AI continuous learning for business leaders
A year ago, we gathered with Tim Trumper to explore AI's business implications and to discuss his new book AI: Game On. At that point, ChatGPT already had around 200 million weekly users. Today (June 2025), that number has quadrupled to 800 million.
The velocity of change in artificial intelligence has made continuous learning mission-critical for business leaders. With all this in mind, we brought Tim back to speak with an audience of Mozaic clients over dinner.
‘The more things change, the more you have to learn,’
Tim told our audience of senior executives.
This stark reality perfectly captures why we brought him back. For it seems in the world of AI, standing still is moving backwards.
The questions that keeps boards awake at night
For those new to Tim's thinking, he's the former Chair of NRMA and founding shareholder and advisor at Quantium, one of Australia’s leading data and analytics companies. He’s also a published author whose insights sit at the intersection of innovation, technology and strategic change.
‘The subtitle of my book is actually the most important part,’ Tim explained, ‘and the publisher hated it: “How to decide who or what decides”.
‘That is the question du jour. Are we going to over-delegate to a machine? Under-delegate to a machine? What happens if we don't do enough? What happens if we do too much?’
The question has only become more urgent since our last gathering.
The companies that figure out this balance will thrive, and some already are. Those that don't will find their competitors eating their lunch.
A system that knows everything
Perhaps the most sobering insight Tim shared comes from a quote that he says still gives him chills, despite reading it many times.
Several years ago, Eric Schmidt, former chair of Google, predicted:
‘It’s pretty clear to me that there’s going to end up being the system that knows everything, and then there’s going to be a supervisory system that limits it.’
‘If you own that system, you basically run the world,’ Tim noted. ‘And if you're not the owner of that system, you are subservient to whoever owns it.’
Tim posed the question to business leaders:
How can your organisation have a subset of this – a system that knows everything about your customers, your staff and your operations?
Tools that didn’t exist last year
What's dramatically changed in the year or so since our last gathering isn't just the sophistication of AI, it's the practical accessibility of these tools for everyday business use.
Tim demonstrated live examples using AI applications that either weren't available or weren’t mature enough for most of us eleven months ago.
Using an enterprise-grade and trained AI assistant, Tim demonstrated to the room how he can chair board meetings with AI support – generating AGM addresses, predicting likely questions and drafting responses all in seconds or minutes, rather than the traditional weeks of back-and-forth with multiple stakeholders.
‘The old way involved the comms department drafting a speech and getting sign-offs from CEO, legal, CFO, every time I changed three words. It probably cost management 50 hours,’ Tim explained.
‘This way takes seconds, and the questions and answers are better.’
Tim shared some examples of Claude and how he uses it in his governance roles. He credits Quantium’s pioneering work with Claude as a strong example of AI taking its seat in the boardroom.
‘We shouldn’t treat the future as just a forecasting exercise, like it’s somehow knowable if we could just look clearly. It’s something that we are creating. It’s a design exercise, and so what the future will look like and how work will change partly depends on what choices we make. ... There are a lot of things we can do with it, and we should recognise that we have agency.’
- David Autor, Professor of Economics, MIT
The agentic revolution
One of the most significant refinements in very recent times is the widespread emergence of ‘agentic AI’. These systems can execute complex multi-step tasks through simple verbal commands.
Tim explained how these tools can now process commands like: ‘Take the email I sent Andrew, the spreadsheet from Michael, and Caroline's PowerPoint from last year. Create it in Japanese and prepare it for my meeting with Company A next week.’
This isn't science fiction; these tools exist today.
More concerning for traditional business models, companies like Visa are pioneering AI-driven shopping experiences where AI agents make purchases on your behalf based on your preferences.
‘In a world where everyone's optimised for Google, the credit card is now deciding where you will shop,’
- Tim Trumper
The management paradox
Tim delivered a wake-up call from Sergey Brin, Google's founder, who believes management is ‘the easiest thing to do with AI’.
Tim agrees that management roles are among the easiest to replace with AI because they're primarily pattern analysis.
‘Management is pattern analysis, and they're already working out how they can replace those jobs with pattern analysis tools,’ Tim shared.
This creates an interesting dynamic where the people making decisions about AI adoption may themselves be the most vulnerable to AI displacement.
Shopify's CEO has already put this into practice, declaring he won't let his leaders hire anyone unless they can prove that AI can't do the job.
This isn't hypothetical – it's happening now.
Tim Trumper in conversation with Mozaic’s Andrew Vaughan
‘What we're doing right now – people having dinner together and working out what to do – this will be here in 1,000 years. That's the work that's completely safe.’
- Tim Trumper
How to implement AI in business transformation
If there's one consistent message from Tim's return visit, it's that continuous learning isn't optional.
AI capabilities are advancing at an unprecedented pace, with many experts projecting significant exponential growth in the coming years. This trajectory underscores the necessity for ongoing learning and adaptability.
‘Put your own oxygen mask on first,’ Tim advised. ‘Learn, read, use and get curious about what's going on here’.
‘Or decide it's all too hard – that's okay. But go see HR and get the redundancy package, because you're gone.’
This might sound harsh, but Tim's optimism shines through in his belief that humans will become more valuable, not less.
AI implementation for senior executives
For organisations wondering where to start, Tim recommends the ‘mindset, skill set, tool set’ approach:
Mindset: Open your mind to what's possible and create a culture that encourages AI as a thought partner
Skillset: Develop the capabilities your team needs to work effectively with AI
Toolset: Choose the right tools for specific applications, implementing responsible and ethical AI methodologies and practices.
If you can talk, think and type, you can work with AI.
But Tim’s advice is to approach it like training a graduate consultant.
Be specific about what you want and guide it carefully.
Why this matters now
The distance between our July 2024 conversation and today illustrates why one-off learning about AI isn't sufficient.
In less than a year, for many of us, we've moved from theoretical discussions to practical implementations that are starting to transform how work gets done. And if you haven’t already, for those of you with children in schools or universities, ask them how they are using AI. Your eyes might pop.
For executives leading transformation initiatives, this presents both opportunity and urgency.
The companies that build robust data infrastructures, commit to continuous learning, and integrate AI thoughtfully across their operations will create sustainable competitive advantages. Those that don't risk becoming yesterday's news.
As Tim concluded: ‘If you have unlimited information and bring unlimited imagination, you can do whatever you like.’
The question isn't whether AI will transform your industry, it's whether you'll lead that transformation or become its casualty.
Learn more from Tim
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Tim Trumper for returning to share his latest insights and for once again donating his speaker fee to charity.
For deeper insights on AI's role in your business, we recommend getting your hands on Tim's book, AI: Game On.