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Your 30-Day Action Plan (Strategic Leader)

5 min read

Eng Manager

You report to David. Your 30 days: run one AI pilot, report results, and update your team's skills. You're the execution layer.

Cto

You might be David. Same plan — or you're the one receiving his updates. Align on narrative. Own the story.

Tech Lead

You're the technical proof. When David needs pilot results, you deliver. Feed the strategy with evidence.

Your 30-Day Action Plan (Strategic Leader)

TL;DR

  • Week 1: Nail the AI strategy answer. Week 2: Run or review a pilot. Week 3: Plan headcount and ROI. Week 4: Protect your team and position.
  • David-level leaders need to own the narrative and the numbers. This plan gets both.

Week 1: Own the Narrative

  • Day 1-2: Draft your "AI strategy" one-pager. Problem, approach, ask. Three sections. Use it the next time someone asks.
  • Day 3-4: Align with your manager (or board if you're CTO). "Here's our plan." Get feedback. Revise.
  • Day 5-7: Identify one pilot or initiative to point to. "We're doing X. We'll measure Y." Have a concrete example ready.

Week 2: Run or Review the Pilot

  • If you have a pilot running: Review the data. What's working? What's not? Document. Share with your team and leadership.
  • If you don't: Propose one. One team, one workflow, 4-6 weeks. Get the yes. Kick it off.
  • Define success. What would "this worked" look like? Velocity? Quality? Adoption? Write it down.

Week 3: Plan and Measure

  • Headcount modeling: Run your scenarios. 0%, 15%, 30% productivity gain. What does that mean for your org? Share with your manager.
  • ROI metrics: Pick 2 metrics. Baseline them. Commit to measuring through the pilot. You'll need the numbers.
  • Build vs. buy vs. AI: Apply the framework to one upcoming project. Document the decision. Share the logic.

Week 4: Protect and Position

  • Keep list: Write down who you'd fight for and why. Update it. Hope you never need it.
  • Team communication: If there's uncertainty, address it. "Here's what we're doing. Here's the timeline." Over-communicate.
  • Position for CTO: Update your narrative. One-pager on your AI journey. Use it in your next board update or external conversation.

Quick Check

David-level leaders have 30 days. What's the RIGHT first priority?

Board asks about AI. You fumble. You don't have a pilot. You don't have numbers. You don't have a keep list. You're reactive.

Click "30-Day Plan" to see the difference →

Do This Next

  1. Start with the narrative. If you can't answer "what's our AI strategy?" in 60 seconds, fix that first.
  2. Get the pilot. Everything else builds on evidence. No pilot = no proof. Make it happen.