Every technology shift creates the same trap. The more expertise we build, the harder it becomes to see past what already works. Mike Lee, co-founder of Graivy, knows this trap well. He spent decades in banking before stepping into food tech, and along the way he built a framework for staying curious at every stage of a career.
In this episode, Dave Manley talks with Mike about the moment ChatGPT changed his path, why the smartest people in the room are often the last to see new possibilities, and how a Marvel movie became the clearest way to explain AI adoption to executives. Mike breaks down the "expert trap," the real difference between using AI and applying it well, and why legacy knowledge is more valuable than most people think.
Mike also walks through how his own career forced him to unlearn old instincts before he could build new ones. Banking taught him to trust process and precedent. Food tech taught him that customers do not care how the order gets made, only that it arrives right and arrives fast. That shift in perspective, he explains, is exactly what leaders need when they bring AI into their own organizations. The tools change constantly. The judgment about when and how to use them does not.
The conversation moves from banking floors to drive-through windows, and lands on a simple truth: the technology changes fast, but the human judgment behind it still decides everything. Dave and Mike dig into what separates teams that adopt AI well from teams that just adopt AI, and why the answer often comes down to humility rather than technical skill.
Watch the full episode to hear Mike's take on where AI helps, where it doesn't, and what it takes to stay on the bus without losing the wisdom that got you this far. It's a grounded look at what real AI adoption asks of the people leading it, not just the tools they choose.
Or listen on your favourite streaming platform.
Watch Season 1 episodes 001 through 009 here:
Episode 2: Legacy Modernization
Episode 4: Gen AI in Canadian Banks
Episode 5: Servicenow: Now What?
Episode 6: Contact Centers in the AI Era
Episode 7: The Future of Payments
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