Cabal AI In Practice Panel

Recently, Cabal brought together a panel who are using AI in practice, not in theory. The evening was about the gap between knowing AI matters and doing something about it.

And that gap is bigger than most people think.

The compound growth gap

One of the most striking moments of the evening came when Robbie Tilleard, GM EMEA at Lorikeet, observed that those actively using tools like Claude Code today are in the top 1-5% of global users. We are still early. But the gap is growing exponentially. Every week you are not building new habits, your competitors are. The businesses that embed AI now will not just be more efficient. They will be operating at a different speed altogether.

According to PwC's 29th Global CEO Survey, more than half of CEOs (56%) say they have seen neither higher revenues nor lower costs from AI so far. Only one in eight reports both. The gap between using AI and truly integrating it is enormous, and it is widening.

Are you organisationally ready?

We ran three live polls on the night. The results were telling.

On personal AI usage, 11 out of 35 respondents said they use AI daily for specific tasks, but only 7 said it is fully embedded in how they work. 5 are still only experimenting or not using it at all.

On team usage, the most common answer by far was "encouraged but not structured". Only 3 said AI is fully embraced and embedded across their organisation.

And on AI policy: asked whether they could answer if a client requested their AI policy today, only 9 out of 28 said yes, it is clearly defined. 6 said they have not considered it yet. 2 had not even realised they needed one.

These are not struggling businesses. This is a room full of ambitious, growth-focused founders. And the gap is still enormous.

What to do next

Lucy Postlethwaite, Founder of Practical AI, made one of the most important points of the evening: AI adoption is not a software rollout. It is a change management process. Your team already has opinions about AI. They are using tools you may not know about. Some are excited. Some are threatened. Left unaddressed, this creates risk, not progress.

The 2x2 worth remembering

Robbie shared a useful way to think about this: it is not just about whether you use AI, but whether you have the judgement to direct it well.

The goal is not to be a Slop Cannon, churning out fast, low-signal output. Nor is it to be a Steady Hand, stuck with good taste but no leverage. The businesses pulling ahead are the Turbo Brains - strong judgement, amplified by AI. Which means the real work is not just rolling out tools. It is building the judgement to use them well.

Lead from the front. As Robbie noted, the highest users of Claude Code at Lorikeet are the sales leaders, not the engineers. Dan Joyce built his own competitor pricing tool rather than delegating it. Your team takes its cue from you.

Fund the tools you want your team to use. If you expect your team to build AI habits, remove the friction: expense the subscriptions, provide the licences, make it the default rather than something they have to justify.

So where do you start?

Start a conversation. Survey your team, anonymously if needed, to understand what tools they are using. Then open it up. Model the behaviour you want to see. 

Create a simple AI policy. It does not need to be a lengthy document. One page covering which tools are approved, what data can and cannot be used, and a commitment that a human will always be in the loop. This matters not just internally, but because key EU AI Act obligations take effect from

August 2026. If you work with European clients or vendors, you will be asked for it.

WHAT'S NEXT FROM CABAL

The conversation around AI adoption is still in its early stages, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear: the gap between businesses experimenting with AI and businesses truly embedding it is growing quickly.

Within the Cabal community, we are seeing founders at every stage of that journey. Some are just beginning to explore the tools available. Others are already rebuilding workflows, products and operations around them.

The goal of evenings like this is not just to discuss what is happening, but to create a space where founders can learn from each other, share practical experiences and move faster together.

This conversation will continue through future Cabal events, peer groups and workshops, including our upcoming AI Hackathon focused on helping founders build practical tools for their businesses in real time.

More details here. 

The Cabal Team

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Thank you to Bobo Wines for sponsoring the drinks on the night, sourced directly from small-batch makers across France and a brilliant addition to the evening.

And to our partners, Work.Life for providing such a fantastic space.

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