434 - AI Hype Needs a Business Case w/ Tim McCrosson
You've Been Heard, Wednesday, July 1st, 2026
Tim McCrosson argues AI needs a specific business case tied to strategy, not broad hype-driven spending.
In this episode, Tim McCrosson describes evolving from command-and-control management to collaborative coaching that adapts to situational needs. He explains how the OMB memo M-11-29 gave federal CIOs authority over commodity IT purchases, creating economies of scale, and how a USDA Enterprise Depot cut laptop imaging time from over eight hours to under one.
He stresses that organizations should build specific business cases for AI aligned with strategy rather than chase AI broadly without clear ROI. He also recounts securing $3 million to fund a Zscaler SASE deployment.
His theme is that technology works best when leaders manage up and down, build trust, and keep people central.