Slowing Down to Speed Up

Two weeks ago, I was talking through a new idea with a mentor. They are a seasoned founder who had seen all the ups and downs of launching a new business. Their advice surprised me:

“Slow down.”

At first, it felt counterintuitive. Tech moves fast (unsurprisingly it was an AI-based idea).

Opportunities vanish.

Every instinct says go now or get left behind.

But the more we talked, the more it made sense. They weren’t telling me to procrastinate on the product. They were telling me to think differently about the approach.

The Noise vs The Reality

Right now, the loudest voices keep saying:

“You need to start adopting AI immediately.”

It sounds progressive. It sounds urgent. But urgency isn’t strategy. Without reflection, it’s just activity dressed up as progress.

Before jumping in, it’s important to ask the hard questions:

• What’s our actual strategy?
• What assumptions are we building this on?

Because here’s the risk: your current approach built version 1.0 of your business.

But that playbook was written for a different world, and this is a world that’s changing fast.

What Really Sets You Apart

My view is that the smartest move isn’t to “move fast and break things”.

It’s to become the kind of leader – and build the kind of business or or organisation – designed for the world those tools are shaping.

That means slowing down enough to:

• Challenge assumptions that may no longer hold true (e.g. People need to be in a room together to learn this)
• Revisit where you really add value in an AI-fuelled world.
• Build a delivery model that’s resilient and scalable, yet ‘human’ at its core.

The Bottom Line

Yes, AI is rewriting the rules. But don’t let FOMO be the main driver in your decision-making.

The question shouldn’t be “How fast can we adopt AI?”

It’s: “How do we reinvent our business so AI amplifies what makes us exceptional – without erasing it?”