The AI Ready Leader New Book Redefines the Human + AI Equation with Elevated Collaborative Intelligence™
By Carsten Krause – September 15, 2025
Executives love to talk about transformation. They hire consultants, throw millions at AI pilots, and plaster “innovation” across PowerPoint decks. Yet most organizations are still idling in what I call the AI Pilot Graveyard—dozens of experiments, very few results. That’s why I wrote The AI-Ready Leader: HI + AI = ECI™. It’s not just another business book; it’s a field manual for leaders who need to escape the hype cycle and finally deliver scaled, ethical, board-grade transformation.
Here is a quick preview of what I am covering in the book including the research foundations, practical lessons and real world experience that helped me build the framework to support my peers and up and coming leaders deploying HI + AI solutions.
The book introduces Elevated Collaborative Intelligence™ (ECI)—my formula for AI-powered leadership:
(HI + AI) × T – R = ECI™
Where Human Intelligence (HI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) combine, multiplied by technology readiness (T), and reduced by unmanaged risk (R).
Why This Book, Why Now
Billions are pouring into AI, yet most enterprises fail to scale. Harvard and BCG found that consultants using GPT-4 finished 12.2% more tasks, 25.1% faster, and 40% higher in quality than peers, with junior staff improving by 43%—closing experience gaps that once took years. That’s not just efficiency; that’s a redefinition of what talent development means.
But here’s the catch: AI doesn’t implement itself. Humans do. Without leadership alignment, governance, and cultural readiness, even the smartest copilots collapse under enterprise reality.
Source: Carsten Krause, CDO TIMES Research; World Economic Forum (https://www.weforum.org/publications/future-of-jobs-report-2023)
Industry Proof: AI at Scale Isn’t Optional
- Retail: McKinsey estimates $400–$660 billion in potential annual AI value creation
- Banking: 54% of major banks are already deploying copilots
- Manufacturing: 91% are investing in digital factories, with predictive maintenance cutting downtime by 50%
- Technology: Elon Musk admitted, “Excessive automation was a mistake. Humans are underrated.”
Translation: your competitors aren’t just dabbling. They’re building new operating models.
Source: Carsten Krause, CDO TIMES Research; Derived from McKinsey (https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/global-survey-the-state-of-ai-in-2023)
What Leaders Are Saying
Raymond L. Kunik Jr., Chief Digital Officer at 3M, put it bluntly:
“HI + AI = ECI™ isn’t just a formula—it’s the strategic blueprint for leaders who want to harness transformation instead of being swept away by it.”
Neil Hampshire, CDO at Ocean Spray, adds:
“This book shows how leaders must evolve—not just their tech, but their thinking.”
And Grant Ecker, VP Enterprise Architecture at Ecolab, captured the essence of my mission:
“Carsten’s storytelling and real-world examples bring the equation to life, demonstrating how to responsibly unlock AI’s impactful innovation while creating a culture where people and AI thrive together.”
Research Every Leader Must Face
The World Economic Forum projects that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted within five years Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends report stresses adaptability, cross-silo collaboration, and leadership traits as decisive factorsAI_Ready_Leader_Final_Press_Rel…. And PwC’s “Sizing the Prize” warns that trillions in AI value are on the table—but only if leaders fix trust and governanceAI_Ready_Leader_Final_Press_Rel….
The message is clear: you can’t spreadsheet your way out of disruption. The workforce equation is being rewritten, and the C-suite must become the conductor of human + AI orchestration.
Inside the Book
The book opens with The Copenhagen Paradox—a fictional but all-too-real scenario where Dr. Sofie Magnussen spots a looming disaster that AI misses entirely. It’s a sharp reminder: leaders can’t outsource judgment to machines.
Throughout the chapters, I show how executives can:
- Score their technology readiness (T) for scaling AI.
- Design risk guardrails so R doesn’t wipe out every gain.
- Build cultures where collaboration amplifies both HI and AI.
- Apply playbooks tailored to sales, HR, finance, ops, and cyber.
As I’ve said before: “AI may accelerate the how. But leaders decide the why—the strategy and the outcome.”AI_Ready_Leader_Final_Press_Rel… That’s the essence of being AI-ready. If you don’t define the why, AI will define it for you—and you won’t like the results.
The CDO TIMES Bottom Line
AI isn’t coming; it’s here. The question isn’t whether executives will adopt it, but whether they will adopt it responsibly, at scale, and with human intelligence firmly in the loop. The AI-Ready Leader gives you the framework to do exactly that.
- Next Steps for Executives:
- Audit your AI pilots: which are stuck in proof-of-concept purgatory?
- Run a technology readiness assessment (T in the formula).
- Establish risk guardrails before scale.
- Align the C-suite around Elevated Collaborative Intelligence™, not departmental silos.
The future of work isn’t humans vs machines. It’s the intelligence we build together. That’s what makes organizations truly AI-ready.
The book is available now on Amazon and directly here at cdotimes.com/book.
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