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4 February, 2025

AI hype vs. reality: what we learned from our client roundtable

Satalia roundtable participants discuss AI

AI now features as a hot topic in boardroom discussions, LinkedIn fresh takes, and headlines promising everything from world-changing breakthroughs to massive societal change. But for businesses, the real question is how to make AI actually work for them.

That’s why we hosted a private roundtable with a select group of respected business leaders. We wanted to strip away the buzzwords, dig into the real challenges businesses face, and uncover what’s stopping AI from moving from slide decks into creating real impact for their organisation.

We can’t name names, but we had a mix of big players in the room. What they shared was a mix of excitement, frustration, and one overriding theme…

AI is full of potential, but it’s also full of friction

We work with businesses at every stage of their AI journey — some just getting started, others deep in optimisation. And over and over, we hear the same roadblocks, all of which came up in the roundtable discussion:

“We know AI is important, but we don’t know where to start.”
“We’ve tried something, but it didn’t quite work. Now what?”
“We’re facing internal resistance — how do we bring people along?”

This isn’t just an AI problem. It’s a business problem. And the companies that navigate it best aren’t necessarily the ones throwing the most money at AI — they’re the ones that start small, think smart, and build momentum the right way.
So, we brought together people facing these challenges and asked them to be brutally honest about their AI journeys. Here’s what they told us…

Setting the tone — excitement, uncertainty, and frustration

To kick things off, we asked attendees to describe AI within their organisation in one or two words. The responses?

“Hype.”
“Friction.”
“Hard to implement.”
“Infinite possibilities.”
“ROI?”
“Human.”

This set the tone. There’s excitement, but also a lot of uncertainty and frustration. AI feels huge, and that can be paralysing.

Here’s how the discussions developed when we delved a little deeper…

AI needs to solve real problems

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make? Jumping on AI because it sounds impressive.

The best AI implementations don’t start with “We need AI” — they start with “We need to fix X.”

The takeaway: if AI isn’t solving a concrete business problem, it’s just a shiny distraction. Start with the problem, not the tech.

Start small, think big

The feeling in the room was unanimous — for many businesses, AI adoption has become overcomplicated. Massive strategies emerge, investment is made in expensive tools, and then… nothing moves.
Instead, the companies making the biggest impact are the ones that:

  • Start with a small, targeted use case
  • Prove value quickly
  • Scale from there

The takeaway: you don’t need to reinvent your business overnight. Find a quick win, prove it works, and build momentum.

AI isn’t “just about tech” — it’s about people

One of the biggest hottest topics for discussion was around how much internal resistance slows AI down. Common issues included:

  • IT teams worried about security
  • Marketing teams sceptical of automation
  • Execs struggling to connect AI to ROI

So the key challenge around AI adoption isn’t necessarily around integration on the technical side — it’s a change management challenge.

The takeaway: AI adoption works best when employees feel involved, not sidelined. The more people understand AI’s role, the smoother the transition.

AI isn’t “one-and-done” — it’s an ongoing experiment

One of the most common frustrations? AI projects that don’t go as planned.

  • The model didn’t perform as expected
  • The data wasn’t clean enough
  • The results weren’t what was hoped for

But in reality, that’s normal. AI isn’t a plug-and-play solution — it’s an evolving process. It can take time, patience, and an iterative approach to get it firing on all cylinders.

The takeaway: the most successful AI adopters treat it like an experiment — test, learn, adjust, repeat.

Want to learn more? Download the full report:
Satalia – Navigating the AI revolution – Feb 2025


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