Practical and immersive experiences

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, but most organizations are still trying to apply it through structures, processes, and management practices designed for a different era.

Many organizations are investing in AI without first addressing the conditions that determine whether transformation can succeed. Fragmented processes, unclear decision rights, short-term budgeting, weak process ownership, disconnected data, and inconsistent governance can prevent promising AI initiatives from moving beyond isolated pilots.

This workshop is designed for executives and transformation leaders who want to move beyond AI experimentation and prepare their organizations to generate meaningful and sustainable business value from a new generation of technology.

It combines historical perspectives, current market developments, lean management fundamentals, practical frameworks, and facilitated exercises focused on the participants’ own organizations.

Building on the ideas introduced in his keynote, Nigel Dalton will help participants explore what an AI-ready organization looks like and identify the leadership, strategic, and operational foundations required to build one.

Participants will examine AI not simply as another technology implementation, but as a sociotechnical transformation involving people, management systems, organizational structures, customer value, and technology.

• Understand the current AI landscape Distinguish structural changes from market hype and evaluate AI within the broader convergence of technological, social, and economic trends.
• Identify your organization’s AI horizon Understand whether AI represents an incremental improvement, an operating-model transformation, or a potential reinvention of the business.
• Evaluate organizational readiness Identify weaknesses in strategy deployment, budgeting, decision rights, process ownership, measurement, data, and governance that may limit AI transformation.
• Connect AI with customer value Explore a critical moment of truth in the customer journey and consider how AI may change expectations, experiences, products, services, and competitive positioning.
• Build the foundations for transformation Define the organizational scaffolding, leadership narrative, priorities, and initial experiments needed to move forward without trying to transform everything at once.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a clearer view of their organization’s readiness for AI transformation, the structural weaknesses that must be addressed, and the leadership priorities required to move from fragmented experimentation toward a coherent, value-driven transformation.

Every organization seeking to accelerate organizational learning faces a recurring challenge: moving away from a reactive cycle of urgent issues and repeated problems toward a stable, proactive routine capable of sustaining operational excellence.

In this workshop, participants will apply the 4 Types of Problems — troubleshooting/containment, gap from standard, target condition, and innovation — developed by Art Smalley and enhanced by the practical use of artificial intelligence in business.

The program demonstrates how the Daily Management method can be enhanced through the practical application of Artificial Intelligence in performance management. AI is positioned as an enabler of the method—not a substitute for critical thinking, governance, leadership, or the experience of frontline teams.

• Identification and containment of symptoms Learn how to rapidly identify signs of process instability and implement effective containment actions to protect customers, maintain operational performance, and safeguard business results.
• Root cause analysis Think lean and leverage structured problem-solving tools enhanced by AI to generate hypotheses, organize information, and deepen investigations into process issues.
• Countermeasure Implementation Develop and execute practical actions to eliminate or mitigate root causes, monitor solution effectiveness, and strengthen team learning and continuous improvement capabilities.
• High-precision diagnosis Gain a clear understanding of the true nature of operational challenges to select the most effective problem-solving approach.
• AI in process management Use technology to enhance analysis, structure complex data, and accelerate the development of effective countermeasures and improvement strategies.
• Leadership through the management system Learn how AI can serve as a powerful enabler—never a replacement—for critical thinking, governance, leadership, and team expertise.

By the end of the program, participants will have a practical understanding of how to integrate people, processes, data, and technology to reduce variation, respond more effectively to performance deviations, and strengthen problem-solving capabilities through the intelligent use of AI.

Many companies are already using artificial intelligence, but senior leadership still faces a central challenge: how to turn this technological adoption into real, measurable financial value for the business.

In lean thinking, improvement starts by seeing the value stream, identifying waste, and solving the problems that slow down operations. With the advancement of AI, a new opportunity emerges: using intelligent agents to support analysis, organize information, automate repetitive tasks, and accelerate decision-making without losing focus on method, governance, and learning.

In this hands-on workshop, you will go far beyond basic AI tool usage (such as “chat-based tools”) and gain a clear understanding of how AI agents can operate autonomously to support complex analysis, structure data, and speed up decision-making.

• AI in process management Learn how to design applications using AI agents within your operations to automate bureaucratic tasks and build highly intelligent workflows.
• Efficiency and integration Connect Lean thinking, data, technology, and people to eliminate “digital waste” and gain full visibility into operational inefficiencies.
• Innovation with governance Build autonomous, value-driven solutions that automate repetitive routines while maintaining focus on method, governance, and continuous learning.

By the end, participants will have a strategic understanding of how to apply AI responsibly to scale organizational performance, always aligned with the company’s broader objectives.