The Playbook for Scaling AI

In every boardroom today, a familiar question is surfacing: where is the playbook for scaling AI? At Avasant’s Empowering Beyond Summit, Shaun Braun, chief information and technology officer at Zimmer Biomet, made it clear that leaders are asking the wrong question. In a keynote centered on the realities of enterprise AI and the broader imperative of future-proofing, Braun challenged one of the most persistent assumptions in the market—that somewhere, someone has already solved this problem.

“There is no playbook,” he said plainly, before expanding on the reality leaders must confront: “All of us that have been on this journey are realizing that every day. There’s power in that. It’s a white space. We’re the artists of that journey, and it’s going to be a collective.”

Rather than presenting a prescriptive roadmap, Braun reframed AI transformation as something leaders must actively shape. The absence of a playbook is not a constraint—it is the defining condition of the journey. As he emphasized, leaders are not following a script; they are building one in real time, “learning, illustrating, orchestrating… and ultimately building the belief and trust that this journey is going to pay back for the organization.”

Future-Proofing Is About Capability, Not Speed

The summit’s theme of future-proofing is often interpreted as building resilience through rapid adoption of new technologies. Shaun offered a more nuanced view. Future-proofing is not about moving faster than the market—it is about building the organizational capability to continuously adapt to it.

The real challenge is not recognizing AI’s potential but operationalizing it. Leaders must take ideas and tactics and translate them into repeatable, enterprise-wide execution. This requires a shift from pursuing isolated wins to enabling systemic change across the organization.

Braun grounded this in a practical analogy, noting that transformation is not something that can be forced into existence: “At the end of the day, we’re collectively growing something. If you want to build a forest… you can’t do it by the old waterfall technique—you’ll blow out the seedlings you’re trying to plant.”

Critically, this means abandoning the search for certainty. Instead of following a predefined model, leaders must guide organizations through a process of learning, iteration, and alignment.

Scaling AI Requires a Different Pace

One of the most important takeaways for leaders is pacing. Many organizations attempt to accelerate AI adoption too quickly, driven by expectations of immediate return. Braun cautioned that this approach could undermine the very transformation leaders are trying to achieve.

Using a vivid metaphor, he described the process as “drip… drip… drip,” but expanded on why that pacing is essential: “If you try to fast track it, the people inside the organization are going to get washed out—and you won’t build the roots that will be strong enough for real growth.”

Organizations cannot absorb AI transformation all at once. Overloading teams and systems risks eroding capability and trust. Instead, leaders must introduce change in a way that allows it to take root—embedding new ways of working into processes, behaviors, and culture over time.

Foundation Before Scale

While AI innovation often captures attention, Braun underscored that the real work lies beneath the surface. Scaling AI requires a strong enterprise foundation—one built on accessible information, structured data, and consistency across systems.

“You have to build a strong foundation,” he emphasized, while acknowledging why this work is often avoided: “This does not feel sexy. This does not win you fanfare… but if you don’t do this, you will hamstring your entire transformation journey.”

For leaders, this is a critical discipline. Braun made clear that the foundation is not abstract—it is deeply operational: “You have to harness your information layer and your data layer… build that consistency so you can access the data you need and actually scale with speed.”

Without a unified data and information layer, organizations struggle to scale AI effectively. Investments in infrastructure, governance, and information accessibility are what ultimately enable speed and impact.

Governance Enables Speed—It Doesn’t Slow It Down

Governance is frequently viewed as a barrier to agility, but Shaun reframed it as a prerequisite for scale. Without clear rules, organizations slow down—not because they lack capability, but because they lack alignment.

“I don’t like the word governance, but it’s critical,” he noted, before reframing it through analogy: “You’re driving the car—put the seatbelt on. Or think about sports: you have to know the rules before you play the game. You have to chalk the field first.”

Leaders must define the “rules of the game” upfront so teams can execute without constantly reinterpreting expectations. This clarity allows organizations to move faster over time.

Equally important is cross-functional alignment. AI cannot be driven by a single team. Braun highlighted the importance of engaging in every function and establishing shared ownership, with leadership accountability embedded across the organization rather than centralized.

Resetting Expectations for Long-Term Value

Finally, Braun addressed one of the most dangerous dynamics in AI transformation: unrealistic expectations. The idea of a near-term, transformative payoff can lead to poor decision-making and misaligned investments.

He was direct in challenging this mindset: “Don’t expect to find an AI pot of gold. It’s not there… everybody’s looking for this moment of massive payback, and it’s not there.”

Instead, he emphasized the reality leaders must internalize: “There are plenty of massive investments, but it’s going to be a multi-year journey.”

For leadership teams, this has real implications. Overpromising short-term returns create pressure that can derail transformation. As Braun warned, expectations of an “easy button” can be “very dangerous, especially with executive leadership.”

Success is not defined by immediate breakthroughs, but by the ability to scale value consistently across the enterprise.

Leading Without a Blueprint

The message from Braun’s keynote is ultimately clear. Future-proofing is not about discovering the right playbook, it is about building the organizational discipline to operate without one.

The leaders who succeed will not be those who move fastest in the short term, but those who build the strongest foundations, align their organizations effectively, and pace transformation with intent.

In a world where the path forward is still being written, leadership—not a playbook—is the true differentiator.

By: Tarah Lachmandas, Corporate Strategy Associate, Avasant and Shaun Braun, Chief Info & Technology Officer, Zimmer Biomet