As artificial intelligence continues to move from hype to everyday utility, CEOs across industries are grappling with its impact on operations, decision-making, and the future of work. In this edition of View from the Top, we hear from three business leaders and School for CEOs Faculty members—David McMillan, CEO of esure; Steve Johnson, CEO of N Brown; and Martin Schnaier, CEO of Palmer on how AI is transforming their organisations and redefining what it means to lead in the digital age.
AI’s Pervasiveness: A Strategic Shift
AI is no longer a distant concept. It’s in the code, in customer service, and even in the hands of executives themselves.
“We've said to our coders that, basically, AI should be able to code what we do for 80% of the stuff, and the coders add the 20%,”
— Steve Johnson, N Brown
For David McMillan, the impact of AI is pervasive and personal:
“AI is undoubtedly making an impact across our business – from aiding our frontline colleagues to better support our customers, to processes such as identifying fraud, and our groundbreaking work in reinforcement learning. Our colleagues are empowered to use AI tools that support them to deliver their best work - me included!"
Martin Schnaier offers a broader view, cautioning against seeing generative AI as the whole picture:
“When people talk about AI today, they often mean generative AI, but that’s just one dimension. At Palmer, we’ve always seen technology as a strategic advantage, not just a toolkit. And while we’re excited by the progress in large language models (LLMs), AI agents, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), we remain firmly rooted in the realities of our industry defined by regulatory oversight, trust-based relationships and, above all, reliability.”
Trusting AI: Caution in the Age of Automation
With great potential comes significant risk and responsibility. One of the biggest concerns for business leaders is bias in AI systems.
“We don't want to inherently build bias into our decision-making. So we're more worried about building bias into it rather than trusting it.”
— Steve Johnson
McMillan underscores the importance of deploying AI responsibly, especially in heavily regulated sectors:
“We’ve been at the forefront of introducing new use AI cases over the last couple of years, and we’ve done so at pace but also with caution. We take great care to ensure the tools we launch are fit for purpose and meet our internal governance criteria. Given the impact these tools will have on our customers and colleagues, we only deploy in a measured and measurable way, scaling once there’s clear evidence of success.”
Schnaier adds a critical lens to the conversation:
“These tools aren’t magic. They need context, structured data, clear processes and governance. Otherwise, the output is as messy as the input—and unreliable, which means unusable.”
Skilled Workforce in the Age of AI
As AI becomes more capable, its effect on the workforce is both disruptive and empowering. CEOs are united in the belief that AI is not about replacing people—it’s about elevating them.
“AI is relieving much of the technical load at an individual level, freeing our colleagues up to add value where our customers need them most. Being digital-led, not digital only has been a key mantra for us. Human qualities such as empathy remain fundamental in insurance, and we believe AI use cases we’ve deployed are allowing us to balance this well.”
— David McMillan
“Just embracing it and learning with it... using it as an experiential way of gaining experiences is the way that you've got to do it,”
— Steve Johnson
“It’s not about replacing people. It’s about accelerating them,”
— Martin Schnaier
However, deploying AI effectively requires new forms of governance and upskilling. Schnaier emphasises:
“Agentic AI systems must have clear rules, traceable actions and human review points. That’s not just a technical challenge—it’s a governance imperative.”
And training must be prioritised:
“Train your teams: Prompting is a skill. So is judging AI output. Data security is paramount. Build capability in teams, not dependence on IT.”
Attracting Talent: The Digital Magnet
AI isn’t just a tool for productivity it’s a beacon for top talent. Today’s digital professionals want to work where innovation is part of the culture.
“There are also talent pressures. If you want to attract the best digital talent, they want to work in a company that is embracing the modern way of working,”
— Steve Johnson
Final Thoughts: A Balancing Act
Despite different industries and perspectives, these CEOs agree on one thing: AI is moving fast, and keeping pace requires bold vision and careful execution.
“Development in AI is moving very, very quickly. Balancing caution and boldness is important — we need to carefully consider risks and implications, but we absolutely need to be bold to go after the considerable opportunity this affords for customers and shareholders.”
— David McMillan
“The key thing is not the pressure of embracing it. That's something we would do naturally. The key thing is, how do you keep up? The pace of change is so exponential in technology that it's almost impossible to keep up,”
— Steve Johnson
As AI redefines how businesses operate, these CEOs remind us that success lies not just in adopting the latest tools, but in leading with clarity, trust, and a commitment to empowering people. The future isn't just automated—it’s human-led, AI-accelerated.
