Sunlight takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth.
Without it, there would be no life on this planet. No plants or animals, nothing. Only a barren wasteland. 

Now let’s imagine, for a second, that the sun stopped shining. This would mean our extinction, but we wouldn’t realize it immediately. For 8 minutes and 20 seconds, life would continue as normal. By the time we saw what happened, it would be too late. 

This is the situation many businesses are facing right now. 

AI has already shut off their lights, they just don’t know it yet. For the time being, they’re still going on as if nothing had changed — yet everything has changed. 

That’s why businesses need to wake up. They need to move to where the light is, before they’re in the dark. 

The AI reality

Enough with the hype. Let’s talk about the reality of AI.

AI is not “coming soon.” It’s already here, reshaping how and why we work. Every industry is experiencing this shift, including yours. 

Just a few examples:

• Healthcare: AI can interpret brain signals and turn thoughts into words — no invasive chip implants required.
  
  

• Finance: Algorithmic trading is happening at speeds and scales that go beyond human capability. Vast datasets and processes are no problem at all for AI. 

• Manufacturing: AI agents, machine learning, and Big Data are enabling autonomous supply chains that can plan, schedule, and run by themselves, with minimal or no human oversight. 

• Entertainment: Can’t find an animated show to watch on Netflix? Make your own. Prompt your ideas and watch them unfold. 

And this is only the beginning. 

If your business isn’t paying attention, you already don’t have a business. 

Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst

AI can be a dream or a nightmare. 

Or as Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer for Google X, recently said: it will lead us either to a utopia of plenty — or a dystopia of economic inequality. We might even end up living through both of these possible scenarios. 

Either way, the choice is ours. 

We need to embrace the potential of AI, while being aware of the risks. Because behind every technological leap, there are always unintended consequences. Like a shadow that follows progress: 

• The internet contains all human knowledge, but it’s drowning us in disinformation.

• Social media connects us, but it’s isolating us in our homes.

• Mobile phones offer freedom, but drag us down with endless notifications. 

AI is no different. 

It was going to free up our time. Yet some AI startups are now pushing employees into grueling 9–9–6 schedules: 9 AM to 9 PM, Monday through Saturday. 

So the future is always uncertain. All we can do is prepare for tomorrow — and act today. 

What leaders are missing

Adopting AI is not the real challenge. The real challenge is to integrate it into your business in a way that’s measurable and useful. 

If it’s simply adoption you want, you already got it: your employees are using AI behind your back through their own private accounts. Your IT department doesn’t know, but it’s happening. Trust me. 

But this kind of discretionary AI use is not going to make a real impact on your business. It’s shallow and random. 

You need to take control: 

• Redesign your workflow around AI. Don’t simply do what you were doing before, only faster. You need a bottom-up transformation.

• Forget generic chatbots. Prioritize advanced tools — such as AI agents — that can remember information and improve over time.  

• Invest in AI tools tailored to your business. Work with a partner who can build them for you, then keep refining them.

• Plan for the long-term. You’re not trying to write emails faster. Anyone can do that now. Rather, you’re rethinking how your business operates.

In short, you can’t simply deploy this new tech and hope for the best. You need to put in the work. 

And that also means thinking about your people. It means thinking about the value your human workforce brings to the table. 

Intelligence vs. experience

In an AI economy, computational intelligence will be a commodity: valuable, but commonplace. 

To stand out, organizations will have to cultivate something rarer and more precious: human experience. 

No, not the experience in job resumes. 

I mean what you’ve seen and done. What you believe in. Who you are, deep down. In other words, not what you know but what you’ve lived through. This is what shapes your ability to inspire and support others. This is what builds connections and social influence. 

As I discussed with neurologist Lorena Llobenes on our podcast, the real human advantage is our ability to connect, empathize, and leverage the sum of our life experiences — qualities AI cannot replicate.

This will be your business differentiator: the human factor. 

Moving forward, the best leaders won’t be the best managers. AI will be doing most of the managing. Instead, the best leaders will be those who can amplify human experience in a world of computational intelligence.

Because the more we embrace our shared humanity and diversity — the more we can trust each other and work together while putting love at the center. 

Because only human love is real love. And that’s more valuable than any language model. 

With human love,
Juanca