Systems Thinking and Strategic AI Deployment

Former Marine Corps officer David Wood reveals why 90% of AI projects stall between pilot and production—and it’s not a technology problem. Drawing from 45 years of systems engineering, Wood shares military frameworks for AI deployment: the production readiness test, triage methodology for investment decisions, and governance as rules of engagement. Learn when AI should have authority versus advise, and the one metric that actually predicts enterprise AI success.

Most AI projects fail. Not because the technology isn’t ready – but because organizations treat AI like a tool instead of a system. David Wood brings 45 years of systems thinking to the enterprise AI conversation, and his perspective cuts through the noise: AI is a technology, but AI deployment is a human challenge.

Former Marine Corps officer with a master’s in systems engineering. 25 years selling enterprise technology. Now running Gladwood LLC, helping organizations understand human performance using the Hartman Value Profile while advising AI companies like Neuroscale AI on strategy.

When you’ve spent decades studying what makes complex systems succeed or fail, the answer is always the same: the human factor.

Originally published on Future of Agentic.