[AI SPRINT] 2025 is the Year of the AI-Enabled Business: Are You Ready?

Welcome to the AI SPRINT™ Newsletter!

Building an AI-enabled business isn’t just the future—it’s already here! According to recent research, the US Census Bureau reports AI adoption increased 100% in the last 12 months, with now 6.1% of companies using AI to produce goods and services. Although a small number, in 2025 I expect it to grow much faster. With 24% of people already using AI at work, in 2025 I believe most businesses will prioritize AI investment, finishing the year between 30-40% adoption. 

This means that companies that are not actively working to integrate AI risk falling behind in a fast-changing landscape. Integrating AI has many challenges, however, from understanding and aligning it with company strategy to upskilling employees and fostering innovation.

As I’ve advised leaders and presented to groups over the last several years I’ve seen that most organizations lack the internal knowledge and skills to harness AI effectively, and that leads many to do little-to-nothing to prepare their business for AI.

That’s why I’ve made it my mission to help organizations of all sizes use AI to create business growth. I believe that using AI to create growth supports all stakeholders, our economies, and protects our communities from wide-spread job losses.

Now, with AI SPRINT, I’ll be bringing you practical insights focused on AI adoption. This isn’t just a recap of AI news like so many newsletters out there: I aim to bring you only practical and actionable guidance specific to business leaders.

In today’s issue, we’ll set the foundation to help you position your business for AI success:

• Explore the first step of the AI SPRINT Framework: SPARK action with business leaders to begin your AI journey.

• Review this Week’s AI Resources, including Bloomberg’s take on how AI Will Do Your Work For You in 2025.

• Share this Week’s AI Prompt: Use AI to conduct a Competitive Analysis

And, as an introduction and New Year Bonus: I’m giving out 20 free licenses to my Introduction to Generative AI and Working Backwards with AI online courses.

Just reply and I’ll give access to the first 20 responders!

A Bit About Me

Hi! I’m Trent Gillespie. I help leaders navigate AI’s ever-changing landscape to unlock growth and innovation in their careers and businesses. With nearly a decade at Amazon driving its global expansion, last mile delivery innovation, and Alexa AI privacy, risk, and compliance, plus a career steeped in tech leadership up to CIO, I bring practical AI strategies to businesses across industries. 

As a keynote speaker I help audiences jumpstart their AI journeys, bringing clarity, actionable guidance, and inspiration to take immediate advantage of AI. Followed by leadership workshops, advisory and AI solution design, I meet businesses wherever they are in their AI adoption journey to help them succeed in the AI Era.

You can watch a short video about me and my approach here:

Here are some of my unique AI-enablement services, delivered through my advisory company Stellis AI:

• 30-day, Turnkey AI Implementation for any company

• Online Leader and Staff AI education courses 

• Leadership AI strategy and adoption workshops

• AI keynote talks to inspire, motivate, and aim employees to use AI safely and for growth

• AI Fractional Advisory and Solution Design

If you’re just starting to explore how AI can transform your business or looking for ways to scale your existing initiatives, here are some key resources to position your company for success in 2025:

This Week’s Resource List:

• Bloomberg: AI Agents that Will Do Your Work For You (6 mins) Why AI Agents are the next big thing, and will be the focus of 2025

• Overview of the new ChatGPT Projects feature (2 mins) A quick video showing the newly released Projects functionality, allowing saving conversations in folders.

• OpenAI’s ChatGPT o1 Reasoning Model (22 mins) A look at how the new “o1” reasoning models can help in domains like coding, strategy, and research. Jump to 07:40 to go directly to the demos.

• AI-Powered Leadership in 2025 (10 mins) View a list of my most popular keynotes and workshops, including “Designing an AI-Enabled Business,” “Unlock Growth with AI (and Create Prosperity),” and Think Like Amazon: Crafting a Culture of Continuous Innovation.”

Introducing the AI SPRINT™ Framework

Since leaving Amazon, I’ve focused on simplifying how businesses can adopt AI and create growth. I’ve developed the AI SPRINT framework, six-steps any company can follow to effectively implement AI, overcoming high consulting costs and complexity. You can follow each step on your own, or contact me to learn about workshops and resources to accelerate your transformation.   

Over the coming weeks, we’ll explore each element of the SPRINT model in depth, starting this week with SPARK Action—the essential first step to align leadership and build the foundation for your AI strategy.

SPARK Action: The First Step in AI Enablement

In 2025, businesses that thrive will be those that move decisively. That’s why the first step of the AI SPRINT framework is SPARK Action. At its core, SPARK Action is about igniting momentum through  aligning decision-makers around exactly what AI is, its transformative potential, and how to build AI-enabled companies

This stage addresses a critical challenge many organizations face: a lack of clarity about AI’s capabilities, uncertain transformation ownership, and the hesitancy that follows. I’ve now seen it many times: no one owns the goal to build AI into your organization, or can even describe how to go about it. That must be addressed if you want to build an AI-enabled business!

Through structured workshops and tailored insights, SPARK Action equips leaders with the knowledge to envision AI’s role in their business and the confidence to act. The focus isn’t just on understanding technology—it’s about setting a strategic direction that’s both ambitious and actionable.

For you to SPARK Action within your business, you need to:

• Drive Leadership alignment on what AI is, how it may affect your organization, and the timeframe to prepare for it.

• Assign ownership for who is responsible for driving AI enablement, with clear action plans on how to accomplish it, and SMART goals.

• Orient your company to making progress every month through a monthly SPRINT, instead of creating a massive transformation project.

Although you can begin this process on your own, I deliver leadership workshops to accelerate it. The workshops amplify impact by going “hands-on”, where attendees use AI for specific tasks relevant to their job. In a workshop earlier this year, the CEO was so enthusiastic, he stepped out to create his own multilingual avatar to demonstrate the capabilities to others on his team. At the end of the session, the team was fully aligned to begin their AI efforts, had defined clear ownership and plans, a Proof of Concept outlined, and how to manage the adoption–overcoming all prior objections that had been delaying action.

As we approach 2025, AI technology is improving drastically, and finding significant use across many roles and industries. It’s true that businesses that delay their adoption risk falling behind competitors who are already integrating AI into their operations. SPARK ensures you begin the journey with purpose, empowering your organization to take meaningful, immediate steps toward AI-driven innovation.

This month, I’ll also host the first AI SPRINT webinar on January 29th to review the month, share key updates in AI, take any questions, and preview what’s ahead. Free for this month, hit the link to sign up, and if you have any questions about AI adoption, just reply here and I'll try to add it to a future newsletter or the webinar!

This Week’s AI Prompt

Not sure how AI will impact your company? Try this AI Prompt, customized for your business:

“Acting as an expert business strategy advisor, conduct an industry competitive analysis of the <Your Industry>, using the Porter’s 5 Forces Framework, on the potential impact and opportunities of AI.”

Pro Tip: Download my Business Leader AI Prompt Handout for more like this!

This Week’s Takeaway

AI is transforming industries at an unprecedented pace, and taking practical steps now will position your business ahead of the curve. Applying what you’ve learned today will not only help you align your team but also build momentum for AI integration.

Action Step: Drop me an email to schedule a leadership workshop or discussion to explore the opportunities AI can unlock for your organization. Use this as a chance to SPARK Action and get your team thinking about your next moves in the AI journey.

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