The Adaptive Organization: Leading Change in the AI Era

By Patrick McGarry

A LEADER'S GUIDE TO THRIVING IN THE AI ERA

Every leader claims to be "data-driven." Most organizations still can't turn that ambition into operational reality. AI initiatives launch with fanfare and stall when they hit legacy systems, siloed teams, and cultures that resist change. Governance policies get published but never reach the workflows where decisions are actually made. Pilots generate excitement but never scale.

The gap between strategy and execution has never been wider. And for Chief Data Officers, Chief Analytics Officers, and technology executives, closing that gap is now the job.

The Adaptive Organization offers a systematic approach to the problem. Built around the CATALOG Framework, a model spanning seven interdependent domains (Culture and Talent, Analytics and AI, Technology and Architecture, Alignment, Leadership and Governance, Operations and Delivery, and Growth and Measurement), this book treats transformation as what it actually is: a human and organizational challenge, not a technology purchase.

Inside, you'll find:

Playbooks for readiness assessments, governance design, and deployment at scaleDecision models for sequencing initiatives and navigating organizational politicsA central argument, grounded in Deming's quality principles, that governance embedded in workflows is infrastructure to be invested in, not overhead to be minimizedReal examples from government, defense, healthcare, and commercial enterprises

This is not a book about what AI can do. It is a book about what leaders must do: build organizational readiness, earn stakeholder trust, and sustain momentum when early wins fade and the work becomes grinding.

Written for practitioners who are responsible for delivering results where resources are constrained, politics are real, and failure has consequences.

Foreword by Douglas B. Laney, pioneer of data infonomics and author of Infonomics and Data Juice.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1960907123
• ISBN13: 9781960907127
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Data Literacy Press
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"