Kate Macartney.
Kate Macartney is the founder and CEO of MVM Strategies, an AI adoption consultancy for small and mid-sized businesses. She helps organizations move from AI familiarity to AI confidence, one workshop, one team, one "wait, it can do that?" moment at a time.
One of the biggest surprises in my AI journey has nothing to do with technology. AI didn't make me more productive. It changed how I lead.
That realization came during one of the most challenging seasons of my life. While raising two young children and leading a consulting career, I suddenly found myself helping my aging parents navigate health care, finances, legal matters and property management. I needed to get smart quickly, but I didn't know what questions to ask because I didn't even know where to begin.
So, I opened an AI chat.
I asked dozens of questions, some thoughtful and some embarrassingly basic. I wasn't looking for AI to replace doctors, attorneys or financial advisers. I wanted to understand enough to ask better questions when I met with them and become a stronger partner in helping my parents make important decisions. The more I learned, the more prepared I became.
As a consultant, learning quickly has always been part of my job. Every client expects me to step into unfamiliar territory, understand complex problems, and develop practical solutions. What I discovered through my personal experience changed how I think about consulting.
We've spent the last three years talking about AI as a productivity tool. I think its greatest value is something entirely different.
AI accelerates understanding.
It gives us a place to learn before we walk into the room, ask more thoughtful questions, and engage experts with greater confidence. That realization inspired me to launch MVM Strategies with a simple mission: help organizations confidently adopt AI in practical, human-centered ways.
What began as a way to navigate one of the most uncertain seasons of my life has become the foundation of how I help organizations adopt AI today.
A TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Today, I see that same transformation happening in organizations every day. In workshops, someone inevitably leans forward and asks, "Wait...it can do that?" Within minutes, the conversation shifts from skepticism to curiosity. I've watched executives prepare for board meetings by rapidly understanding unfamiliar topics, sales teams ramp up on new industries in a fraction of the time, and managers approach difficult conversations with greater confidence because they had a safe place to organize their thinking before the meeting even began.
None of that replaces expertise. It amplifies it.
AI adoption still requires strong governance, sound data practices, and human judgment. Those principles are non-negotiable. AI should never replace experience or critical thinking. It should strengthen them.
As leaders, we're constantly asked to make decisions with incomplete information. AI doesn't remove that responsibility, and it certainly doesn't replace our expertise, judgment or relationships. We bring the intention, the context, the experience, and the accountability that no model can replicate. AI can research, synthesize, and draft. We decide what matters, what is true, and what happens next.
Looking back, that's what AI gave me. It didn't give me expertise. It gave me a place to begin.
If you haven't started exploring AI yet, now is the time. AI isn't going away, and you don't need a complex implementation plan to begin. Open ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Ask a question. See what you get. Ask another. That's it.
Don't overthink it. Curiosity is still the best place to start.
