Ah, I hadn't considered that last bit. That is indeed telling.

The status quo is broken. It's a wobbling top. It's no secret; for all they benefit from it, most CEOs know that this isn't sustainable. For better or for worse, change is coming. Perhaps for some, embracing AI is an attempt to get ahead of that.

There’s always some level of change coming - e.g. the petrochemical industry giants attempting to get into renewables, or the US healthcare absorbing Obamacare and thriving, or the industrialization of organic dairy production. This one feels different.

I think one element is that AI can be a very effective bullshit generator, and most CEOs and middle managers are deploying some amount of bullshit all day long. So they see a new player on the field who undercuts their strengths and they are responding existentially.