Karthik Krishnamurthy (KK), Chief Executive Officer of Ascendion, in conversation with Vaibhav Sahgal, principal, technology and finance, Economist Impact at the Economist Impact: 6th Annual AI and Business Innovation Summit in London on March 25.
Karthik discussed how enterprises can operationalise “AI arbitrage” by redesigning their operating models to focus on material business outcomes, leveraging agentification to 10x human impact, and ensuring leadership drives the transformation from the top down to move beyond seeing AI as just a technology tool.
Key Takeaways
Leadership as the “Chief AI Officer”
For AI arbitrage to succeed, change must start at the top. KK asserts that the CEO should effectively act as the Chief AI Officer, leading by example and mandating that leadership teams learn to build and use agents themselves. Culture-building tactics, such as leadership-funded AI awards, are highlighted as vital for showing employees that management is fully committed to the transition.
Redefining Success Metrics
The traditional productivity metrics are becoming obsolete because they are based on old work models. Instead, businesses should focus on outcome metrics:
- Revenue acceleration.
- Cost savings put back into the bottom line.
- Enhanced customer experiences.
- Regulatory compliance and risk management.
As the human-to-agent ratio becomes increasingly skewed—with companies able to deploy thousands of agents in a matter of months—the ultimate measure of success is whether these agents fit into a new operating model that consistently delivers results.
