---
id: "quote-leadership-roi"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ 1. Executive sponsorship"]
tags: ["leadership", "roi"]
related: ["claim-c-level-sponsorship-necessity"]
speaker: "Bruce Lawler, Vijay D'Silva and Vivek Arora"
speakers: ["Bruce Lawler", "Vijay D'Silva", "Vivek Arora"]
quote: "It takes leadership to decide to move forward without clear expectations, while also directing resources to projects with the highest potential."
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2025/01/what-companies-succeeding-with-ai-do-differently"
source_title: "What Companies Succeeding with AI Do Differently"
sources: ["execution"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-execution"
originDay: 8
articleStem: "hbr-cl-89-companies-succeeding-with-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/01/what-companies-succeeding-with-ai-do-differently"
sourceTitle: "What Companies Succeeding with AI Do Differently"
---
# Leadership required for uncertain ROI

> "It takes leadership to decide to move forward without clear expectations, while also directing resources to projects with the highest potential."
> — [[entity-bruce-lawler|Bruce Lawler]], [[entity-vijay-d-silva|Vijay D'Silva]] and [[entity-vivek-arora|Vivek Arora]]

Captures the rationale for [[claim-c-level-sponsorship-necessity]] and the directive [[action-secure-executive-sponsorship]].