Execute or be executed!

Investors don’t want to know if you are busy; they don’t want to know if your projects are blocked or any other set of issues that may make you miss your targets.

There is a popular quote from one of my famous authors, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. ” – Sun Tzu.

Later in this article, I will come back to “Execute or Be Executed”,; extracted from the book by Sam Geist (2008)

AI is your secret weapon.

My choice of references and headers in my first article of 2026 is intentionally punny and hyperbolic. If not executing makes you executed, then you should smile, because AI is your secret weapon.

The hidden reality of every technology is that it’s an enabler. AI is no different in this regard. Given my engagement with executives in Nigeria, most know about AI. The interesting thing about the generative AI wave is that there are many big elephants in the room, especially regarding job roles and personal productivity.

As the year kicks off, you will regularly carry out strategic objectives, report, line-manage, and give presentations. I will share five tools to help you execute and avoid the firing line.

Recommended tools for execution

Reporting AI tool: Zoho Analytics (Free Tier) includes “Zia”, an AI assistant. You can literally type, “Show me sales by region vs. last month,” and it will build the chart for you. (Free for up to 2 users).

Note-taking: There are many tools already adopted by executives. However, it is essential to have one that goes beyond mere note-taking. Fellow.ai is quite helpful. It helps you build collaborative agendas before the meeting and tracks action items after.

“The hidden reality of every technology is that it’s an enabler. AI is no different in this regard. Given my engagement with executives in Nigeria, most know about AI.”

Advanced Calendar AI: Reclaim.ai: An AI calendar assistant. It “defends” your time by automatically blocking out slots for your high-priority tasks based on your to-do list. This is useful as it goes beyond the traditional calendar tools.

Meeting Presentations: Imagine you have been busy and suddenly realise you need to kick off the company town hall tomorrow, even though you have a family engagement after work. The town hall starts at 9 am.  This is one of the areas where AI has been invaluable. I remember spending days preparing a PowerPoint presentation tailored to the meeting context and stakeholders. Gamma AI has been created to solve this problem. One line of prompt and voila! You have a beautiful presentation in seconds!

Personality Traits Analysis: Crystal:  It utilises AI to analyse personality traits and provide communication strategies. Great for meeting preparation, helping you understand the best engagement and communication strategy.

Execute or be executed

Execute… or Be Executed: Eighteen Ways to Move Strategic Thinking to Strategic Doing” (2008). My inspiration for the title is a practical manual for leaders who struggle with “the execution gap”: the space between a brilliant idea and a finished result.

The book’s title is an ultimatum: in a volatile market, having a great strategy is no longer a competitive advantage because everyone has access to the same information.

Bottom line

The tools listed above have been shared to inspire leaders and executives to understand the availability and relevance of AI tools as a secret weapon to ensure execution happens.

The only remaining advantage in 2026 and beyond is speed and reliability of implementation. If you don’t execute your ideas, your competitors will, effectively “executing” your business’s relevance.

The world will not ask which way you came.

Nor if you were slowed by the mud or the rain;

It won’t care for the ‘why’ or the ‘if’ or the ‘how’.

It only demands, ‘Did you do it, and now?

(From Walt Mason’s “The man who delivers the goods”)

Dotun Adeoye is a technology entrepreneur, AI governance leader, and co-founder of AI in Nigeria. He has over 30 years of global experience across Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa and advises organisations on AI transformation, governance, and digital growth.

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