A 30-minute session with Wendy Kinney for operations leaders who have been handed an AI mandate and need to answer it with something better than an estimate.
Next session: Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT, 60 minutes.
The argument the session makes
Most operations leaders are being asked the same question this year, in some form: what can AI take over, and how many people does that change. The honest answer for most organisations is that nobody knows, because nobody has data at the level the question is being asked.
Application-level data tells you what software is open. It does not tell you what work is being done inside it, and that is the only level at which an automation decision can actually be made. Until that gap is closed, an AI mandate gets answered with an estimate, and an estimate is what gets defended to a board.
Wendy presents the case for closing it first: what to measure, what the measurement makes possible, and what it looks like to respond to a mandate with evidence rather than a projection. It is the same argument this site makes at length in what workforce intelligence actually is and how to respond to an AI headcount mandate, delivered live and in 30 minutes.
Who it is for
Operations leaders, COOs, VPs and general managers at organisations of roughly 200 people and up, particularly in insurance, financial services, utilities and manufacturing.
It assumes you are already under pressure to act. If you are researching AI in the abstract, the blog is a better starting point than this session.
What you leave with
A way to frame the mandate conversation that does not require you to guess. Specifically: what to measure, what the measurement makes possible, and what it looks like to answer your board with evidence instead of a projection.
You do not need to have chosen any tooling, and you do not need a data set ready. The session is about how the decision gets made, not about implementation.
Not ready for a live session
Two things on this site cover the same ground in writing and take less of your time.
The AI Readiness Scorecard is a self-assessment for a single operational area. It scores whether you are ready to decide what AI should take over, which is a different question from whether AI can technically run in your environment.
The Mandate Response Framework is for the more immediate version of the problem, where a number has already been handed down and you need a structured response.
Both are free, neither asks for an email address, and you can use them today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the session live or recorded?
Live. The date is listed above whenever one is scheduled.
How long is it?
30 minutes.
Who presents it?
Wendy Kinney, who spent 20-plus years across AT&T, Boeing, AIG, Nationwide, and Farmers before founding Summit Trails.
Who should attend from my organisation?
The operations leader who owns the mandate. It is also useful for whoever will have to defend the resulting number, if that is someone different.
I cannot make the date. What else is there?
The AI Readiness Scorecard and the Mandate Response Framework cover the same ground in writing, free and without registering. If you would rather talk it through, book a 30-minute strategy call.
Prefer to talk it through directly
If you would rather skip the session and have the conversation about your specific mandate, book a 30-minute strategy call. Same territory, applied to your situation rather than in general.