Last week, we attended SXSW London and heard Andrew McAfee, author of The Geek Way, speak about how organisations need to evolve in the age of AI.
The session wasn’t really about AI tools.
It was about how organisations learn, adapt, experiment, and improve.
Three ideas stood out.
1. Adoption Isn’t Impact
One of the most practical examples came from WorkHelix, Andrew’s company, which helps organisations measure AI adoption and impact.
Their challenge to leaders was simple:
Most organisations can measure access. Very few can measure outcomes.
Training completion rates, licences issued, and usage statistics are useful signals. But they don’t answer the most important question:
Is performance improving?
As AI becomes embedded into everyday work, measuring impact will become increasingly important.
2. The Companies Pulling Ahead Learn Faster
One of the most memorable themes from the session was that the most successful organisations aren’t necessarily those with the best technology.
They’re the ones with the fastest learning loops.
They experiment more frequently.
They listen more closely.
They adapt more quickly.
In an environment where technology changes constantly, the ability to learn may become a greater competitive advantage than the technology itself.
3. Three Principles for the AI Era
Andrew summarised the mindset of successful organisations in three simple principles:
Plan a little. Iterate a lot.
Let users lead innovation.
Stop flying blind.
Simple ideas, but increasingly important ones.
The organisations thriving in the AI era are creating environments where experimentation is encouraged, learning is continuous, and decisions are informed by evidence rather than assumptions.
The Opportunity Ahead
The conversation around AI is shifting.
The challenge is no longer convincing people to try it.
The challenge is helping people use it in ways that create meaningful outcomes.
For leaders, that means asking better questions.
Not:
“Are people using AI?”
But:
“What impact do we expect AI to have, and how will we know if it’s working?”
That shift, from adoption to measurable performance improvement, may be one of the most important organisational capabilities of the next decade.
Taking Our Own Advice
Andrew’s talk was a timely nudge for us as we evolve Quadmark for what its clients, and its people, will need next. A lot of what he described is what we’re trying to build: room for the team to experiment safely, the guardrails and AI Stewards that let confidence come before caution, and feedback loops that help what we learn travel faster across the business.
With clients, we’re building tools where AI genuinely enables people, rather than just hiding in their inbox. But his sharpest point, that adoption isn’t impact, is the one we’re sitting with most. It’s a question we’re still working out how to answer well, for ourselves and for the people we partner with. It’s early, and there’s plenty more to do.
But the direction feels right: learn fast, stay curious, and keep people at the centre.
Further reading
The Geek Way by Andrew McAfee
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Geek-Way-Radical-Thinking-Extraordinary/dp/1399800136
Andrew McAfee
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amcafee/
WorkHelix
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