AI strategy is not the hard part

Governments are not short on AI strategies. They are short on the execution capability those strategies assume.

This session unpacks why AI strategies stall when senior public servants are asked to turn policy intent into decisions, oversight, funding, delivery, and accountability. The focus is not technical AI fluency. It is leadership literacy: the ability to ask better questions, brief with credibility, and challenge AI assumptions before they become operational risk. Through a real public-sector AI decision, the session teaches the foundational AI concepts senior officials need for that work: how models behave, how they fail, and how they mislead.

Attendees will leave with a clearer view of why AI strategies stall at execution, what leadership capability is missing from most public-sector AI work today, and a working understanding of how to read, question, and challenge the AI systems landing on their desks.