The Surprising Strategy Smart Leaders Use to Outpace Disruption In a world where AI is reshaping industries overnight, agility is a leader's greatest asset. The companies thriving aren't the fastest or the biggest, but the ones built to adapt.
By Michel Koopman Edited by Chelsea Brown
Key Takeaways
- Anticipate what's next, not just what's now.
- Strengthen your tech foundation before it's tested.
- Build an agile organization that frees your team to innovate.
- Understand that agility is a mindset, not just a model.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Nothing tests a leader like turbulence. Just ask the thousands of executives watching AI disrupt their industries. ChatGPT was released just two years ago; OpenAI reports it now sees over 400 million weekly users, with more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies integrating its tools. By comparison, the internet didn't reach this level of adoption until nearly a decade after its debut. That kind of acceleration isn't just impressive — it's disorienting. Nearly three-quarters of professionals globally say they feel overwhelmed by the current pace of change at work. So, how do leaders prepare for this level of disruption while managing the change required to unlock real value from new technologies?
There's a saying: You don't lose your job or your business to AI (or any "new technology" for that matter); you lose it to the person or competitor who learns how to use it better than you do. As AI drives unprecedented speed and efficiency, the real competitive threat isn't the technology itself, but the leaders who harness it first.
One thing is clear: Companies that can't adapt fast enough fall behind, no matter how brilliant their product or loyal their customer base. The key difference between the brands thriving through AI disruption and those scrambling to stay afloat? Leadership agility.
Agile leaders don't simply absorb change — they anticipate it, build for it and move through it with intentional speed. The good news? You don't need a C-suite full of technologists to lead this way. Here are three ways you can foster business agility right now:
Related: Here's Why Business Leaders Today Need to Have An Agile Mindset
1. Anticipate what's next, not just what's now
Reactive leaders chase problems. Proactive leaders predict them and pivot early enough to turn friction into advantage. This kind of leadership doesn't just respond to change; it creates the conditions to meet it strategically, before urgency takes over — especially as new AI-driven tools, old competitors and new market entrants can change the market landscape in weeks, not years.
One example: Zoom, once known mostly as a conferencing tool, anticipated that hybrid work wasn't going away. Instead of coasting on its pandemic-fueled popularity, it expanded into virtual collaboration, AI note-taking and whiteboarding. That foresight helped the brand stay essential even as competitors caught up.
Similarly, leaders who recognize that AI can offload repetitive tasks, such as scheduling, data entry or note-taking, free their people to operate at the top of their license. In other words, by pushing repetitive, more tactical work to machines, humans can spend more time on strategic, creative or relationship-driven activities.
In executive coaching, for instance, senior coaches can now dedicate more time to meaningful conversations with clients because AI-powered summaries handle the note-taking. Or take nursing in hospitals and add in AI-video-based fall-risk detection. Now, nurses can spend less time watching patients and more time "top of their licenses" caring for them. These kinds of shifts allow teams to deliver more value, faster and at lower cost. And if your competitors embrace this before you do, they'll pull ahead.
The takeaway? Market signals rarely whisper for long. Pay attention closely, anticipate and move while you still have the advantage. Think about your industry, company and people. How might AI improve or replace some (or all) of what you do in the future? Then find ways to leverage new technology to level up what you do.
Related: How to Spot Trends and Anticipate Market Shifts Before Your Competition
2. Strengthen your tech foundation before it's tested
Agility doesn't come from reacting faster. It comes from building infrastructure that can flex under pressure, not crack. Too many businesses delay adopting new technologies until something breaks, opening themselves up to downtime, security threats and operational standstills. And in an AI-enabled environment where new platforms evolve rapidly, that lag can make the difference between staying relevant or falling behind.
Technical debt — the accumulation of outdated systems and patchwork fixes — can quietly slow a company to a crawl. But it's not just technology that creates drag. Procedural debt, or the tendency to keep doing things the "old" way simply because that's how it's always been done, can be just as dangerous. Legacy processes layered with workarounds become a hidden barrier to speed and innovation, trapping organizations in patterns that no longer serve their goals.
By confronting both technical and procedural debt early, leaders clear the path for true agility. This proactive approach ensures their teams and systems are ready to pivot, scale and seize opportunities without being held back by outdated tools or entrenched habits.
As Thomas Koll, CEO of Laplink Software, puts it: "Forward-thinking companies are moving away from reactive tech upgrades and instead building resilient, adaptable infrastructures that support continuous AI adoption — including AI PCs — as part of an ongoing evolution. This empowers professionals to experience fewer technical disruptions, be ready for new AI tools right on their desktops and focus on innovating and streamlining business workflows."
Building a resilient, AI-ready organization isn't just a technical necessity. It's a strategic move to empower your team to do higher-value work. When leaders implement systems that incorporate AI thoughtfully, they enable employees to focus on tasks that require human judgment, emotional intelligence and creative problem-solving. This sets a new standard for productivity and innovation that competitors will quickly match (or exceed) if you don't move first.
Strong tech foundations aren't about shiny tools; they're about keeping your people and systems ready for the next pivot, before it's forced on you.
3. Build an agile organization that frees your team to innovate
Agility isn't just about having the right technology and processes. It's about creating an organizational structure that keeps teams flexible, focused and forward-looking.
Rigid hierarchies, overcomplicated approval chains and outdated workflows weigh down progress. Leaders who prioritize process agility create space for innovation by reducing daily friction. This might mean empowering teams to make faster decisions, rethinking how information flows or eliminating bottlenecks that slow execution.
Spotify offers a compelling model. As the company scaled, it pioneered the use of squads: small, cross-functional teams with end-to-end responsibility for a feature or product area. Each squad operates like a mini-startup, empowered to make decisions independently, experiment with ideas and release updates without getting bogged down in centralized approvals. By combining autonomy with a shared mission, Spotify's squads keep collaboration tight and innovation fast, helping the company respond quickly to user needs and industry trends.
Leaders who clear these kinds of roadblocks give their teams room to solve problems before they become crises and room to experiment before competitors do.
Related: Your Business Will Fail Without Innovation — Here's How to Weave It Into Your Culture
Agility is a mindset, not just a model
In a market where AI is accelerating change faster than ever, agility isn't optional. The most successful companies aren't the ones that dodge disruption altogether. They're the ones whose leaders build the muscle to adapt and empower their teams to stay ahead.
Remember: AI adoption isn't about replacing people, but about amplifying them. By delegating lower-value tasks to AI, you unlock your team's potential to operate strategically and empathetically — capabilities no algorithm can truly replicate. Companies that seize this opportunity will position themselves to innovate continuously, while those who hesitate risk being left behind by faster, more adaptive competitors.
Whether you're refining your tech stack, streamlining how your team works or scanning the horizon for what's next, every decision you make sets the tone for how your business handles change. Lead with agility, and your company won't just survive the next shift — it'll shape what comes after.
