Your AI pilots are not failing because of the technology. They are failing because of the design.
MIT researchers found that about 95% of enterprise generative AI pilots stall with little to no measurable impact on the bottom line. In PwC’s 2026 CEO survey, 56% of CEOs said they have seen no significant financial benefit from AI to date. If you are spending on AI and still waiting for the return, you are not lacking ambition. You are stuck on the wrong side of the GenAI divide.
The Agentic Pivot is the step-by-step guide for CEOs and senior leaders of 50 to 5,000 person companies who are done experimenting. It shows you how to make AI work like infrastructure: planned, governed, measured, and quietly carrying the load so your people can do the human work.
This expanded second edition draws on more than 200 executive conversations from the Marketing in the Age of AI podcast and a year of weekly work with leadership teams in the AI Executive Blueprint Series. At its center is the 10-Step AI Adoption Framework, built to stop the premature automation, tool sprawl, and burned-out teams that sink most rollouts.
What you will be able to do
- Decide which AI projects deserve to exist with the Five-Question Filter, then tie each one to a measurable business outcome
- Document how work really happens, so AI has something solid to improve instead of a mess to amplify
- Put governance and guardrails in place before you deploy, and turn compliance into a competitive advantage
- Move from scattered chatbots to coordinated AI agents with clear authority and escalation rules
- Fund pilots without waiting for next year’s budget using Innovation Liquidity
- Bring shadow AI into the open and redesign roles with the Build, Buy, Bot, Borrow model
- Measure what matters, because if AI is not measured, it is theater
- Scale with a three-year roadmap that puts you among the Fearless 5%, the small group of leaders pulling ahead
Built to be used, not just read
Every chapter maps to a step in the framework and ends with five action steps you can finish in 30 days. Illustrative case studies and “From the Workshop Floor” moments show what the work looks like on a Tuesday afternoon, not in theory. Start with the three-minute AI Maturity Diagnostic to learn whether you are an Infrastructure Builder, a Strategic Explorer, or stuck in Pilot Purgatory. A Bonus Section, The 2030 Divide, covers private models, personal agents, and what the 2026 software sell-off means for your business. Read it in a weekend and be ready to act on Monday.
“A proven, strategic framework for AI adoption that is practical, powerful, and personal.” Wendy Lipton-Dibner, MA, President and CEO, Professional Impact® Inc.
Who this book is for
CEOs, founders, COOs, CIOs, and CMOs of mid-sized companies, plus the function heads and board members who need the language to make the case for AI to the people at the top. It is not a technical manual for engineers. It is about the leadership decisions that make the technology pay off.
About the author
Emanuel Rose is a fractional CMO, AI strategist, author, and podcast host with more than 30 years in marketing. He is founder and CEO of Strategic eMarketing and a non-developer who builds with AI agents most weeks.
Stop circling. Make the pivot. Click Buy Now and start building AI that gives attention back instead of demanding more of it.
