"We have an AI strategy"
In 2026, more than ever, every single leader is expected to say exactly this. Boards and investors demand and reward it, and teams are comforted by it. But, hidden from everyone, there is a quiet, nervous “secret”: Most are just playing the part.
I call this Performative AI Readiness: the gap between the nice, polished “AI-First” slide deck and the reality of a leader who is secretly terrified they’re falling behind. However, there is a positive psychology twist to all of this – this “pretending” is actually a healthy signal. It means your organization has the ambition to change. It just has to work in building the psychological safety to do it.
The "Pretender" as a Prototype
In my day-to-day, I see “performative” behavior not necessarily as a lie but more as a behavioral prototype. When standards change from one day to the next, people “act the part” of the future before they live it.
The main problem is when “acting” becomes a permanent behavior, which hinders innovation. To turn this performance into progress, three stages of the AI Maturity Shift need to be recognized:
- Performative: “We have to look like we know what we’re doing to stay relevant.”
- Permissive: “It’s okay that we don’t know everything; let’s find out.”
- Productive: “We are learning and iterating in real-time.”
Why Being "Unready" is Your Greatest Asset
The companies that will actually win the “AI race” (whatever that truly means) are the ones brave enough to admit they are under construction and not those with the loudest “readiness” claims.
When a leader says, “I don’t know how this tool works yet, let’s figure it out together,” they do three incredibly powerful things:
- They Kill “AI Pretender Syndrome”: They give their team permission to stop wasting energy on the performance and start spending it on the problem.
- They Surface Hidden Risk: Employees stop hiding “Shadow AI” or failed pilots and start sharing data that actually matters.
- They Build Intellectual Humility: Research shows that leaders who acknowledge what they don’t know foster higher levels of trust and faster rates of learning.
From Performance to Practice
Don’t feel guilty if you feel like you’re “faking it” with AI. Lean on your curiosity. The tension you feel is how you will close the gap between who you are and who you need to become.
The goal isn’t to be “AI Ready” from the start. The goal is to be AI Resilient. Resilience comes from a culture where “I don’t know” is the start of a productive conversation instead of the the end of a career.
“Monday Morning” Challenge
Next time you’re in a high-stakes AI meeting, try a “Confidence Audit.” Ask, for example:
- “What is one “I don’t know” we can solve this week?”
The organizations that stop pretending and start practicing are the ones that will actually change the world.
