Companies keep approaching AI the way they approached every other tech rollout: install it, train on it, expect immediate returns. But AI isn't software. It's imperfect by design, doesn't follow a predictable implementation curve, and the gap between what leadership promised the board and what's actually happening is becoming a serious problem. In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle sits down with Chris Gee, founder of Chris Gee Consulting and strategic advisor to Ragan's Center for AI Strategy. Chris has survived four career reinventions driven by technological disruption—from watching his graphic design degree become obsolete the day he graduated to now helping organizations navigate the shift to agentic AI. His motto, "copilot, not autopilot," frames the entire conversation. Chris and Dan dig into why AI adoption is stalling—because companies are treating transformation like a switch to flip rather than a capability to build. They explore the parallel to 1993's Internet boom and why the adoption curve is right on schedule despite executive frustration. The conversation gets practical: Chris shares how he built an AI agent named "Alexa Irving" for client onboarding, and they tackle whether doom-and-gloom predictions from AI CEOs are helping or hurting the people who actually need to use these tools. Listen in and hear about... Why the adoption curve for AI mirrors the early Internet The $17 trillion argument against AI replacing all jobs (hint: someone has to buy things) How prompting skills aren't going away Building agentic AI with guardrails: Chris's "Alexa Irving" experiment Why "copilot, not autopilot" is more than a slogan—it's a survival strategy The skills gap nobody's addressing and why we need more brains who understand AI, not fewer Notable Quotes "My motto is copilot, not autopilot. I wholeheartedly believe that we are going to make the most progress using AI in tandem—where humans focus on the things that we do well and we use AI for the things it does better than we do." — Chris Gee [04:19] "17 is $17 trillion—that's what the American consumer spends per year. 70 is the percentage of US GDP that represents. And zero is the amount of money that AI chatbots, LLMs, and agents have to spend." — Chris Gee [23:57] "Your ability was never simply in your ability to string together words and phrases, but to translate experiences or emotions and create connection with other humans." — Chris Gee [36:44] "It's not thinking and it never will be thinking. So if we understand that, then we understand it won't be thinking like a human." — Chris Gee [1:07:00] Resources and Links Dan Nestle Inquisitive Communications | Website The Trending Communicator | Website Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack Dan Nestle | LinkedIn Chris Gee Chris Gee Consulting | chrisgee.me Chris Gee | LinkedIn The Intelligent Communicator Newsletter | chrisgee.me (sign up on website) Timestamps 0:00:00 AI Transformation: Hype vs. Reality in Communications0:06:00 Human Touch vs. Automation in Service Jobs0:12:40 Early Career Transformation & Adapting to Technology0:18:00 AI Adoption Curve: Early Adopters and Laggards0:23:30 Tech Disruption, Job Fears, and Economic Impact0:29:10 Prompting and Obstacles to AI Adoption0:34:45 Redefining Skill Sets & Human Value with AI0:40:45 Efficiency, Productivity, and Creativity with AI Tools0:46:20 Rethinking Work: Flexible Schedules & Four-Day Weeks0:51:39 Practical AI Use Cases: Experiment and Upgrade0:55:11 Agentic AI: Autonomous Agents and Guardrails1:01:29 Autonomous Agents: Oversight, Guardrails, and Risks1:08:15 AI Is Imperfect: Why Human Judgment Remains Essential1:14:16 AI Quirks, Prompting Challenges, and Adoption Friction1:19:41 Wrap-Up: Finding Chris Gee & Newsletter/Prompt Suggestions1:21:18 Final Thoughts & Episode Closing (Notes co-created by Human Dan, Claude, and Castmagic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices