Episode 50

AI FOMO: Stop Watching, Start Winning

AI isn’t some future threat on the horizon. It’s already changing how businesses operate, and the question is whether you’re keeping up or falling behind. 

In this 50th episode of The Business Emergency Room, Maartje van Krieken gets real about “AI FOMO” and why so many leaders are stuck thinking instead of doing. Most companies say they’re exploring AI, but only a small fraction have actually changed how their business runs. So what’s holding them back? And what might it cost to keep waiting?

Maartje shares examples that go way beyond marketing copy and chat tools. Think AI systems that manage warehouse traffic in real time, flag legal risks in massive contracts, guide field technicians on complex repairs, or adjust prices based on raw material costs before your team even opens a spreadsheet. These aren’t futuristic experiments… They’re happening right now.

You don’t need to become a tech expert to bring AI into your business. What you need is a clear sense of where things break down, where the process slows, and where your team is stretched thin doing work that tech could handle better. That’s where AI business integration, operational efficiency, and intelligent automation come into play.

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to take action, maybe this is it. What would change if you picked one process and explored how AI could make it faster, smarter, or less painful? What’s the risk of staying still while everything else moves forward? Maartje offers a grounded, no-hype way to start answering those questions.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 AI FOMO and the Leadership Gap

01:17 The Truth About AI Adoption in Business

03:02 Why Waiting to Act Carries Real Risk

05:04 Practical Use Cases of Intelligent Automation

14:12 Five Strategic Steps to AI Business Integration

22:22 Building Long-Term AI Capability and Confidence

23:48 Moving from FOMO to First Mover Advantage

Links

Connect with Maartje van Krieken:

https://www.thechaosgamesconsulting.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maartje/

https://maartjeturnschaosaround.substack.com/

Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje delivers actionable insights to turn turbulence into traction. 


Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

About the Podcast

Show artwork for The Business Emergency Room Podcast
The Business Emergency Room Podcast
Triage, Tools & Tactics to recover from or prevent business chaos in this VUCA business environment

About your host

Profile picture for Maartje van Krieken

Maartje van Krieken

Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist, executive consultant, and your at host of The Business Emergency Room podcast, where growing businesses go when things get messy. With a career that began in frontier oil and gas and spanned war zones, boardrooms, and billion-dollar pivots, Maartje has spent over two decades helping organizations steer through chaos and come out stronger.
Now through her consulting firm, The Chaos Games, Maartje works with medium-sized businesses, especially those scaling rapidly or navigating uncertainty, to diagnose breakdowns in leadership, collaboration, and decision-making before they become business emergencies. Her signature approach blends practical triage, people-first strategy, and blunt Dutch honesty to help teams realign fast.

​The Business Emergency Room delivers high-impact insights for business leaders, board members, and investors who are tired of the symptoms, disconnection, friction, paralysis, and want the tools to fix what’s really going wrong. Maartje’s episodes cut through fluff with stories, frameworks, and metaphors that turn even the most complex chaos into something leaders can act on.
Maartje is based in New Orleans and speaks regularly on navigating organizational storms, building business resilience, and turning reactive firefighting into proactive leadership. Whether you’re scaling a business, running a team, or dealing with dysfunction, The Business Emergency Room is the place to find straight talk and smarter tools.