Chief AI Architect at NYU Conor Grennan: How to Adopt AI Without Causing Chaos
Chief AI Architect at NYU Conor Grennan: How to Adopt AI Without Causing Chaos  
Podcast: Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson
Published On: Mon Mar 10 2025
Description: Is adopting AI more about behavior than technology?Today on Digital Disruption, we’re joined by Conor Grennan, Chief AI Architect at NYU Stern School of Business and a best-selling author.At NYU Stern School of Business, Conor builds generative AI fluency across the institution. He is also CEO and Founder of AI Mindset, an AI consulting company that trains professionals, leaders and organizations on a new and effective framework for generative AI. Conor has worked with teams across industry, including OpenAI, McKinsey, NASA, Google, Amazon, and many more.Conor sits down with Geoff to share his unconventional takes on successful change management in AI adoption. They discuss why integrating AI isn’t just about implementing new tools, it’s about changing behaviors, training senior leadership, adapting talent strategies, and redefining productivity.He explains that AI adoption rates are low because AI itself doesn’t teach new skills but rather requires a change in behavior. Simply instructing employees to use AI isn’t enough; organizations need to recognize and address the psychological resistance to change. In this episode:0:00 Intro0:21 The importance of AI adoption and change management 0:38 AI is not like normal technology1:55 AI doesn’t require you to learn anything3:05 Use cases don’t really work5:22 Organizational use of AI for managers and leaders7:12 Train senior leaders first9:33 Do we need to separate the AI from the person?10:03 Laws and limitations12:33 Helping organizations understand AI14:44 Who is going to win17:49 Use AI as a tool to attract the best talent19:42 The framework and how it works23:40 The story of AI use cases26:18 Is everyone struggling to adopt AI?28:42 Are we playing catchup with technology forever?30:55 How to drive AI adoption and understanding34:33 The age of AI agents37:13 The potential and possibilities40:11 Two types of bubbles43:58 The autonomous enterprise47:03 Prompt engineeringConnect with Conor:Website: https://www.ai-mindset.ai/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conorgrennan_official/X: https://x.com/conorgrennanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorgrennan/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCS9HfvYleu3t8MDqsZr8lLATik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@conorgrennan_officialFollow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InfoTechRG