Once viewed as a futuristic concept, AI is now firmly embedded in daily life and at the heart of business strategy.
While early adoption was often driven by hype, organisations are increasingly focused on the real-world results AI can deliver – from measurable ROI to meaningful operational impact.
Today, AI powers critical systems across sectors, from finance and logistics to robotics and cybersecurity. AI Appreciation Day is an opportunity to reflect on how this technology driving real value for businesses and society alike.
Below, tech leaders share their thoughts and advice for making AI work, not just in theory but in practice.
Applying AI for maximum impact
The era of tentative pilots is over. Forward-looking leaders are now scaling AI with clear purpose, intent on unlocking its full potential.
“AI Appreciation Day is a timely moment to reflect on how AI is transforming the finance function, not with hype, but with real, measurable impact,” says Rob Israch, President at Tipalti. “Integrating AI into core workflows unlocks real-time visibility and predictive insights that drive smarter, faster decisions. When AI is embedded into finance operations, from accounts payable to cash flow forecasting, it can uncover patterns and trends, surface anomalies, and deliver real-time insights that improve productivity and inform more confident decision-making.”
James Bergin, Executive General Manager at Xero, agrees it’s a moment to take stock. “With the frenetic pace of developments in AI over the past couple of years, it’s a good idea to take a moment and take stock of how far we have come since GPT models were made widely available to the internet-using public.”
And as Adrian Negoita, CTO at Dexory, clarifies, that progress is particularly evident in robotics: “AI is transforming the robotics industry, powering smarter, more adaptive systems that learn and respond in real-time… This enhanced capability is essential to seamless human-robot collaboration.”
Building the foundations through infrastructure
While AI breakthroughs are regularly capturing headlines, it’s the underlying infrastructure – data, systems and strategy – that ensures it can scale safely and perform consistently.
“At Qlik, we believe the future of AI goes beyond automation, it’s about empowerment,” states Nick Magnuson, Head of AI at Qlik. “But for AI to deliver real-world value, it needs more than algorithms. It requires context, quality data, strong governance and a clear sense of purpose.”
Jesús Barrasa, AI Field CTO at Neo4j, reinforces that point from a data-centric lens: “Your AI is only as good as the data you give it – not just how much, but how connected, contextual, and usable it is… When AI drives decisions from connected data, grounded in graph databases… much richer insights can be derived.”
Manvinder Singh, VP of AI Product Management at Redis, points to the backbone beneath that data processing: “AI’s impact depends on how quickly it can process vast amounts of data and how effortlessly it can scale to meet growing demands. As [it] continues to evolve, the technology that supports this speed and scale becomes the unsung hero, enabling breakthroughs that were once unimaginable. Today, we celebrate not just AI itself, but the critical infrastructure and systems that drive its performance.”
Empowering and educating with AI
The best AI strategies prioritise empowering people, starting with careful and inclusive adoption.
“Nearly half of workers already use AI to automate tasks,” says David Torgerson, VP of Technology and Security at Lucid Software, “yet just 37% of entry-level employees believe it will make their job more satisfying… Organisations should make AI a deliberate, accessible and continuous improvement opportunity for all employees [because] helping people apply AI with purpose is what turns adoption into impact – and lays the groundwork for long-term success.”
Negoita sees this shift reshaping careers and creating new opportunities. “As the industry evolves, so too does the opportunity for people to upskill and take an active role in shaping the sector’s future… driving new jobs, ways of working and a new era of innovation.”
Lori MacVittie, Distinguished Engineer at F5, says the right mindset is crucial. “AI has given us astonishing tools, sparks of insight, speed and scale that once lived only in science fiction. But turning that potential into real-world value still demands human clarity and discipline. The systems are here. The complexity is real. And so is our ability to rise to the challenge.”
And at Xero, Bergin adds: “AI is already creating deep shifts in how we live, work and connect… The golden opportunities will lie in leveraging AI in the right way to deliver insights that can be turned into action as part of a secure, compliant loop.”
Balancing trust with responsible controls
The growing influence of AI brings heightened risks, which is why transparency and oversight are proving to be key priorities for industry leaders.
“AI Appreciation Day highlights not only AI’s potential to drive innovation in financial services, but also the need for thoughtful, responsible adoption,” says Rory Choudhuri, Product and Solutions Director at Soldo. “Generative AI has already been exploited to commit expense fraud. Businesses must shift from reactive experimentation of AI to a more proactive, strategic approach. Traditional expense processes, like many manual financial tasks, are fast becoming obsolete in the AI era.”
Patrick Harding, Chief Product Architect at Ping Identity, notes that AI’s complexity is forcing a rethink of digital identity: “From deepfakes to autonomous agents, AI has made it easier to impersonate people online… Secure identities today mean recognising not just people, but the intelligent agents acting on their behalf.”
Stuart Templeton, VP UK and Ireland at Genesys, also sees regulation and responsibility as essential to AI’s future. “As businesses move to adopt [agentic] AI, the focus must remain on embedding the right guardrails, governance, and delivering real value to customers. Government investment remains essential. Initiatives like the UK’s £2bn AI Action Plan are key to maintaining innovation and enabling organisations of all sizes to access and benefit from advanced AI capabilities.”
What’s ahead for the rise of Agentic AI
The next evolution of AI isn’t just about better prediction or faster output. It’s about systems that act with autonomy and intent — agentic AI. Genesys’ Templeton says that the “shift [to agentic AI] represents a fundamental change in how we design and interact with intelligent systems.”
Philippe Deblois, VP, Global Solutions Engineering at Dynatrace sees huge value in the potential of agentic AI, but only if it’s built on the right foundations. “Agentic AI has enormous potential… But to get there, organisations need to start with purpose… The AI projects that succeed will be the ones built on trust, transparency, and a sharp focus on business value.”
Magnuson adds: “Agentic systems don’t just respond — they reason, collaborate and take actions to solve real business challenges… With the right information, at the right moment, AI can help us work smarter, faster and more impactfully.”
Resetting priorities through reflection
AI appreciation day is a chance to assess how far AI adoption as come and what needs to happen next to keep businesses competitive and future ready.
From infrastructure and innovation to education to ethics, one thing stands out: AI’s true impact depends not just on its power, but on purposeful strategy, careful planning and the people behind it.
