Don’t Wait for Godot: The Folly of Delayed AI Adoption

In Samuel Beckett's absurdist masterpiece "Waiting for Godot," two characters spend the entire play waiting for someone who never arrives. They discuss leaving, they contemplate action, they make plans—but ultimately, they remain paralyzed by anticipation. Today, countless portfolio companies find themselves in a strikingly similar position, waiting for AI to become "ready" while the competitive landscape transforms around them.

The Perpetual Wait

"We'll start an AI initiative when the technology matures."

"Let's wait until the tools become more reliable."

"We need to see how this plays out first."

These phrases echo through office buildings with the same futile hope that Vladimir and Estragon clung to as they waited beneath that barren tree. Like Beckett's protagonists, companies caught in this mindset convince themselves that tomorrow will bring the perfect moment to act. But perfection in technology, like Godot, never arrives. By the time today's AI limitations are resolved, tomorrow's capabilities will have already redefined the competitive landscape.

The Competitive Chasm Widens

While some organizations wait, others are building insurmountable advantages. Every day of delay allows competitors to:

Develop organizational AI literacy - Teams that experiment with AI today are building competencies that will be essential tomorrow. They are learning to prompt effectively, integrate AI workflows, and identify high-value use cases across the enterprise through hands-on practice.

Optimize operations ahead of the curve. From customer service to content creation, from code development to financial analysis, AI-forward companies are achieving efficiency gains that translate directly into competitive advantage.

Establish customer expectations - Companies delivering AI-enhanced products and services are training their markets to expect speed, personalization, and capabilities that non-adopters simply cannot match.

Accumulate proprietary data and insights - Early AI adopters are creating internal feedback loops that continuously improve their models and processes. Their data advantage becomes a moat that grows deeper with time.

The Hidden Costs of Hesitation

The decision to wait isn't cost-neutral—it's expensive in ways that don't appear on your portfolio companies’ quarterly reports:

Performance improvement opportunities vanish - AI can enhance decision-making, accelerate processes, and uncover additional insights from existing data. Every quarter of delay compounds losses in productivity and innovation.

Cost reduction initiatives stagnate - Automation and AI-assisted workflows can dramatically reduce operational expenses. Delayed AI integration results in continued premium pricing for manual processes that others have already streamlined. 

Growth opportunities slip away - AI enables new product capabilities, market approaches, and customer experiences. While waiting companies debate implementation, agile competitors are capturing emerging market segments.

The Shadow AI Reality

Perhaps most concerning, the choice isn't really between "adopting AI" and "not adopting AI." Employees are already using AI tools—they're just doing it without organizational oversight, strategy, or safeguards.

The security risk is real - When employees use consumer AI tools for work tasks, sensitive data may be processed on external servers without proper encryption, access controls, or data retention policies. OpenAI reports that 30% of ChatGPT use from consumer plans is work-related. 

Privacy compliance becomes impossible - Organizations subject to GDPR, HIPAA, or other privacy regulations cannot ensure compliance when they don't control or monitor AI usage across their workforce.

Quality and consistency suffer - Without standardized tools and training, different departments may end up developing incompatible AI workflows, leading to inconsistent output and missed opportunities for organization-wide optimization.

Skills development becomes fragmented - Employees learning AI skills in isolation miss opportunities for collaborative improvement and knowledge sharing that formal upskilling programs would provide.

The Talent Imperative

The job market increasingly rewards AI competency. Organizations that fail to provide AI tools and training are handicapping their employees. When skilled workers can choose between companies that embrace AI and those that resist it, the choice is obvious.

Recruitment becomes harder - Top talent gravitates toward organizations that offer modern tools and growth opportunities. Companies perceived as technologically conservative struggle to attract innovative thinkers with a growth mindset.

Retention suffers - Ambitious employees want to develop skills that advance their careers. Those restricted to manual processes while peers at other companies master AI tools will seek opportunities elsewhere.

Innovation stagnates - Teams equipped with AI can experiment, iterate, and innovate at speeds that manual processes simply cannot match. Organizations that delay AI adoption are inadvertently creating a culture of constraint rather than possibility.

Beyond the Waiting Room

Unlike Beckett's characters, business leaders have agency. The perfect AI tool will never arrive because perfection is a moving target in the rapidly evolving field of AI. But today's imperfect tools are already powerful enough to drive significant value creation.

Develop governance frameworks - Develop policies for data handling, model training, and output review. These frameworks will evolve with your AI capabilities but provide essential guardrails from day one.

Build internal expertise - Train your workforce on AI tools and best practices. This investment will pay dividends as their capabilities expand and new use cases emerge.

Identify practical use cases – Focus on easy wins that improve employees’ daily work and offer clear organizational ROI. Start with customer service chatbots, content generation assistance, data analysis workflows, and back office administrative processes.

Plan for iteration. Treat AI adoption as an ongoing process rather than a one-time implementation. Today's experiments will inform tomorrow's transformation initiatives.

The Urgency of Now

Portfolio companies that can generate alpha will not wait for perfect AI tools. You must help them understand that competitive advantage comes not from having the best tools, but from building the best workforce capabilities around whatever tools exist.

Godot never came for Vladimir and Estragon in the play. In the business world where competitive advantage compounds daily, waiting for Godot isn't just absurd - it's strategic suicide.

If you would like to learn more about how to develop practical AI adoption plans for your portfolio companies, NextAccess can help. Please contact me to schedule a complimentary consultation.

NextAccess Authors: Scott Kosch and Valerie VanDerzee

NextAccess guides organizations through AI transformation by fostering sustainable change that optimizes operational excellence while ensuring individuals are engaged, upskilled, and empowered to flourish. We specialize in helping our clients achieve breakthrough improvements in productivity, efficiency, and quality by unlocking the full potential of their people and capabilities.

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Message Scott Kosch or Valerie VanDerzee to schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation to explore how our expertise can help your organization.