AI @ Work — Dec 18, 2025
The Bi-Weekly Newsletter about practical AI for executives and business leaders.
In this final stretch before the holidays, we’ve curated the headlines worth your attention. These insights can help you hit the ground running in January.
Table of Contents
💡 Build vs buy is dead — AI just killed it
🎪 What Chief Customer Officers Need to Know About Agentic AI
📊 Reframing AI Friction as a Mastery Challenge to Drive Impact
📞 Best AI meeting assistants that actually drive ROI for B2B sales
🤖 From Contracts to Commerce: Why AI Agents Are the Next Frontier in Enterprise Trade
🚀 Setting AI Initiatives up for Success in 2026
🤔 The AI-Digital Experience Gap Is Real — and It’s Crushing ROI
💰 Why Businesses Overestimate Generative AI ROI
✉️ AI-powered email content suggestions that actually convert
🎯 How AI can supercharge small business growth
Article Summaries
🔗 Build vs buy is dead — AI just killed it
AI has transformed the traditional build vs. buy decision framework for businesses, making it possible for non-technical employees to quickly prototype solutions.
Non-technical employees can now rapidly prototype AI solutions
Traditional enterprise software procurement strategies fundamentally changing
AI democratizes business solution development capabilities
🔗 What Chief Customer Officers Need to Know About Agentic AI
Agentic AI is forcing a fundamental rethink of customer experience leadership, requiring Chief Customer Officers to adapt their strategies for autonomous AI systems.
Customer experience leadership must evolve for agentic AI
Autonomous AI systems reshape CX strategy requirements
Executive adaptation critical for AI-driven customer success
🔗 Reframing AI Friction as a Mastery Challenge to Drive Impact
More than half of employees say agentic AI integration feels overwhelming and that they are struggling with the pace of change.
Employee overwhelm with AI adoption requires reframing as mastery
Change management critical for agentic AI success
Pace of AI transformation challenges workforce adaptation
🔗 Best AI meeting assistants that actually drive ROI for B2B sales
AI meeting assistants provide measurable ROI for B2B sales teams through enhanced productivity and customer relationship management capabilities.
Sales productivity significantly improved through AI assistance
Customer relationship management enhanced with intelligent insights
ROI measurement demonstrates clear business value
🔗 From Contracts to Commerce: Why AI Agents Are the Next Frontier in Enterprise Trade
C-suite executives are prioritizing AI agents for managing business relationships, with 83% viewing them as top priority and 53% expecting agents to negotiate deals within 12 months.
AI agents transform contract management into strategic business intelligence
Over half of executives expect autonomous deal negotiations soon
Enterprise trade automation becoming critical business priority
🔗 Setting AI Initiatives up for Success in 2026
Successful AI implementation in 2026 will require thoughtful actions, employee training and clearly identified use cases.
Employee training critical for AI initiative success
Clear use case identification drives implementation effectiveness
Strategic planning essential for 2026 AI deployment
🔗 The AI-Digital Experience Gap Is Real—and It’s Crushing ROI
Most AI deployments remain cosmetic rather than delivering substantial ROI and meaningful digital experience improvements.
AI implementation often superficial without business impact
Digital experience improvements require strategic AI deployment
ROI challenges stem from poor AI integration
🔗 Why Businesses Overestimate Generative AI ROI
Automated AI ‘employees’ help take the load off repetitive tasks and are advancing quickly toward decision-making, but human employees deal with complex situations.
AI excels at repetitive tasks but struggles with complexity
Decision-making capabilities advancing rapidly in AI systems
Human-AI collaboration remains essential for complex situations
🔗 AI-powered email content suggestions that actually convert
AI enables practical email marketing content suggestions that drive actual conversions through personalization strategies and content optimization.
AI personalization significantly improves email conversion rates
Content optimization through machine learning drives performance
Marketing automation enhanced with intelligent suggestions
🔗 How AI can supercharge small business growth
Artificial intelligence can accelerate growth for small businesses through automation, customer service, financial management, and operational efficiency improvements.
AI-powered automation drives operational efficiency for SMBs
Customer service transformation through intelligent AI solutions
Financial management enhancement via AI-driven insights
With 2026 already on the horizon, now’s the time to reflect, reset, and get ready. We’ll be back in the new year with more trends and guidance to help you lead with clarity and confidence — until then, happy holidays from all of us!
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