The message across every session was clear: AI isn’t a future consideration. Learning how to leverage it – across your company culture, your operating productivity, and your products and solutions – is now a core part of every leader’s job.

State of the Union: AI Across the Portfolio

We kicked off the Summit with a readout on AI adoption across the portfolio, based on a survey conducted ahead of the event.

While the sample size was small (about 30 company leaders), a few notable patterns emerged:

AI usage doesn’t always correlate with company size. Some of the smaller companies in our portfolio reported some of the most sophisticated, widespread adoption.

In terms of function, front-office teams have pulled ahead: Marketing, product, engineering, and customer support are leading the charge, with usage rates over 90%. Back-office departments like finance, legal, and HR are catching up — with strong momentum.

When it comes to building internal AI muscle, companies are taking a range of approaches:

• 83% are actively training their teams on AI tools.
• 46% are hiring dedicated AI specialists.
• 21% are bringing in consultants to bridge immediate gaps.

AI-Focused Break-Out Sessions

We took the conversation further in small-group breakout sessions, where CEOs shared how they’re leading the shift toward an AI-first culture.

Key best practices from the breakouts:

Lead by example: CEOs who actively use AI in their own workflows — from using AI to read and summarize team reports, to brainstorming with LLM voice models about high-stakes decisions — are seeing the strongest adoption across their teams.

Empower the front lines: Leaders are encouraging grassroots experimentation and sharing best practices across departments. They’re also adjusting metrics to reflect this cultural shift, with several CEOs noting that AI adoption metrics are now included in OKRs and KPIs.

Make AI visible: Companies are weaving AI into the fabric of daily work — whether by spotlighting success stories at company all-hands, creating dedicated Slack channels for AI tips, or hosting hackathons that challenge employees to solve real pain points with AI tools.

Expert Voices: AI and the Changing Landscape

At every leadership gathering, we invite a few trusted experts to offer deeper perspective on the trends shaping leadership and business strategy. This year’s speakers brought firsthand experience from two industries undergoing massive shifts.

Bret Taylor – co-founder of Sierra and board chair of OpenAI – shared his perspective on where we are in the AI “hype cycle,” the realities of AI commercialization, and how companies can embed AI into their culture today to build a sustainable competitive edge.

We’re in an AI “build phase,” not just a hype cycle. Taylor compared today’s moment to the early internet and mobile eras, stressing that foundational shifts in product-market fit, business models, and pricing structures (like outcome-based pricing) are already underway — and no market will be untouched.

Agents will reshape the future of work. He predicted the rise of AI agents that can complete end-to-end tasks (like customer service, legal research, or marketing personalization) — moving beyond productivity boosts into full-service outputs.

Leading through technological change requires culture-setting. Taylor emphasized that building an AI-first culture starts at the top: leaders must personally adopt AI in their workflows, champion experimentation, and normalize its use across teams — much like how spreadsheets became a basic expectation in finance.

Capitalizing on AI means designing for speed and adaptability. Companies that succeed will be the ones that can absorb the rapid pace of AI model innovation — updating infrastructure quickly to stay ahead, rather than getting locked into static systems.

Long-term winners won’t just be tech companies — they’ll be the companies that rethink business models. Taylor suggested that firms who rethink how they deliver value, rather than just layering AI onto old systems, will define the next generation of industry leaders.

Anna Palmer, CEO and co-founder of Punchbowl New, also gave an insider’s perspective — this one on how Washington is approaching tech regulation, the future of AI policy, and what it takes to build a company from the ground up in a rapidly changing environment.

Their insights framed AI not just as a technological shift, but as a leadership challenge — one that will require clear thinking, strong execution, and a willingness to evolve with the times.

Networking, Storytelling, and Shared Experience

Above all, our leadership summits help strengthen the ties that make our portfolio community valuable, and this was no exception. Throughout the two days, leaders built new connections — on organized hikes, bike rides, and sailing excursions, and around cocktail tables and dinner conversations.

There was also space for tactical, direct knowledge-sharing. Three Spectrum portfolio leaders who exited their companies over the past year spoke to the experience: Varicent CEO Marc Altshuller walked through their exit led by Warburg Pincus , CINC CEO Ryan Davis described their growth investment from Hg, and CEO Chris Maclin spoke about Hg’s investment in Empyrean.

The group led a candid discussion on the full lifecycle of an exit, from prepping the business for sale to negotiating terms to the realities of post-close operations.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2025 CEO Summit — these opportunities to connect and build on our partnerships mean the world. We’re excited to keep the conversations going throughout the year across our portfolio communities, roundtables, and workshops.

You can find more information about Spectrum’s portfolio events on our Partnership page.