Nearly every leader is holding two feelings at once: genuine excitement about what artificial intelligence can unlock, and a nagging sense that their organization is already behind. The common advice is to move fast and forget about stability. That sounds bold, but it’s backwards. The strongest predictor of successful AI adoption isn’t the tech rollout. It’s whether organizations have a leader who leads with empathy through the change.

In this keynote session from Total Retail Tech, held Sept. 14-16 in Dallas, Carrie Skowronski, founder and CEO of Leadology, gave retail leaders a playbook for driving AI transformation without losing their teams. Skowronski offered real stories, real data, and a framework for change that sticks.