Brian Evergreen is a globally recognised authority on AI strategy and enterprise transformation. A former Microsoft AI strategist and Head of Autonomous AI Co-Innovation at Avanade, Brian has helped shape cutting-edge digital solutions for some of the world’s largest organisations.
As the bestselling author of “Autonomous Transformation: Creating a More Human Future in the Era of Artificial Intelligence,” Brian is a leading voice on the future of work. His insights have earned him recognition from Forbes, Fast Company, and the World Economic Forum, where he is part of the AI Governance Alliance.
In this exclusive interview with The Motivational Speakers Agency, Brian shares expert insights on the misconceptions surrounding AI, the future of autonomous transformation, and how leaders can use emerging technologies to create more human-centric workplaces.
Q: What are the most common misconceptions business leaders hold about the role of AI in modern organisations?
Brian Evergreen: “The biggest misconceptions that business leaders have around artificial intelligence often lie in the idea that data is the most important aspect of artificial intelligence.
“They’ve been told this by folks that are trying to sell data as part of their solution or part of their platform, which is very understandable—that’s what they would focus on. But when it comes to artificial intelligence, actually the most important element is expertise. The whole goal of AI is to recreate semblances of expertise that can be applied inside of a business context.
“And so, data, yes, is an asset that can be a part of that. But if you start with your data as opposed to starting with your expertise, it’s sort of like reading the exhaust fumes of a car and trying to figure out where it should go next, as opposed to first starting with your experts and determining what is it that we want to do with our business.
“How are we going to apply intelligence—both human intelligence and machine intelligence—to be able to do that effectively and then be able to build the actual solutions and products that you want to build to create value for your customers?”
Q: In what ways can companies integrate AI to support and elevate their workforce, rather than replace it?
Brian Evergreen: “The way that organisations can implement AI in a way that empowers their workforce rather than replaces their workforce is a question I get all the time, and I think it’s a really important one.
“What I’d say first and foremost is that cutting cost with AI is sort of like cave painting with AI. The real opportunity with artificial intelligence and these advanced technologies that we have at our disposal today is not just to cut costs on whatever existing value we’ve already created, but instead to raise and increase topline revenue and add new value—create new value—based on your core competency.
“And so that’s the first thing I say about how to double down on applying AI in a way that empowers your workforce.
“The second I would say is that it’s really a leadership question. People sometimes say, “Well, is AI coming for my job?”
“And the thing I always remind them of is AI has never come to a business and knocked on the door and said, “Hi, I’d like that person’s job and I’d like that person’s job.” Right—AI is not coming. It’s not embodied. It’s not looking for a job.
“And so the real question of whether or not AI—and how AI—will be implemented inside of an organisation comes down to the leadership and the decisions that leaders are making.
“And so I always remind folks: if you’re wondering how your AI is going to impact your own work, look to your leadership. If they’re the kind of leadership that say, “Hey, as we look at this era of technology and AI that we’re now entering, and we’re planning on using the same values that we always have, and we want to augment and extend the amount of value that we can create with AI,” you know you’re in a good place.”
Q: As the nature of work evolves, what key changes should business leaders be actively preparing for?
Brian Evergreen: “The biggest changes that businesses should prepare for—I would say one of the biggest ones is agentic intelligence.
“So we’re moving past the era of digital transformation into the era of autonomous transformation. Not where organisations autonomously transform, but where the mile marker has moved from going from analogue to digital, now toward autonomous.
“And by that I mean not fully autonomous—just like a business isn’t fully digital. There are still analogue assets, and there are people involved in every business. The same will be true as organisations move toward more and more autonomy.
“And so one of the biggest changes is agentic intelligence.
“When you think about the work that you do today—most organisations have a lot of robotic process automation. They have different digital processes, where you assign a task and start something, and then multiple different things happen online just automatically. That’s going to come to a new level when we have agentic intelligence.
“Instead of everything being automatically started by us or by something that’s triggered based off a certain condition, there will be AI agents inside of our organisations that will be able to sense when things are going on or when different dynamics are changing, and will be able to engage us.
“And, you know, over the weekend they can come to us first thing in the morning on Monday with a report of: these are all the different changes that have been noted; we’ve analysed this research question that you asked us on Friday; here are all these different things that we recommend and recommended actions and likely outcomes based on all of them.
“We’ll be able to approve, or say, “No, actually, will you dig deeper into that?” And so that’s one of the biggest shifts.
“Another big shift that’s coming is that the way that we work between organisations is going to completely shift.
“Today, if I wanted to work—let’s say I’m a manufacturer and someone says, “Can you manufacture us this many parts of this product by this date?”
“Depending on the size of the order, I might have to check upstream and call around and say, “Okay, can you get us this much of the raw material for us to be able to manufacture this by the date?”
“It can be very time-intensive to make all those different phone calls and interact between organisations in an entire value stream. So in the era of agentic intelligence, that can be answered in milliseconds.
“An agent on behalf of my organisation can interact with agents on behalf of my suppliers, and in a matter of milliseconds be able to answer the question and come back to the customer and say, “Yes, that’s something that we absolutely can do.”
This exclusive interview with Brian Evergreen was conducted by Mark Matthews of The Champions Speakers Agency.
