THE STRONG PERSPECTIVE We work with leaders in the room, solving real problems every day. This is where we share what we’re learning: the patterns, the breakthroughs, and what’s actually making a difference. We’re glad you’re here. |
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WHAT WE’RE SEEING AI is stuck. Companies have invested significant resources in deploying AI tools, yet adoption isn’t following suit. In some places, there’s active resistance. The gap between deployment and real behavior change is enormous. And it’s not closing. And it makes sense. You can’t mandate your way through fear. You can’t train your way around skepticism. You can’t hand someone a tool and call it enablement when they have no bandwidth to learn it. Telling people to use AI more doesn’t address what’s actually holding them back. According to Gallup (2026), half of U.S. workers now use AI, yet only 1 in 10 strongly agree it has transformed how their work actually gets done. The tools are in place. The behavior change isn’t. We have a new favorite word for what’s underneath that gap: apocaloptimist.
We first heard it in a documentary called The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist. (Highly recommend!) It perfectly captures the polarity so many people are carrying right now: the simultaneous pull of AI’s promise and the genuine unease about what it means for how we work, what we do, and who we are professionally. That’s not resistance to be overcome. It’s the starting point. Because AI amplifies what’s already there — your thinking, your judgment, your instincts. If someone hasn’t found their footing with it yet, pushing harder on the technology won’t help. Working through the human side will. “AI doesn’t replace you. It amplifies you.” Our job is helping people find their way to that belief — not just hand them a tool and hope it sticks. |
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WHAT WE’RE DOING ABOUT IT To close the gap, we meet people where they are and give them the mindset, skills, and momentum to actually use AI. Two ways we’re doing that now:
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WORTH YOUR TIME
MEET Kacy Erdelyi Kacy is a brand and business strategist with an MIT certificate in Applied AI and years of experience shaping the strategies that drive how organizations grow and compete. She brings a rare combination of strategic rigor and a sharp, practical understanding of how AI is changing work. We’re excited to be partnering with her. Welcome, Kacy!
REGISTER Launch for Leaders // Virtual In partnership with the 4As, we’re offering another virtual cohort of our powerhouse Launch for Leaders course. Aspiring agency leaders will walk away with foundational skills agency leadership requires. |
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* “Uncertainty is the condition under which all interesting work gets done.” |
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LINKEDIN
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The Strong Perspective — Issue 02
by Kelly Welch | Jul 8, 2026 | The Strong Perspective
