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On 9 July, Pedersen & Partners hosted a Knowledge Exchange Afternoon in Riga, bringing together CEOs, owners and C-level executives to discuss what it takes when AI moves beyond experimentation and becomes part of everyday business. Throughout the afternoon, one message came through clearly. AI readiness is not primarily a technology initiative. It is a leadership challenge that depends on clear decisions, strong execution and commitment from the top.

The stakes are different in a small market

Opening the event, Evita Lune, Equity Partner, Global Head of the FinTech Practice and Regional Manager for the Baltics, set the scene: "Some compare the scale of this transformation to the introduction of the internet, others to the arrival of electricity. Whatever comparison we make, one thing is clear. Businesses will increasingly be divided into those that benefit from this transformation and those that fall behind. Scalable technology is one of the few levers a company here can pull to compete internationally without first raising a fortune or moving abroad."

Building on that perspective, Inga Ezera, Principal at Pedersen & Partners, shared insights from the Pan-European Leadership Pulse, focusing on how the roles of CEOs and HR leaders are evolving. While AI is high on the agenda, only 26% of surveyed leaders consider their organisations to be at an advanced stage of AI adoption. Perhaps even more telling was what leaders believe will create the most value over the next few years. Looking ahead to 2028, 68% ranked leadership capability among the top three drivers of business value, ahead of any specific technology. The main challenge, it seems, is not access to AI. It is the ability to lead organisations through change. When leaders were asked which single change would have the greatest impact on performance, they pointed to skills-based roles and more cross-functional ways of working. In fact, 77% of the value they expect comes from redesigning how work is organised and how teams collaborate, rather than from the technology itself.

The discussion then moved from the European leadership perspective to the realities facing Latvian organisations. Signe Nīgale, strategic communication and change management expert and SSE Riga Executive MBA graduate, presented findings from research conducted with Laura Kalniņa, Process Management Consultant. Focusing on medium and large Latvian organisations, the research highlighted a familiar challenge. While companies are keen to adopt AI, their ability to scale it across the organisation often lags behind.

The findings showed that organisations tend to make quick progress on decisions that sit within one leader's control, such as purchasing AI tools or allocating budgets. Much greater challenges emerge when success depends on cross-functional collaboration, redesigning ways of working, strengthening data foundations and measuring business outcomes. The research also found that resistance to AI is driven less by age than by trust and disappointing early experiences with immature tools. Perhaps most importantly, many organisations have yet to decide how employees should use the time AI is expected to free up.

A practical business perspective came from Nauris Bloks, CEO of TWINO, who shared how AI integration looks inside a dynamic fintech company. His experience showed that successful implementation is not simply about introducing new tools. It requires clear business decisions, disciplined processes, high-quality data, employee involvement and a clear understanding of where AI can create measurable value.

The afternoon concluded with a demonstration by Ričards Križanovskis from Desktop Commander, showing how AI agents can move beyond answering questions to executing operational tasks. As AI shifts from assistant to executor, the leadership challenge changes with it. The conversation is no longer only about what AI can do, but also what it should be allowed to do, how it should be governed and who is accountable when something goes wrong.

Several business takeaways stood out from the afternoon

The afternoon reinforced a clear message for business leaders. AI is no longer a technology discussion. It is a leadership and execution challenge. Success will depend less on how many AI tools an organisation adopts and more on its ability to connect AI to business priorities, build the right capabilities and implement change responsibly.

For CEOs and executive teams, the focus is shifting from understanding AI to asking better business questions. Where can AI create measurable value? Which business-critical process should AI help us improve first? And are we ready to lead that change, rather than simply fund it?