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It’s all about building a space that truly supports you.
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COMPANIES IN THE HEADLINES
AI adoption is no longer about pilots and side projects. Here are some recent examples of leaders putting AI at the center of the strategy.
Citi: Scaling AI Across 175,000 Employees
Citi rolled out internal AI tools (Stylus, Workspaces, Assist) to 175,000 employees, with “Agent Assist” live in U.S. Personal Banking. They also named a new global Head of AI.
Lesson for you: Don’t stop at experiments. Invest in literacy, governance, and company-wide adoption.
Kroger: CEO Pushes on Pricing, Shrink, and Fulfillment
Interim CEO Ron Sargent spotlighted AI in Kroger’s latest results, noting better pricing, shrink reduction, and faster fulfillment where AI has been deployed.
Lesson for you: Target AI at operational levers that move the P&L (margin, waste, and speed).
Volkswagen: €1 Billion Commitment to AI
Volkswagen leadership committed up to €1 billion in AI by 2030, spanning R&D, manufacturing, and IT. Their message: AI is essential for speed, quality, and competitiveness.
Lesson for you: Treat AI as a capital investment in competitiveness, not just an expense line.
What Leaders Should Take Away
Across industries, the playbook is clear:
Put AI under real leadership - assign a C-suite owner for scale and governance.
Tie AI to strategy, not side projects - focus on brand promise, margin, and competitiveness.
Signal from the top - CEOs and boards must speak openly about AI as core to the business.
The companies winning today aren’t just “using” AI. They’re re-wiring their business around it. The only question is: how fast can you move?
AI NEWS
Nano Banana Has Landed
Nano Banana, Google DeepMind’s latest image-generation and editing model has been getting a lot of recent attention, and rightly so, as a lightweight creative AI studio making waves in design, branding, and content. Think of it as a next-gen image + concept generator: fast, playful, and shockingly good at turning prompts into usable creative assets.
This matters for leaders because Nano Banana isn’t just for fun, it’s about speed and iteration. Imagine your team mocking up campaign concepts, packaging ideas, or website redesigns in minutes instead of weeks.
Five Fun Prompts to Try in Nano Banana
Open Nano Banana and paste these in to see the magic:
“Design a futuristic sneaker line inspired by banana peels and sustainable fashion.”
“Create a new coffee shop logo that combines a banana, a robot, and a latte art swirl.”
“Visualize a billboard ad for an AI-powered gym, featuring bananas as fitness coaches.”
“Generate packaging for a luxury skincare brand made with banana leaf extract.”
“Show a banana wearing a superhero cape launching into space as a startup mascot.”
OpenAI Bets Big on AI Skills and Jobs and Releases Report For Leaders on How to Win with AI
OpenAI just announced new steps to boost economic opportunity with AI. They are launching free AI certifications through OpenAI Academy, from basic fluency to prompt engineering, with a goal of certifying 10 million Americans by 2030. A new jobs platform is also on the way to connect AI-skilled talent with employers of all sizes.
To back it up, OpenAI is partnering with Walmart, John Deere, Accenture, BCG, state governments, and community organizations. The focus is clear: make AI skills accessible, link them directly to real jobs, and help both workers and businesses thrive in the AI economy.
Staying ahead in the age of AI: A leadership guide
OpenAI just released a new report for business leaders on how to stay ahead in the age of AI. It shows that early adopters are already growing revenue 1.5x faster than peers and lays out five principles for success: Align, Activate, Amplify, Accelerate, and Govern.
The takeaway is clear. Leaders need a shared AI vision, internal champions, fast experimentation, quicker decision cycles, and smart guardrails that keep progress safe without slowing it down. OpenAI is calling this a roadmap for executives who want to compete and win in the AI economy.
AI FIRST LEADERSHIP
Nadella Shares His Daily GPT-5 Prompts
In a recent post, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pulled back the curtain on how he personally uses Copilot every day. His top five GPT-5 prompts include:
Executive briefings distilled from multiple reports
Cross-team status rollups for faster decision-making
Personal time audits to optimize his schedule
Risk scans across projects
Rapid context gathering for high-stakes meetings
The big takeaway: these aren’t flashy use cases - they’re practical, repeatable workflows that any leader could adapt. Satya’s approach shows how AI moves from “experiment” to “everyday utility,” a blueprint for executives looking to embed AI into their operating rhythm.
David Beckham’s IM8 Launches a Viral AI Campaign
On the other end of the spectrum, Beckham’s innovation studio IM8 just turned heads in Times Square. Their latest ad, featuring a digital twin of tennis star Aryna Sabalenka, was built ~95% with AI tools like Ideogram, Veo 3, Kling, and ElevenLabs. The result? Over 120 million views in just two days and a playbook for how AI can transform creative production at scale.
What This All Means
From Satya to Beckham, the through line is clear: AI is both a boardroom utility and a creative engine. Leaders can use it to drive clarity and productivity, while brands can push the boundaries of storytelling and audience engagement. The future of work and marketing won’t be AI vs. human, it will be AI plus human, scaled in ways we’re only starting to see.
AI FIRST RESOURCES
This month we added new playbooks, guides, and tools to help you and your team put AI to work faster. These resources are designed to be practical, immediately useful, and aligned with the AI-First playbook we teach in our boot camps and workshops.
This month’s newly added tools:
Prompting 201 – Move beyond the basics and learn advanced frameworks for getting consistently better outputs.
Using AI Safely and Effectively at Work – A practical guide to enable responsible experimentation.
AI Thought Leaders You Should Follow – A curated list of voices shaping the future of AI, with direct links so you can keep learning from the best.
How to use it: Dive into the Resource Hub, bookmark what’s most relevant for your role, and share with your team. The goal isn’t just to read, it’s to practice, experiment, and build your AI-First muscle.
Mark Your Calendar!
Our next AI-First Community Call is happening September 30th. Join us for fresh insights, live Q&A, and shared learnings from leaders going AI-First.
Add this event to your calendar:
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And thanks so much for being a part of our community! Drop us a note with your thoughts, we’d love hearing from you.
Until next time, stay inspired!
Adam, Andy & The Forum3 Team