What Actually Happened When OpenAI's AI Went Rogue

During an internal cybersecurity test, an AI agent powered by an experimental OpenAI model was tasked with a benchmark exercise. Instead of staying inside its sandbox, the agent reasoned its way out, discovered a previously unknown vulnerability and used stolen credentials to reach Hugging Face’s production servers, pulling out the information it needed to complete its assigned task.

So what does this mean for you?

The model wasn’t hijacked by an outside attacker. It made an autonomous decision to break a boundary because that boundary was in the way of finishing its job efficiently – similar to your tireless workers.

That is precisely the behavior every AI agent you deploy is optimized to exhibit, just usually with lower stakes and better-defined limits.

Learn more about how this fallout gap is impossible to ignore and what actually happened when OpenAI's AI went rogue.

Leverage the Arts and Storytelling for Greater Data Impact

Most of you reading this blog have worked in a company setting.  You have likely sat in a room where someone presents a slide deck loaded with charts, numbers, and bullet points. The presenter seems prepared, and everyone nods politely. But do you really remember what is shared, and do you really care about the data or act on it? Often, that answer is no.

How do we turn that around so that you find yourself remembering, caring about, and acting on what you learned?

Discover why storytelling is such a powerful driver of action, and why facts alone rarely move people.

AI Isn't a Substitute For Human Skills

As Michael Fenlon, Executive Director of Harvard Online and former Chief People Officer of PwC, puts it, in an age of AI, “nobody in an organization is paid to be average.” Technical skills are now table stakes; what differentiates individuals and organizations is the ability to turn AI capability into business impact.

AI can generate options; humans still must decide what problems are worth solving. Companies need leadership – not automation.

Kendra Scott Eyes Global Expansion

All businesses – whether service or product-based – need to consider taking their business global.  It's a good growth method.

Take Kendra Scott.  She recently named Adrienne Gernand the company's first chief business officer.

In her new role, Gernand will be responsible for broadening the scope of the Kendra Scott brand through category growth and global expansion. 

Gernand comes with experience helping scale such retail brands as Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta and The Children’s Place. She has worked on new market entry models, the optimization of real estate portfolios and the formation of strategic partnerships.

Learn more how Gernand will identify high potential global growth opportunities for Kendra Scott.

The Hidden Tax On Every Interrupted Thought

What's the rarest skill in the modern economy?  Attention span.  I may have lost you already.

There is a version of productivity that looks like motion but produces very little. You know it when you see it – the day full of switching, responding, reacting – and you know it even better at 5 p.m. when you can’t quite name what you actually accomplished. It felt busy. It wasn’t deep.

What you were practicing, without choosing to, is the dominant cognitive mode of the modern era. And what you were not practicing is the discipline of one thing.

Find out what the hidden tax is on every interrupted thought.

Oh, and keep this in mind:  What the biographical record of high-achievers tends to reveal, stripped of legend, is not supernatural talent but an almost stubborn commitment to staying with a single problem long enough for it to yield.  To achieve that, you must not just work differently, but think differently. 

1.9% Isn't a Ceiling. It's a Gap.

More women are planning to start businesses this year than ever before. According to an “Entrepreneurship in 2026” survey by QuickBooks, one in four women plan to launch a new business this year. Another 58 percent say they would consider it. 

Only 1.9% of women-owned businesses ever reach $1 million in annual revenue. Not because women aren’t capable, but because the system – and often our own beliefs about money – have held us back.

Imagine if 10% of women-owned businesses hit $1M.  The Women Presidents Organization (WPO) would be fortunate to serve them all!  

That 1.9% isn't a ceiling. It's a gap – and gaps are where organizations like WPO do their best work. Every woman who joins a peer advisory group, finds a mentor, or simply decides her business deserves to be a $1M business is closing that gap, one decision at a time.

The women starting businesses this year don't need permission. They need community, capital, and a peer group that expects them to think bigger. That's what WPO and WPO Chicago is here for.

So here's the real question: What would it take for your business to be one of the 10%?

A Simple Five-Question Audit Before Scaling with AI

Most leaders assume AI success comes down to technology. After helping organizations navigate digital transformation for years, Matt Domo can tell you that is rarely the deciding factor. He has worked with companies that invested millions in data platforms, machine learning models and AI tools only to see minimal business impact.

Before he helps any company scale AI, he runs a simple five-question audit.  The first question is always the most important because everything else depends on the answer.

Learn more about the five-question audit.

Technology may power transformation. Leadership determines whether transformation actually happens.