Why Every Leader Must Be AI-Literate With Randi-Sue Deckard
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a buzzword reserved for tech companies—it’s reshaping how every industry operates, from healthcare to marketing to customer success. Yet for many leaders, the challenge isn’t just implementing AI—it’s knowing how to use it responsibly while guiding their teams to embrace it.
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In a recent episode of the Lazy Entrepreneur Podcast, Kristy sat down with Randi Deckard, Senior Vice President of Growth at BESLER and CRO advisor. With a career that began in clinical science, Randi-Sue brings a unique perspective to business: treat every strategy as an experiment. Over the last five years, she’s been integrating AI into her leadership, with one clear goal—to “people more.”
In this article, we’ll break down Randi-Sue’s practical strategies for using AI in leadership and business, the risks leaders should consider, and how AI can remove friction for customers while empowering teams to perform at their best.
From Clinical Science to AI Leadership
Randi-Sue’s career trajectory is anything but traditional. Starting as a clinical scientist, she was trained to experiment, test, and iterate. She carried that mindset into the business world, eventually rising into executive leadership roles.
Her work today spans sales, marketing, and customer success. But what makes her leadership stand out is her integration of AI not just for efficiency, but for impact.
“As much as I love AI, my true north is always people. For me, it’s about how AI can help me people more—be more present for my team and more present for my customers.”
What Is Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy, and Why AI Matters
One of the core themes of the conversation was go-to-market (GTM) strategy—a company’s plan to build awareness, acquire customers, and grow relationships.
Randi-Sue explained it simply:
Raise awareness of your brand.
Acquire customers and build trust.
Keep customers engaged and expand relationships.
AI plays a role in every stage of GTM. From analyzing customer intent to automating workflows, it helps teams deliver the right message at the right time—without drowning in data.
Why Leaders Must Be AI-Literate
Randi-Sue emphasized that every leader today needs to be AI-literate.
“How can you expect your team to evaluate or implement AI if you don’t understand it yourself? You can’t guide them without knowing the basics.”
For her, AI literacy isn’t about coding or becoming a data scientist. It’s about:
Knowing what tools exist.
Understanding how they connect with your business systems.
Asking the right questions about outcomes, risks, and value.
Without this literacy, leaders risk either overhyping AI or missing opportunities to use it strategically.
Practical Ways Leaders Can Use AI
Randi-Sue shared several real-world ways she integrates AI into her leadership role.
1. Custom GPT for Industry News
Instead of spending an hour every morning scanning 50+ news sources, she built a custom GPT that:
Pulls news from trusted feeds.
Filters content by what matters to her industry.
Summarizes insights in a table format (team, leadership, company, market perspectives).
This allows her to stay informed, save time, and proactively guide her team with relevant information.
2. AI for Coaching and One-on-Ones
She uses AI to build personalized one-on-one agendas based on team members’ quarterly goals and activities. This makes meetings more productive and ensures both leader and employee come prepared.
3. Intent Marketing with AI
Buyers today do research long before they talk to sales. AI tools like 6sense or HubSpot’s intent features help track signals that a customer is ready to buy—removing friction and ensuring sales teams reach out at the right moment.
4. Deal Rooms with AI
In B2B, AI-powered deal rooms allow customers to access relevant information (like compliance or security docs) at their own pace. This “choose your own adventure” model removes friction and empowers buyers.
The Risks and Pitfalls of AI
Of course, AI isn’t without risks. Randi-Sue highlighted the key pitfalls leaders must evaluate before adopting new tools:
Data integrity: Garbage in, garbage out. Leaders must understand what data the model was trained on.
Bias and hallucinations: Not all outputs can be trusted—context and oversight are critical.
Security risks: How does AI connect with your company’s systems (like Salesforce)? Who owns the data? Could it leak?
Compliance: In industries like healthcare and finance, protecting sensitive data is non-negotiable.
ROI measurement: Many companies say “AI failed,” but they never defined their business objectives upfront.
Her advice: treat AI like any other technology investment. Evaluate costs, risks, and outcomes. Create governance frameworks, review tools quarterly, and never assume a one-and-done setup.
Empowering Teams with AI (Not Replacing Them)
A theme that ran throughout the conversation was empowerment. For Randi-Sue, AI isn’t about replacing human effort—it’s about freeing teams to focus on higher-value work.
She believes leaders have two critical responsibilities in the AI era:
Give clarity. Remind teams of business objectives and filter out noise.
Empower autonomy. Equip people to make decisions without constant oversight.
“A leader’s job is to create clarity. When I set filters and expectations, my team feels confident to move forward. That’s how AI becomes a tool for empowerment, not micromanagement.”
Learning Leadership from Bad Leaders
Interestingly, Randi-Sue admitted her leadership style grew out of negative early experiences.
She once worked under a manager who gave conflicting directions daily—X one day, Y the next, Z the day after. The chaos taught her what she never wanted to replicate.
Now, she makes it her mission to translate business objectives clearly for her teams, so they understand how their role impacts company outcomes.
Why AI is Worth the Risk
With all the risks, is AI still worth it? For Randi-Sue, the answer is yes—if implemented responsibly.
The benefits include:
Huge time savings (e.g., automating research).
Smarter marketing through intent signals.
Improved customer experiences with less friction.
More present, empowered leaders and teams.
Key Takeaways for Business Leaders
Become AI-literate. Leaders don’t need to be experts, but they must understand enough to guide their teams.
Tie AI to business outcomes. Don’t adopt tools just because they’re new—define ROI first.
Empower your team. Use AI to remove noise and create clarity, not to replace people.
Prioritize security and governance. Protect data, evaluate tools quarterly, and stay compliant.
Think frictionless. AI should make the customer journey easier, not more complicated.
AI is transforming business at lightning speed—but for leaders like Randi-Sue Deckard, the goal isn’t chasing every shiny new tool. It’s about being intentional, tying technology to outcomes, and using AI to empower people.
Her leadership style shows that when used responsibly, AI doesn’t replace the human touch—it enhances it. It gives leaders more presence, teams more clarity, and customers a smoother experience.
In the end, the future of business isn’t just about AI. It’s about people. And leaders who learn to balance the two will be the ones who thrive.
👉 Connect with Randi Deckard on LinkedIn to learn more about her work and insights on growth, leadership, and AI.
