. And through it all, he kept a people-first philosophy: “Work-life balance matters as much as stock price.”Today’s AI-Driven Leader is Geoff Gilmore, President, CEO, and Director of Worthington Steel.

In our last episode, they showed how AI liberated their team to focus on presence and strategy. But in this CRIT™ session, the stakes were higher: what happens when AI threatens to disrupt the very business model itself?Together, we put HireBetter’s flagship Strategic Talent Planning service under the microscope. Today, it’s a full-day, whiteboard-heavy, manual process. But through CRIT™, AI reimagined it as a real-time, AI-augmented copilot — powered by live financials, KPIs, and org charts.The result: strategy that updates continuously, while leaders provide the irreplaceable human trust and safe space for execution.Velveth captured the moment best: “Wake up. Do you know what we could do? This changes everything.”This is what happens when leaders stop fearing disruption and start using AI to redefine their value.

Imagine collapsing hours of client-note consolidation into a single minute — and freeing your team to focus on what only humans can do.That’s exactly what happened when two leaders decided to experiment with AI, not as a side project, but as a cultural transformation. One led with fearless curiosity, modeling adoption before asking her team to follow. The other paired process-driven creativity with custom GPTs that unlocked efficiency, strategy, and presence.The result? A recruiting firm that turned skepticism into advocacy, wrote its own AI policy, redesigned training with predictive data, and built a culture where automation handles the busywork — so people can show up more human, more connected, and more strategic.Today’s AI-Driven Leaders are Velveth Schmitz, CEO of HireBetter, and Amy Ancira, Chief Experience Officer.

In our last episode, he showed how AI doubled capacity, built new product lines, and reshaped his leadership at work and at home. But behind the success was a deeper challenge: how do you scale leadership itself, so growth doesn’t bottleneck around one person?That’s the question he brought into CRIT™. In this live session, AI stepped in as a strategic operator — taking the context of his leadership challenge and building a playbook to systematize what had only lived in his head. The outcome? Blind spots revealed, dashboards built, and a roadmap that made his leadership scalable across the company.The takeaway? With the right framework, AI doesn’t just design processes — it amplifies leaders, turning instinct into systems and vision into execution.Today’s AI-Driven Leader is Brian Lang, CEO of UpsideCFO.

What if you could add ten senior-level teammates for just $20 a month?That's exactly what one CEO did. His breakthrough came after realizing AI wasn't just for emails and edits — it could be a thought partner. He built an internal suite of AI personas: a virtual CRO that recovered lost deals, a business coach tailored to his style, and a system called the "Clarity File" that transformed an 80-hour process into a 4-hour playbook.The result? Hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing collateral generated, operations scaled without new headcount, and a new way of showing up as a father. His lesson is clear: AI isn't just a tool — it's a compounding force multiplier for leadership, business, and life.Today's AI-Driven Leader is Brian Lang, CEO of UpsideCFO.

Most leaders come to CRIT™ with a problem. Rusty Cagle came with a vision: 100YearImpact.org — a nonprofit designed to help nonprofits build endowments and channel billions toward humanitarian causes.At first, he asked AI for strategies. But very quickly, the real challenge emerged: how do you recruit a Dream Team Advisory Board that could guide a movement for 100 years?Through CRIT™, AI drafted a world-class board invitation — then stress-tested it with role-play feedback from “Steve Jobs.” The verdict: “Too polite. If you’re going to shape history, build a revolution, not a charity.”The breakthrough was more than tactics. Rusty realized, “This board isn’t honorary. It’s legendary.” And his emotional payoff was clear: “I want to be part of my own board.”This is what CRIT™ makes possible — turning a vague idea into a movement with the power to last a century.