When AI Becomes a KPI: What Happens When Senior Leaders Demand AI Usage From Every Employee?

Introduction

"How are you using AI in your role?"

That question is making its way down the org charts of major banks and enterprises. In some institutions, it’s now a leadership directive... every employee must be able to demonstrate how AI is helping them do their job better.

It signals a shift: AI is no longer a fringe innovation. It’s becoming a KPI.

But while the intent is visionary, the execution risks falling into familiar traps: top-down pressure, fragile delivery systems, visibility gaps, and performative adoption.

At our sister company Baltimore Advisory, we work with executive leaders in complex, high-stakes environments. At Agile Product Mastery, we help product teams deliver continuous, high-impact outcomes. And in both worlds, one thing is clear:

AI mandates without foundational readiness create more noise than value.

Let’s unpack the opportunity and the risk of making AI adoption everyone’s responsibility.

The Pressure Is Real: Why AI Has Become a Leadership Obsession

AI has moved from the labs to the boardroom. Executives see generative AI as a force multiplier: a way to boost efficiency, spark innovation, and gain a competitive edge.

But when the ask becomes: "Show me how you’re using AI" without the support to do so meaningfully, you risk a culture of automation theatre:

• AI outputs that look impressive but don’t solve real problems

• Teams using tools they don’t understand or trust

• Dashboards and reports optimized for optics, not outcomes

It’s the Watermelon Effect, repackaged for the AI era: green on the outside, red on the inside.

Baltimore Advisory POV: Governance First, Not Hype First

High-stakes delivery programs are already under strain. Add AI mandates on top, and things can unravel quickly if governance isn't ready. At Baltimore Advisory, we help leaders:

• Assess AI readiness across their project portfolios

• Avoid AI-for-AI’s-sake deployments that erode delivery focus

• Create guardrails and use case libraries to support adoption

• Foster psychological safety so teams can experiment, learn, and speak truthfully

AI must be governed like any other transformation lever: with clarity, sponsorship, measurement, and iterative feedback.

Agile Product Mastery POV: Product Teams Should Lead, Not Lag

AI isn’t just a tool. It’s a new lens on how work gets done. Agile product teams are uniquely positioned to harness it—but only if they connect AI to real user outcomes.

At Agile Product Mastery, we help teams:

• Use AI in backlog triage, user story writing, and sprint review prep

• Synthesise customer research and shorten learning loops

• Embed AI into hypothesis testing and product discovery

• Train POs and PMs on prompt engineering, model constraints, and ethical use

We focus on making AI a capability, not just a checkbox.

What Leaders Must Do Now

1. Set the tone, not the script. Don’t dictate tools—define outcomes.

2. Invest in enablement. Give teams space, training, and safe-to-fail environments.

3. Surface real signals. Reward honesty over performance theatre.

4. Align AI to strategic goals. Not just productivity, but adaptability and resilience.

Final Thought

Top-down AI mandates signal ambition, but without alignment, they create confusion. The opportunity is to move from pressure to empowerment.

If you’re a senior leader navigating this shift, ask not just "Are they using AI?" but *"Have we made it safe and meaningful to do so?"

Need help making AI adoption real, not just reportable?

Let’s talk. Whether you’re an executive under pressure or a product leader looking to unlock your team’s potential, we can help you embed AI in a way that drives real outcomes.