How to Lead Through AI Disruption, and What Leaders Should Do Next

Board-level, practical moves to scale AI responsibly, grounded in GE Healthcare casework and WeQual’s inclusive leadership frameworks.

Mark Bateman | October 15, 2025

“AI is like fire and leaders will determine whether it is used to warm a house or burn it down.” In our public webinar, Mark Bateman (WeQual CEO & Co-founder) sat down with Asha Poulose Johnson, Chief Digital Officer at GE Healthcare. Within 60 minutes, they unpacked how senior leaders can mobilize AI safely, responsibly, and at scale.

Below is a short recap you can share with ExCo peers and regional leads. It’s written for action.

Leadership maturity: from efficiency to purposeful disruption

Mark framed AI using a simple, disruptive model built around Heat (vision & strategy), Fuel (resources & culture), Oxygen (customers & markets). This was complemented by an AI Maturity Model to guide organisational progress.

His message? “Leaders should focus the majority of their time on Level 3 thinking to drive purposeful disruption, drive Level 2 strategic alignment, and delegate Level 1 tasks, namely operational efficiency.” Allocate your calendar accordingly: Think at L3, drive L2, and delegate L1.

The FIRE Model: Heat, Fuel, Oxygen

Heat (Vision & Strategy): State a single, outcome-anchored AI ambition for example “Cut time-to-diagnosis by 40%,” or “Reduce supply backorders by 30%”. Every AI initiative should tie directly to that measurable outcome.

Fuel (Resources & Culture): Fund the data, platforms, and talent required to make it real and deliver the outcome. Build AI literacy from the boardroom down and publish a clear “safe-to-ship” policy that empowers experimentation while managing risk.

Oxygen (Customers & Markets): Continuously measure what your market experiences – latency, reliability, accuracy, access – not just internal productivity.

Leaders provide the heat, attract the fuel to make it happen, and continuously adapt to the oxygen of customer need.

Enterprise AI in action: Proven success in healthcare and cross-industry potential

Asha’s examples were practical and global:

Clinician-in-your-pocket imaging: GE Healthcare’s handheld ultrasound becomes significantly more accessible when paired with AI guidance, prompting users with cues like “This is the heart,” or “This is the lung”. This intuitive support empowers a wider range of clinicians, including those in remote or resource–limited settings. It enhances tele-health capabilities, accelerates diagnosis for expectant mothers and cardiac patients, and delivers affordability and accessibility simultaneously.

Zero-downtime operations: At scale, predictive and preventive maintenance ensures thousands of connected devices remain available, because in care settings, equipment downtime directly affects patient outcomes.
Software-led upgrades: By shifting capital equipment toward software and subscription models, hospitals can continuously update algorithms on existing machines – transforming static assets into continuous performance gains.

Ecosystem leadership is the new competitive advantage. In healthcare, outcomes hinge on seamless interoperability across hospitals, device manufacturers, technology vendors, payers, and regulators. That’s not a solo sport; it’s horizontal leadership.

Speed × ethics × outcomes: the leadership equation

The room posed a challenge familiar to every CHRO/CDO/CTO. “Is there a shortcut on data?” Asha’s response was disarmingly honest: Start with the data you have, show value, and use AI to improve data quality over time. Meanwhile governance must evolve from a centralized gatekeeper model to one of shared accountability.

On agentic AI managing humans, Asha’s stance was pragmatic. While pilot programs are intriguing, full-scale autonomy across the enterprise is still in its infancy. Ecosystems, like healthcare, will move more slowly than bounded domains. Meanwhile, every leader must become AI-literate and build emotional agility to ride constant change.

The WeQual angle: inclusive leadership that moves the P&L

WeQual exists to see a world transformed by inclusive leadership, driving better outcomes for business, people and the planet. We champion leaders who can navigate complexity, collaborate horizontally, and deliver results. These are the capabilities essential for thriving in AI-disrupted markets.

WeQual Executives: global peer development for C-suite, -1 and -2 leaders, focused on commercial impact and visibility.

WeQual Rising Leaders: scalable, 12-month program for managers, fixing the “leaky middle” with real executive role models and inclusive leadership in action.

Our sessions are designed to be world-class, inclusive, scalable, and infused with external perspectives, a design we call WISE, because disruption rewards organizations that can learn fast, at scale.