AUG 5 | Drop in anytime 3:30–6:00 PM CT | Dirk’s koi pond | Chicago
71% of employees are using AI. 29% of workflows are.
If you're the talent leader being asked to close that gap — and you're not sure whether to start with everyone in the company or start with the workflow owners connecting the work — this is the conversation to have first.
8–10 Chicagoland people leaders. Dirk's backyard. Koi pond with peers comparing notes on the AI adoption question everyone is quietly wrestling with.
Drop in when you can, leave when you need.
What you'll leave with
Shared signals from peers who are working on the same problem.
Not answers — patterns. 3–5 things other L&D and talent leaders are seeing on workflow-owner adoption that you can bring back to your team on Monday.
The kind of signals that only surface when people wrestling with the same thing compare notes off the record.
Who this is for
Directors and VPs in HR, L&D, and talent leadership who are:
- Being asked to make an AI adoption call this fall
- Weighing where to place the bet — workflow owners vs. enterprise-wide enablement
- Ready to compare notes with peers, not consultants
Why the koi pond
The honest version of this conversation doesn't happen at the office.
Bring what's actually on your mind. Bring a bottle if you want. ELE will provide beer, wine, and snacks.
How this connects to Oct 1
Aug 5 is the pre-conversation.
Oct 1 at CNA Chicago — Leadership Development in the AI Flow of Work — is where ~200 talent leaders take signals from meetups like this and stress-test them against the frameworks that will shape the next decade of talent work.
Leadership development is the mechanism through which workflow owners learn to redesign work, lead adoption, and turn AI investment into business value.
Aug 5 gets you the room. Oct 1 gets you the stage.
Plug in deeper — Book #4 is being co-created right now
In Search of Organizational Excellence — ELE's 4th book project — is being built inside the community.
The Karen Kocher thesis anchoring it is exactly what we'll be exploring on Aug 5:
"Companies want and need expertise — human or AI. Judgment stays uniquely human. The C-suite goal is minimizing coordination tasks. Only 29% of workflows are using AI while 71% of employees are — that gap is the opportunity."
If Aug 5 lights something up for you, that's where the deeper conversation lives.
Start here → In Search of Organizational Excellence (ELE Book #4 Project Information)
Seats are limited — RSVP to help us plan.
Guests are welcome to bring something light. ELE will provide beer, wine, and snacks.
