Jump off the AI Hype Train and Use It with Intention Instead: 6 Tips to Succeed with Leading AI

AI entered our lives like any overhyped trend, but unlike most trends, it has taken root in almost everything we do. Instead of merely jumping on the hype train, our Nordic Business Forum 2025 speakers are asking a more important question: how can we lead AI with meaning, not just momentum?

With NBF 2025 approaching fast, we’ve been interviewing our speakers. Here, we have gathered a few fresh AI insights from these discussions:

1. Jonah Berger: Don’t Use AI Just Because You Can

Marketing professor Jonah Berger underlines that embedding AI into your strategy isn’t inherently valuable. It’s only worthwhile if it improves the customer experience.

“It’s easy to embed AI or embed technologies into any product or service and just assume people want it. But smart companies are really thinking, what about these technologies makes them valuable?”

In an age of AI-everything, true differentiation lies in purposeful implementation.

2. Peter Hinssen: Use AI to Reinvent, Not Replicate

Entrepreneur and Innovation expert Peter Hinssen reminds leaders that technology alone doesn’t build the future—it’s the mindset that does. He encourages companies to avoid copying others and instead explore how AI can enhance their unique DNA.

“The challenge isn’t the speed of change. It’s how fast we can change how we think.”

AI can help re-target and recharge your relevance, but only if you lead it, not follow it.

3. Sukhinder Singh Cassidy: Build Resilient Teams for an AI World

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, CEO of Xero, has a grounded and urgent view on AI: leaders must prepare both people and processes for the transformation AI brings. That means equipping teams with adaptability and psychological resilience.

“Comfort with discomfort is the most critical skill to build for the coming decade.”

AI is a leadership test; those who build adaptable cultures will thrive.

4. April Rinne: AI Is a Litmus Test for Foresight

Futurist April Rinne doesn’t see AI as a disruption but rather as a foresight exercise. Leaders must stop asking “What will happen?” and start preparing for “What could happen?”

“The people who fear losing their jobs to AI are the most likely to lose them, because fear leads to avoidance, and avoidance blocks learning.”

AI isn’t a thing to manage. It’s a mindset to master.

5. Risto Siilasmaa: Act Early and Prepare for AGI

Nokia’s former chair, Risto Siilasmaa, brings urgency to the AI conversation. He encourages leaders to treat AI like an active threat or opportunity, not a theoretical one. Imagine your competitor is a startup built entirely around AI. Now, match that energy.

“Let’s have the meeting now, not after it launches.”

Foresight is about taking intelligent action today, not waiting for certainty.

6. Howard Yu: Eliminate Learned Helplessness

For Professor Howard Yu, one of the biggest threats to AI integration is cultural stagnation. When companies don’t let employees play with tools, curiosity fades. And with it, innovation dies.

“Learning by doing is the fastest way to overcome inertia.”

Don’t block AI exploration with red tape, but enable it with leadership.

Lead AI, Don’t Follow It

AI can be magic or meaningless, and the difference lies in how you lead it. As our NBF 2025 speakers make clear, AI leadership isn’t about the next big tool—it’s about building cultures that are curious, capable, and courageous.

In the end, AI won’t replace leaders. But leaders who embrace AI with purpose will replace those who don’t.