AI Agent & Copilot Podcast Special Report: C5 Insight’s Geoff Ables on Leadership, AI, Customer Outcomes

In this AI Agent & Copilot Podcast Special Report, John Siefert hosts Geoff Ables, CEO, Managing Partner, C5 Insight, for a conversation on the value of leadership, the transformative impact of AI, and notable customer outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• Impact of AI: With virtually everyone being curious about AI, Ables notes how “every single job in every single organization” will be impacted by AI. “It really is transformative, and most executives sense that and see it.” However, many executives have also experienced the rise of PCs, the internet, the cloud, and other technology revolutions. “There’s this guarded edge of how soon and how far do I dive in,” Ables acknowledges. It takes time to adapt to change.
• Leadership and vision: The core role of leadership, Ables says, is having a vision for the future. Leaders have to manage mindset changes as technology continues evolving, requiring the ability to have a sense of how that change integrates with what’s happening within an organization. Leadership requires being engaged, having mentors, building a road, and defining that vision so team members know how to move forward.
• Managing priorities: Keeping up with priorities can be challenging. Ables suggests that managing priorities is as simple as three elements that an organization needs to go through: ready, aim, and fire. These don’t even have to be done in order. For instance, a business could start with “fire” by creating a sandbox to play and engage with the technology, fostering a safe space to start learning and doing things. Having a toolbox to get started can help propel your vision.
• 365 Leadership Summit: C5 Insights is hosting its 365 Leadership Summit on September 18-19 in Denver, Colorado. The event is for business leaders and innovation influencers driving digital change within their organizations, with an emphasis on AI and digital transformation. There will be three tracks available focused on timeless topics that leadership needs to think about.
• Customer outcomes: There are a few things that C5 Insights is learning from its clients. The first is process automation, which is a little more human now as it allows decision-making to happen. AI will be helping with that now as well. They hear a lot about efficiency from clients, especially with the integration of Copilot. Clients often report an increase in quality. They also hear from clients that they are expanding their roles within their organizations as they have been able to do more or add more value than they had been able to do before.
• Upcoming Summits: For those in the partner community of the Microsoft ecosystem, Geoff Ables will be speaking at the Biz Apps Partner Executive Summit on July 23-24 in Bellevue, Washington. The event will highlight redefining the partner opportunity for partners in the Microsoft ecosystem. He will also be at Community Summit North America on October 19-23 in Orlando, Florida.