I just quit my job.
Not to take another job. Not to take a break.
I quit to build something that I just had to build.
After 15 years in strategy execution, hundreds of discussions in and around the podcast, and two years living as an AI-augmented executive... I couldn't ignore the pattern anymore: 96% of AI projects are failing. Not because the technology doesn't work. Because nobody wanted the future we were building toward.
So I made a choice. Not slowly. Not carefully. All in.
This episode is different. I'm handing my podcast over to Henrik Järleskog - one of the sharpest minds I know on AI transformation - and taking the guest seat myself.
Together, we're exploring whether launching GRAIL is brilliant... or if I've gone completely insane.
For every CEO staring at pilot purgatory, analysis paralysis, and initiatives that haven't moved the needle - this is the conversation you need to hear.
Henrik Järleskog brings two decades of leading strategy and transformation for Fortune 500 companies, both as a management consultant and executive. Over the past two years, he's built his own agentic workforce and become a thought leader in the future of work space.
In this episode, he turns the tables and puts me in the hot seat.
🔥 Key Insights
✅ The Super Worker – Your competitive advantage is human × 20.
Imagine every hour you buy from an employee delivers 20 hours of output. That's not science fiction - it's the Super Worker model. By surrounding each person with specialized AI agents, you don't replace humans, you amplify them. Johan went from 140% workload to 50% time spent, with better quality output. This is augmentation in action.
✅ The Triple Threat – You can lose on all three fronts simultaneously.
The old rule: compete on speed, cost, OR quality - pick two. AI breaks this. A competitor in ghost mode right now could emerge tomorrow with higher quality, faster delivery, and lower prices. All three. At once. This isn't theoretical - the technology is already ahead of most companies' imagination. The question is: who moves first?
✅ Automate vs. Augment – The most important choice you didn’t know you had to make
Path 1 (Automation): Replace humans with AI. Maximize short-term cost savings. Look good this quarter. Build no sustainable advantage.
Path 2 (Augmentation): Multiply human capability. Free salespeople from admin to spend 90% of their time with customers. Transform engineers into project managers with agent teams beneath them. Create experiences competitors can't copy because they're fundamentally human.
Most companies are defaulting to Path 1 without realizing it. GRAIL is designed to help mid-market CEOs choose Path 2.
✅ The Three-Tier GRAIL Model – Self-funding transformation.
Step 1: Upskill the C-Suite and map opportunities. Build AI literacy and strategic vision at the top.
Step 2: Quick wins that fund the bigger bet. Deploy automation that makes the CFO happy and proves ROI in 90 days.
Step 3: The augmentation play. Build unfair competitive advantages that transform quality, speed, and cost simultaneously.
The second tier funds the third. The transformation pays for itself.
✅ Remote-First, Media-First, Agent-Augmented Consulting.
GRAIL isn't built like a traditional consultancy. There's no 'hire the next consultant' playbook. Instead:
• Media-first go-to-market (thought leadership value to the target ICP)
• Remote-first delivery (enabling global reach and integrated life design)
• Agent-augmented research and delivery (voice agents interview entire organizations in a day, research agents replace weeks of discovery work)
This is what a consultancy looks like when you practice what you preach.
If this conversation excites you - if you want to win, not just keep up - reach out to Johan at grail.works or connect on LinkedIn.