Can AI deliver real cost and efficiency gains for large traditional industries anytime soon? The hype is loud, but the reality is messy. My take: the biggest hurdles aren't technical; they're human. 1. The Illusion of Speed Validated AI wins in core workflows are still rare, and even promising applications can misfire. In pharma, AI can discover hundreds of drug candidates fast. But it's immediately gets stuck in the traffic jam of clinical trials, even for just evaluating one of them. The core bottleneck remains untouched, but overwhelmed. The ROI will not show up on any quarterly reports soon. 2. The Corporate "Immune System" When new tech hits a large organization, it doesn't just get adopted; it triggers the immune reaction. Many "AI tribes" launch their own initiatives, but the unstated goal is protecting territory and claiming credit. Product managers and engineers eye each other’s work as automatable. This AI race leads to redundant tools and internal friction, rather than unified progress. 3. The "Efficiency Shell Game" One team's brilliant AI tool often involve shifting complexity elsewhere. A downstream team boosts its own productivity, but forces the upstream team to completely overhaul their data and workflows. The "win" for one group creates a new burden for another, making net efficiency hard to prove. 4. The Human Truth: "My Time is My Time" Mastering AI tools will be an essential skill. But dose individual productivity automatically translate into corporate cost savings? The answer is often no.  If you use AI to save two hours, do you ask your manager for more work? The unspoken truth is: "I earned this time back with my skills, why should I just give it back?" This gap won't close without a fundamental restructuring of roles — a path of reorgs and layoffs that many resist, though it’s already happening in many places. So, what can WE do? The AI revolution is a test of management and collaboration in big firms, not just technology. The ideal is a high-level leader with a clear vision and the iron will to align all the "tribes" and resource, but most of us on the ground can’t wait that. The power is in the role we choose to play. The most valuable players won't be those who only understand the tech in the new era. They will be the "super-connectors", who navigate departmental interests, grasp multiple teams’ pain points, and use diplomatic skill to build bridges and negotiate wins for the whole organization. A practical takeaway for my peers: begin cultivating influence without authority. It's a core driver of our success and our best tool to shape the future, not just be shaped by it.