The role of AI leaders has quietly transformed.

Not long ago, being an “AI leader” meant hiring a few ML engineers, experimenting with models, and hoping something stuck. Today, that approach fails. AI leaders are no longer just technical champions. They are system architects of decision-making, accountability, and value creation.

In this episode of Let’s Talk AI, Thomas Bustos breaks down the three pillars every AI leader must master to build real, measurable impact inside an organization. He explains why teaching is no longer optional, why strategy without execution collapses, and why implementation is where most AI initiatives die.

If you’re serious about becoming an AI leader, or building AI leadership inside your company, this episode gives you the blueprint.

Listen now.

Top Takeaways:

• The core goal is to balance leading and delivering technology.

• AI leaders must teach, strategize, and implement effectively.

• Successful AI adoption can compound gains for organizations.

• Metrics like error rates and active users are crucial for success.

• Every build should enhance observability for future improvements.

• AI leaders need to understand the latest tools and their applications.

• Reverting to previous versions is essential for error handling.

• Quantifying AI's impact in terms of revenue is recommended.

• A learning organization adapts and grows through shared knowledge.

• Effective implementation requires speed, reliability, and quality.

Chapters:

• 00:00 Welcome!

• 02:50 The AI Leaders Playbook: Key Pillars

• 06:03 Understanding AI Adoption and Its Impact

• 09:10 Strategies for Effective Implementation

• 11:58 Metrics for AI Success

• 14:51 Navigating AI Tools and Technologies

• 18:07 Building a Learning Organization

• 20:59 Final Thoughts

Connect with Thomas Bustos

• Thomas Bustos on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbustos/

• Let’s Talk AI - https://thomasbustos.substack.com/

• Let’s Talk AI on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lets-talk-ai

• Let’s Talk AI on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6mVjFvdEkZDCTXpIuuSLAP

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

What is an AI Native employee?

It’s not someone who occasionally uses ChatGPT.

It’s not someone who automates a few workflows.

It’s someone who integrates AI into how they think, decide, and operate.

In this episode, Thomas Bustos explores the rise of the AI Native employee—not as a job title, but as a new operating standard. Before AI, employees manually summarized, synthesized, reported, and shared knowledge. Decision-making required slow coordination. Context was fragmented.

Now, the AI Native shift is changing how organizations think, decide, and execute.

The AI Native employee defines what great looks like.

They set constraints.

They design systems.

They use AI to enhance clarity, not to outsource thinking.

Thomas Bustos breaks down why companies that fail to build AI Native systems will struggle with accountability, context gaps, and slow decision loops. And why the real competitive advantage is how employees integrate AI into learning velocity and decision quality.

This episode is a blueprint for leaders who want to move from AI curiosity to AI Native execution.

Top Takeaways:

• If your company is just getting seats for people to ask things to ChatGPT, you definitely need to change something.

• Create accountability and a motion of learning velocity.

• The more connected your context system is, the better decisions can be made.

• The quality of decisions depends on how much reality your team can see.

• Software is going to zero, meaning the cost of building solutions is decreasing.

• The jobs are not going anywhere; they are evolving with technology.

• If you can generate more impact, you are more valuable.

• Creating systems that enhance learning and context is crucial for growth.

• This is why we're playing this game: to continuously learn and adapt.

Connect with Thomas Bustos

• Thomas Bustos on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbustos/

• Let’s Talk AI - https://thomasbustos.substack.com/

• Let’s Talk AI on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lets-talk-ai

• Let’s Talk AI on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6mVjFvdEkZDCTXpIuuSLAP

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

AI native companies represent a structural evolution in startup design. Unlike traditional companies that adopt AI as an efficiency layer, AI native companies integrate AI into the core decision-making fabric of the organization.

In this episode, Thomas Bustos analyzes how AI native companies restructure three critical dimensions: learning velocity, decision quality, and organizational leverage. The discussion outlines how teams can use AI to improve strategic clarity, accelerate feedback loops, and create shared maps of reality across product, sales, and leadership.

The episode also examines how AI native companies change internal dynamics—shifting from siloed expertise toward collaborative intelligence systems where humans and AI co-create insights. Thomas breaks down the implications for early-stage growth, team empowerment, and the future of work, highlighting why startups that fail to evolve into AI native companies will struggle to compete with organizations built natively for AI-enabled decision-making.

This framework positions AI not as a productivity hack, but as an organizational multiplier.

Top Takeaways:

• The better your questions, the more valuable you are as the founder.

• AI native companies focus on culture and systems, not just tools.

• You need blueprints and processes to exceed early revenue stages.

• Context lives in people's heads and dies when they leave the room.

• AI amplifies opinions and requires strong leadership to be effective.

• No human in the loop means empowering humans to make better decisions.

• Building a context engine can improve decision-making and growth.

• AI native companies have a unique competitive advantage over larger firms.

• Understanding core concepts is essential for strategic growth.

• Evaluating AI nativeness helps identify areas for improvement.

Connect with Thomas Bustos

• Thomas Bustos on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbustos/

• Let’s Talk AI - https://thomasbustos.substack.com/

• Let’s Talk AI on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lets-talk-ai

• Let’s Talk AI on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6mVjFvdEkZDCTXpIuuSLAP

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.