Turning Curiosity into Capability—and Capability into Competitive Advantage
- JR
- Sep 15, 2025
- 4 min read
Vancouver, Oregon, September 15, 2025 — AI Only Works When It's Aligned to Your Strategy
The fastest-growing companies aren't the ones with the most tools—they're the ones with the clearest strategy. That conviction powered twin sessions in Vancouver, WA, and Vancouver, OR. Two rooms, one throughline: structural clarity first, then scale.
When AI is anchored to your positioning and buyer understanding, it stops being a buzzword and starts behaving like a force multiplier for growth, efficiency, and differentiation.
Event Results
Vancouver, WA
Content: 5.00
Deliverability: 5.00
Applicability: 5.00
Would Recommend: 100%
Vancouver, OR
Content: 4.64
Deliverability: 4.57
Applicability: 4.36
Would Recommend: 100%
What Leaders Said
"The presentation was fantastic. Brought high energy and kept our large group of 30 engaged. The material was top notch and very valuable to take back to the workplace."
"Powerful, and easy to understand and follow. I love that we got to create our own personas and then use them."
"Great for marketing; an expansion to operational use and how to use for efficiency would be nice."
"Being in finance, it was tougher following—an example in other functional areas would help."
"I'm feeling very excited… I am a disrupter!"
"Opened the door to AI tools knowledge—and to how much learning lies ahead."
"Very informative on the impact of AI agents and simple how-to implement!"
What the Rooms Revealed
The sessions provided insight into how leaders across finance, IT, operations, compliance, and marketing navigate AI's promise and pressure. Key truths emerged:
Energy is high; readiness is uneven.Many attendees are energized to move, but their organizations aren't uniformly prepared. This isn't just a skills problem—it's a systems and alignment problem. When leadership, KPIs, and data readiness are unclear, AI pilots stall or stay siloed.
Marketing examples land; cross-functional examples expand buy-in.Marketing is the easiest on-ramp. But finance, IT, compliance, and operations want function-specific proof points. The ask is clear: "Show me my use case and my KPI."
Hands-on persona building reduces fear and increases velocity.Creating buyer personas in real-time—then using them to draft messaging or communications—brings AI from abstract to applicable. Several leaders left saying persona-driven work will be their first 30-day sprint.
Survey Data: Current State of Adoption
If you wanted to run a 30-day AI pilot this month, what data do you have ready?
Most answers: "Scattered or siloed exports only" and "Nothing accessible yet"
Meaningful minority: "Raw data we could label if needed"
Which describes your current KPIs tied to AI?
Majority: "We don't have any KPIs tied to AI yet"
Minority: "At least one AI use case has a clear KPI, named owner, and review cadence"
What's the #1 outcome you want from AI?
Top three: Cost reduction, revenue growth, customer experience
Also cited: Talent/skills gap and risk & compliance
What feels like your #1 blocker?
Leaders cited: Talent/skills, data quality, tech stack/tools, leadership buy-in, budget, regulation/compliance
A 30-Day Pilot You Can Run Now
To make adoption tangible across all functions, here's a practical blueprint:
Week 1 — Define and Bound
Pick one buyer persona (tied to clearest revenue or cost lever)
Choose one journey moment to improve (first demo request, proposal follow-up, invoice dispute, compliance briefing)
Name the KPI and owner (conversion rate, cycle time, tickets resolved)
Inventory minimum viable data: where it lives, who exports it, how often
Week 2 — Draft and Test with Agents
Use a persona-trained AI agent to generate:
Messaging variants for your chosen moment
A micro-process (3-5 steps) that triggers the right message at the right time
Shadow-run for five business days with a small cohort
Collect qualitative notes
Week 3 — Instrument and Iterate
Add light instrumentation: shared dashboard or weekly KPI snapshot
Adjust prompts, content, and triggers based on what "actually saved time" or "actually moved the needle"
Week 4 — Decide and Scale
If the KPI moved, scale to adjacent team or second persona
If it didn't, identify whether blocker was data, clarity, or ownership—then fix exactly that and re-run
Document the play: owner, cadence, data source, change log, template library
Why this works: It prioritizes serving the right buyer at the right moment, ties each use case to measurable outcomes, and demonstrates value with minimal friction.
Addressing the Toughest Questions
"Great for marketing—show me efficiency beyond it."Use AI agents to summarize variance drivers for monthly finance close; generate compliance briefings tailored to leadership concerns; auto-draft SOP refreshes based on IT ticket patterns; route and resolve repetitive operational questions.
"I'm excited, but not advanced enough to keep up."Start with one persona, one moment, one KPI. The point isn't sophistication—it's repeatability.
"I worry leadership will push for AI without investing in foundations."Put a gate on every pilot: no KPI, no owner, no data path—no go. Executive sponsorship means resourcing the basics.
Building Internal AI Systems Generalists
These sessions revealed what leaders truly need: someone inside their organization who can move AI from experiment to execution with precision and discipline.
The Vancouver groups wanted operational intelligence—the capability to identify bottlenecks, build solutions, and drive measurable efficiency gains. They wanted internal leaders who could turn scattered AI experiments into repeatable competitive advantage.
GPS Summit transforms high-potential employees into AI Systems Generalists in three days. Your designated leader learns applied frameworks that create force multipliers—not theory, but structural capability.
The result: internal capability that answers "who owns our AI strategy" with clarity and speed to competency.
Ready to develop your internal AI leader?Enroll your high-potential employee in GPS Summit
Where Do You Need Clarity to Move First?
Every team in Vancouver left with momentum—but momentum only compounds when it's channeled.
Which one buyer, one journey moment, and one KPI—if improved—would most change your quarter? And how will you prove it in 30 days?
When AI is positioned to serve the right buyer and measured with proper outcomes, teams stop debating its value and start compounding it. That was the story in Vancouver. It can be yours next.
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