I’ve seen it too many times. A well-meaning product manager walks into an executive meeting armed with the latest AI capabilities, ready to dazzle the C-suite with technical wizardry. Fifteen minutes later, they’re walking out with confused looks and another “we’ll circle back on this.” Sound familiar?
The problem isn’t the AI. The problem is how we’re talking about it. We’re treating executives like they’re tech enthusiasts when they’re actually business problem solvers. They don’t care about your neural networks or transformer architecture – they care about revenue growth, cost reduction, and competitive advantage.
Remember The Qgenius Golden Rules of Product Development? One principle stands out here: “决定用户群和细分市场的是心智模型.” Executives have a specific mental model – they think in terms of business outcomes, not technical features. When you start talking about AI capabilities instead of business results, you’re speaking the wrong language.
Let me share a story from my consulting days. A client came to me with what they thought was an AI adoption problem. Their executive team kept rejecting AI proposals. When we dug deeper, we discovered the real issue: every proposal focused on what the AI could do technically, not what business problems it solved. The moment we reframed the conversation around specific operational inefficiencies and revenue opportunities, the funding started flowing.
Here’s the shift you need to make: Stop leading with AI. Start leading with the executive’s pain points. Instead of “We can implement machine learning,” try “We can reduce customer service response times by 40% while maintaining quality.” See the difference? One is a solution looking for a problem; the other is a solution to their problem.
This aligns perfectly with another Qgenius principle: “从利基市场起步，从用户强痛点开始.” Executives are your niche market. Their strong pain points are business metrics that aren’t moving in the right direction. Your job is to show how AI addresses those specific pain points, not to educate them on AI technology.
The most successful AI conversations I’ve witnessed follow a simple pattern: Problem → Solution → Proof → Ask. Start with the business problem they care about, present your AI-enabled solution, provide concrete evidence it works, then make your specific request. Notice how AI doesn’t even appear until step two? That’s intentional.
And please, for the love of all that’s holy, stop using AI buzzwords without clear business translations. “Predictive analytics” becomes “reduced inventory costs.” “Natural language processing” becomes “faster customer issue resolution.” “Computer vision” becomes “fewer quality control defects.” You get the pattern.
The truth is, executives aren’t AI skeptics – they’re value skeptics. They’ve been burned by technology promises that didn’t deliver business results. Your job isn’t to convince them AI is amazing; your job is to demonstrate how your specific AI application solves their specific business problems.
So next time you’re preparing for that executive meeting, ask yourself: Am I selling AI, or am I solving business problems? The answer might just determine whether you walk out with funding or another “we’ll circle back.” What business problem will you solve with AI tomorrow?