Omegro’s Chief of Staff sees AI as an enabler of transformational change for businesses — but embracing that change will require much more than simply adopting a new set of tools
For Peter Grant, the case for AI starts with purpose. As the Chief of Staff at Omegro, a Volaris Group portfolio company that is home to Enterprise Asset Management software businesses, he sees an opportunity to transform businesses in every respect — from how they deliver value to how they develop people.
Working alongside digital talent
But he’s equally focused on the people side of that equation, describing a duty of care to help employees navigate the shift to an AI-first world so they can build lasting, successful careers regardless of where that path leads.
That duty starts with Grant practicing what he preaches, and developing his own habits around AI. He treats daily use of the systems and tools as a discipline.
“I challenge myself every day to put in as many reps as possible with AI.”
He integrates AI in his approach to everything from shaping strategy and surfacing market insights to drafting presentations and tracking industry developments through a set of running agents. While it can slow him down to integrate AI into his workflow in the short term, he’s convinced it will accelerate him in the longer term.
That personal experimentation feeds directly into how Grant thinks about talent strategy at Omegro. “AI means that we have to completely rethink the way that we approach talent,” he says. The shift isn’t just about adopting new software — it’s about integrating digital and human talent so each amplifies the other. That requires a change in mindset for employees, too. Rather than simply executing on assigned outcomes, he believes the way forward is for people to work alongside AI agents, or “digital talent” to help identify and prioritize the most important goals and outcomes, and then use that digital talent as part of their team to deliver them.
Getting ahead of the AI curve: Thinking and investing long-term
Grant is careful to note that embracing agentic talent doesn’t mean rewriting the company’s values. “I don’t think that fundamentally our values at Omegro change,” he says, pointing to the portfolio’s principles of being humble, hungry and smart. But what’s changing is how those values get applied.
That includes prioritizing long-term outcomes. While many software businesses, including the ones within Volaris Group, have done well historically at delivering returns consistently year after year, Grant believes that AI has now led technology leaders to an inflection point where they may increasingly need to forgo some short-term returns to invest in getting ahead of the AI curve, essentially trading immediate gains for stronger long-term outcomes for shareholders and customers alike. He frames it as a mindset shift for leaders that will require them to move from optimizing for only this year and the next, to planning for returns that are five, ten, or even twenty years down the line.
The challenge ahead for leaders
Asked what he’s taking from conversations with peers grappling with the same questions, Grant points to the people side of the challenge. “I think that change management element is the most difficult part of the transition,” he says, especially given the pace of change he describes as unprecedented across industries, and not only within software and technology.
As he and many other leaders are finding, the most challenging work ahead isn’t just deploying AI, but helping people embrace the opportunity in front of them.
