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Tagged with: #tech-trends

Posts tagged with #tech-trends translate industry developments into actionable strategies tailored to your organisation’s specific context.

The Year AI Grew Up: Five Inflections That Changed the Strategic Calculus in 2025

Washington DC | Published in AI and Board | 14 minute read |    
A sleek white humanoid robot sits among business executives in suits around a polished boardroom table, with documents and laptops before them and a city skyline bathed in golden sunrise light visible through floor-to-ceiling windows, symbolising AI's transition from experimental technology to strategic infrastructure with a seat at the Board table. (Image generated by ChatGPT 5.2)

In 2025 Boardrooms saw a collective shift in how they thought about AI’s role. What they spent 2023 and 2024 reacting to became a question of strategic investment in organisational infrastructure. They moved from “what can it do?” and “should we use it?” to “how do we navigate competing pressures and make this core to how we operate?” In this article, I examine the five interconnected inflections that drove this shift — and what they mean for Boards entering 2026.

Beyond the hype: Unlocking the true potential of AI in business

Washington D.C. | Published in AI and Board | 10 minute read |    
Modern office with AI technologies: holographic charts, chatbots, neural networks, robots, cameras, digital brains, pricing models, and digital art tools. Diverse professionals collaborate in a high-tech, futuristic setting (Image generated by ChatGPT 4o).

In the wake of the meteoric rise of generative AI, it’s easy to get swept up in the hype and believe that this single branch of artificial intelligence (AI) is the whole story. Platforms like ChatGPT have undeniably captured the public imagination, marking the first mass consumerisation of AI technology. However, focusing solely on generative AI risks overshadowing the diverse and equally transformative types of AI that have been quietly but powerfully driving business innovation.

Mario Thomas

About Me

I'm a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD) with three decades bridging software engineering, entrepreneurial leadership, and enterprise transformation. As Head of Applied AI & Emerging Technology Strategy at Amazon Web Services (AWS), I lead how AWS enables its global field organisation and clients to accelerate AI adoption and navigate continuous technological disruption.

An alumnus of the London School of Economics and guest lecturer on the LSE Data Science & AI for Executives programme, I partner with Boards and executive teams to develop the strategic fluency and governance disciplines needed to scale advanced technologies responsibly.

My frameworks — the AI Stages of Adoption (AISA), Five Pillars of AI Capability, and Well-Advised — are adopted internationally in enterprise engagements and cited by professional bodies including the IoD.

This work has enabled organisations to move AI from experimentation to enterprise-scale impact, shaping responsible adoption practice across multiple sectors and geographies.

I'm an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner I'm an AWS Certified AI Practitioner I'm an AWS Certified AI Practitioner Early Adopter

What I'm Currently Reading

Cover of Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation

"Boom" reframes financial bubbles as engines of breakthrough innovation - a pattern visible today in AI's investment surge and likely next in quantum, challenging conventional Board wisdom on speculation, risk, and transformative progress." See what else I've been reading.

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