MsCM🪷🟧

“Artificial intelligence is being misapplied by executives who treat it as a technology rollout rather than a fundamental rethink of how businesses operate”. Bain Capital Managing Partner, David Gross. This observation rings painfully true for digital transformation across #Jamaica. Despite bold public announcements genuine progress will remain frustratingly slow. Government ministries and agencies, and private sector, too often digitize old processes instead of reimagining them. The result? Marginal, if any, improvements in efficiency and productivity; clinging to legacy models while global competitors leap ahead. The roadblock is not technology or funding, it’s mindset. The fear, especially among older leaders, the gatekeepers in key positions, of having to learn new skills that are already commonplace in younger generations who are eager to move forward. There’s also ignorance and complacency. Leaders must stop viewing digital tools as add-ons and start treating them as opportunities for radical reinvention. Radical reinvention means change. It means disrupting the status quo which has benefitted some, but not the minions, clients, customers, taxpayers. How do we fix this? First, demand strategic leadership and culture change. CEOs and Permanent Secretaries should be held accountable not for launching apps, but for measurable outcomes: reduced processing times, new revenue streams, and redesigned customer experiences. Tie incentives and promotions to real transformation KPIs. Second, invest seriously in people. Expand reskilling programs through HEART/NSTA and partnerships with Microsoft and private academies. Every Ministry and major business needs a digital literacy and innovation culture plan. Let’s equip young #Jamaicans to build, not just consume, technology. Third, foster genuine collaboration. Public-private-academia consortia should identify high-impact sectors; tourism personalisation through AI, agricultural supply chain optimisation, or fintech for remittances; and launch ambitious pilot projects that redesign entire workflows, not just automate them. Fourth, cut the bureaucracy. Streamline procurement and regulation to favour agile experimentation over risk-averse tenders. #Jamaica has the talent, the ambition, and now the tools. What we lack is the courage to move beyond studies, surveys, and press releases to painful but necessary organisational change. It begins with leaders overcoming their personal fears and biases and committing to the revolution. Let’s all commit to transformation that actually transforms. #Caribbean