At the Intersection: Insights for Thriving at the Crossroads of Change

Everyone can get AI now, so “we’re using AI” isn’t a strategy anymore. After a talk with HR leaders at the University of Toledo Family Business Center , we’re stuck on a bigger question: what actually makes a family business or privately owned company win when the same tools are available to your competitor down the street? We dig into the human reality behind AI adoption inside organizations. The...

AI is getting cooler by the week, but I think the next big shift has nothing to do with the newest model or the slickest demo. After spending time at a packed AI event in downtown Cleveland where 500 people chose between four different workshops, I walked away with a clear takeaway about what leaders want today and what they’ll desperately need tomorrow. Right now, most attention goes to the techn...

AI is moving so fast that even seasoned leaders are admitting something they rarely say out loud: this is hard to get your arms around. I’m recording from my car for this quick return, and I want to be candid about why the show went quiet for five months. The acceleration in AI tools, products, and company claims wasn’t just “a lot to track” it was genuinely unsettling, and I needed time to proces...

The room buzzed with possibility at the Great Lakes AI Conference , held on the beautiful campus of Bowling Green State University and that energy sparked a message leaders need right now: the fastest way to harness AI is to slow down, listen, and design it around your people. We, at AI23, call this shift the Potential Era —a move from rigid processes to adaptive systems where humans and AI partne...

If you’ve felt the ground shifting under your feet, you’re not imagining it—the rules of building and leading organizations are changing in real time. In this episode, we sit down with strategist and organizational architect Erica Ishida and human performance coach Ellen Palmer to explore what it takes to design truly adaptive organizations—where humans and AI collaborate to unlock dormant potenti...

A single rushed request turned into a turning point. Jessica Smith —Deputy Chief of Business Development at The Connection —shares how a quick AI-assisted draft became a signed training contract and reshaped her team’s approach to creativity, analytics, and everyday operations. We walk through the human-first playbook she’s built inside a large nonprofit serving reentry, housing, behavioral health...

The race to adopt AI is on—but the real advantage isn’t in the tools, it’s in the trust. In this solo episode, Craig Francisco , host of At the Intersection , shares insights from a recent conversation with the leadership team of a Fortune 500 client—where the takeaway was clear: culture decides who wins with AI. When people can challenge ideas without ego, when curiosity beats fear, and when cros...

In this first episode of At the Intersection , host Craig Francisco sits down with Mike Rojas , a seasoned AI strategist and technology leader who has spent decades helping organizations understand and apply emerging technologies. Mike has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence adoption, guiding executives and teams through the shift from traditional analytics to the new Human + AI era....