Plex Consulting Briefing
Leading in the
Age of AI
Jeff Sutton
March 2026
Who is using AI
every day?
Hands up. Be honest.
The Shift
You find the answer
AI gives you the answer
The internet just changed its interface.
The Arms Race
OpenAI Annual Revenue
2022
2025
178x growth in 3 years
The Reality
of companies approve AI use
but have no platform deployed
just "look the other way"
Source: Section AI Survey 2024
Who Wins?
Incumbents
Rich in data
Heavy on capital
Loaded with tech debt
AI-Native
Disruptors
Creative
Zero legacy debt
Small teams, big output
Fast-Moving
Incumbents ✓
AI-augmented teams
Speed of a startup
Best of both worlds
This is where you want to be.
AI Isn't New
You've been using it for 25 years
The AI You Already Know
What Changed?
The interface.
You can now TALK to it.
How It Works
Massively simplified
Trained on trillions of words. Predicts the most useful next token.
Your New Teammate
- Knows all the internet's information
- Learns incredibly quickly
- Analytical and creative
- Never gets tired
- Moves across domains seamlessly
- Available 24/7 for $20/month
The Evidence
Harvard, BCG, Wharton studies (2023-2024)
More tasks completed
Faster completion
Higher quality output
It's an Intern,
Not Software
A Different Mental Model
SOFTWARE
- Deterministic
- Same input = same output
- Install and forget
- 0% error rate expected
AI
- Probabilistic
- Brilliant but inconsistent
- Needs management
- 5-10% hallucination rate
You onboard them."
The Onboarding Framework
SET
Guardrails
Context
TRAIN
Examples
Feedback loops
SUPPORT
Iterate
Improve
Verification Tiers
Match review rigour to the stakes
Official comms · Financials · Client work
Code · Copywriting · Internal reports
Ideation · Brainstorming · Internal drafts
"We bought Copilot licenses"
is not an AI strategy.
It's a talent development program.
The Last 90 Days
What just changed
Agentic AI
AI that doesn't just answer — it DOES things
- Browses the web autonomously
- Writes and runs code
- Sends emails and messages
- Deploys websites
- Manages complex workflows
Reasoning Models
AI that thinks before it answers
Competition-level maths. PhD-level science.
Cost Collapse
DeepSeek proved frontier AI can run at 1/10th the cost
AI Coding Tools
Developers are 2-5x faster
- Cursor — AI-native IDE
- Claude Code — terminal agent
- GitHub Copilot — inline autocomplete
- Code is no longer the bottleneck
The gap between adopters
and laggards is widening
WEEKLY
What Now
Three Scenarios
Niche Tool
Some industries find use cases. Most don't change.
Embedded Copilot
Everyone uses it daily. Like email in the '90s.
AGI
Autonomous problem solver. Full agent economy.
Today vs Tomorrow
TODAY
Evaluate
Critique
SOON
Persuade
Transact
The Toolkit
Start at Tier 1. Level up as you learn.
Cloud vs Local
☁️ Cloud
Always up to date
Data leaves your network
Per-usage cost
🏠 Local
Data stays home
Runs on your hardware
Smaller models
🔀 Hybrid ✓
Local for sensitive data
Smart routing
This is the play
Building Your AI Army
A progression, not a switch
Chat with AI for answers
Custom instructions, projects, workflows
Create automations, connect tools
Manage AI teams, monitor quality
Full AI platform, enterprise scale
The Mental Model
Humans bookend the process
Human judgment never leaves the loop.
5 Questions to Ask
Your CEO on Monday
- What's our AI policy?
- Who's responsible for AI governance?
- Where does our data go when staff use AI?
- What's our 90-day AI pilot plan?
- Are we the fast-moving incumbent — or the one being disrupted?
You just got a superpower.
But so did everyone else.
The question is:
Where's the
LEADERSHIP?
Now let me
show you...