Blog / Sales tips

AI won't save you – but your leadership might

AI isn’t a magic fix. It’s a challenge that demands real leadership. In this candid piece, GetAccept CEO Samir Smajic reveals how his team is embedding AI into daily work, driving performance, and rethinking growth without headcount. From resistance to reinvention, this is what real AI adoption looks like behind the scenes.

Written by

Samir Smajic

May 28, 2025

Read. 7 min.

AI won't save you – but your leadership might

AI is on every agenda right now. It’s in every room I walk into, every board meeting, and every investor conversation. But despite all the hype, one question keeps coming up – quietly, and a little hesitantly:

How do I actually implement AI?

At the recent SaaSiest conference, I took the stage to share how we’re approaching this at GetAccept. It wasn’t a product pitch or a polished framework. It was a wake-up call – to myself, to the Nordic tech community, and to any business leader who still thinks they have time to wait.

AI won't save you (or at least, not the way you think!)

Let’s start with the uncomfortable truth I opened with:

“AI won’t save you – at least not the way you hope it will.”

That’s not to say AI isn’t transformative. It is. But tech alone doesn’t save companies – leadership does. The hard part isn’t finding tools. It’s changing how your company thinks, works, and grows.

I used to think we had time to figure it out. That we could wait for clearer use cases or more stable tools. But a conversation I had at a SaaS event last year changed everything. Someone in the crowd said to a speaker:

“You need to rebuild your company from scratch with AI.”

It hit me like a punch. Because they were right. And I wasn’t acting like it.

This is moving faster than anything we've seen

A lot of people compare the AI shift to the mobile revolution. I agree – except this is moving ten times faster.

“The AI you’re using today is the worst AI you’ll ever use again.”

That quote, originally from Kevin Weil at OpenAI, says it all. AI capabilities aren’t getting better year by year. They’re leaping forward every two months. If that doesn’t scare you a little, it should.

I built the very presentation I gave at SaaSiest by talking to ChatGPT in my car on the way to work. I outlined my key points, asked it to research stats comparing Nordic and US AI adoption, and had the whole structure done before I even opened PowerPoint. That used to take me half a day.

samir-round-color-2

"That’s not to say AI isn’t transformative. It is. But tech alone doesn’t save companies – leadership does. The hard part isn’t finding tools. It’s changing how your company thinks, works, and grows."

Samir Smajic, CEO & Co-Founder at GetAccept

What we're doing with AI at GetAccept

We didn’t want to just “try AI.” We wanted to bake it into how we work and how we grow. So we made some bold decisions.

We set this goal: Double ARR without increasing headcount.

It forces us to rethink how value is created. We’re no longer hiring by default – we’re automating first.

We added a rule: No new hires until AI can’t solve the problem.

Inspired by Shopify and Duolingo, we now challenge teams to find an AI solution before opening a recruitment brief.

We made AI part of performance reviews.

Every team must test three AI-powered initiatives per quarter, and present at least one company-wide. AI isn’t an optional skill anymore – it’s core to how we evaluate growth and contribution.

“Every team must learn and apply AI. It’s a learn and share thing.”

Some people embraced it immediately. Others felt threatened. That’s normal. But culture doesn’t change without friction.

Good AI needs good leadership_AI wont save you

The real resistance isn't tech – It's people

The hardest part of AI adoption in business isn’t the tools. It’s the excuses. Developers tell me the code isn’t ready. Marketers worry the copy won’t feel human. Even fellow CEOs say, “Let’s wait a bit.”

“You’ll feel resistance. Smart people will have excuses. But if you’re not climbing, you’re sliding.”

As leaders, we can’t delegate this. If we don’t get on the train, there won’t be a transformation. We don’t have the luxury of time anymore.

Next: Embedding AI into everything

We’re not done. We’re moving into Phase Two – making AI part of every function, every project, every product decision. That includes:

Hiring a VP of AI to lead the strategy holistically
Embedding AI in product development from day one
Reinforcing the culture shift – top-down and bottom-up

We’re also considering a rule where every new product feature must include an AI component. It’s ambitious – and yes, a little messy. But the future won’t wait for clean roadmaps.

A few things I've tried myself

To lead this shift, I knew I had to walk the talk. Here are a few things I’ve built (or hacked together) using AI:

An agent for success reviews – using past reviews and performance frameworks to suggest feedback and challenge scores.
An image filter for hunting cameras – to separate photos of birds from wild boars. (Yes, really.)
End-to-end presentation outlines using voice-to-text + ChatGPT – saving hours per week.

I’m no AI engineer. But I’m learning, testing, and showing what’s possible. That’s what leadership looks like right now.

“Am I the best at AI? Most likely not. But I’m showing how it’s done.”

So, what's the takeaway?

AI won’t magically fix your workflows. It won’t replace your strategy. And it won’t make hard decisions for you.

“I don’t think AI itself will save you. But leadership will.”

The biggest risk we face today isn’t misuse. It’s inaction. Your competitors are experimenting. Your customers are evolving. And your future hires are already using these tools.

If you're still waiting to get started, ask yourself: What exactly are you waiting for?