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AI Is a Contact Sport. Get Out of the Press Box.

CXOs need to get hands-on with AI. Take the field!
CXOs need to get hands-on with AI. Take the field!

You may not know this about me, but I've always loved sports. I grew up playing everything that time allowed. Softball, volleyball, basketball, track. I even managed to earn scholarship money for college ball (don't be too impressed, I went to an engineering college so there weren't very many women athletes there!) And after watching my kids play soccer for years, I even took up arena soccer in my 40s.


All this means that I love a good sports analogy! So bear with me, because this situation screams out for one.


This past weekend, I did something most executives wouldn’t think to do. I stepped off the sidelines. Out of the boardroom. Away from strategy decks, investor conversations, and into the arena.


I built a working product using a no-code AI platform called Lovable as part of an international hackathon.


I’m no developer. Even years ago when I was a deep technologist, I was never the best coder. Now, I’m the CEO of two companies. My schedule is packed. I had every excuse not to do this, but I made the time. I made the time because AI is a contact sport, and leaders cannot afford to watch from the press box.


In just over 20 hours, I built the following:

  • A public web app with more than 400 real-world AI success stories

  • A custom database of those stories, sourced and structured using one of my go-to AI tools, Perplexity, and built on Supabase

  • A guided Mini-Consult wizard that delivers personalized action plans based on my 5 Pillars framework

  • An AI-powered chatbot advisor, trained on my own research and methods, designed to deliver practical, business-focused guidance

  • A fully functioning backend, complete with a live database and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) engine

You can explore it here: ai-success-stories.drlisa.ai


I wrote zero code. Not even minor edits. I had challenged myself to experience how far a business leader can go with today's no-code tools. It was impressive. At one point, I encountered a frustrating situation where the page layout wasn't working properly. I fought the urge to simply fix the code myself and instead, I gave the tool a new prompt and changed the overall look of the layout. That new layout took seconds to render, and I was back on track. Experiencing that speed and flexibility firsthand was truly eye opening.


The Experience Changed Me

It reset my expectations for how quickly we can build. It made me rethink go-to-market timelines, product strategy, and internal workflows. It surfaced new partnership ideas and monetization models that never would have occurred to me otherwise. It made security and compliance risks much more clear to me.


The CIO of one of the largest title companies in the US, shared this after testing my app:

“Wow, this is truly impressive! The app is both usable and awesome. The amount of effort and innovation that went into creating this in such a short timeframe is astounding.”

My app is certainly flawed. It was built quickly, with no testing, and a prototype mindset. I wasn't trying to prove that I could build something. I was developing my leadership intuition through direct experience.


We are no longer operating in a pre-AI world. AI has changed what is required of us as leaders. Leading from the sidelines is no longer good enough. You can't just be an owner or a coach, sitting comfortably in the press box watching the field below. You have to be a PLAYER, too.


You're Hurting Your Organization if You're Spectating.

Too many executives are still treating AI like it's just another technology. Something to monitor, delegate, and drop into your quarterly strategy decks. Relying on reports, demos, and someone else's expertise.


That’s like wearing a headset on the sidelines but never taking a snap.


AI is a contact sport. Not just a sport. A contact sport. If you’re not in it, you’re missing the feel of the game, the pressure, the momentum. And your decisions reflect that.


Modern leadership requires more than awareness. It requires participation. You don't need to become a coder, but you must understand how your competitors are building in minutes, not months or years.


Once you experience that shift, it permanently changes how you think about strategy, investment, and innovation.


My Challenge to You

Try it. Spend just one hour in a no-code AI platform like Lovable. You can build something in that time! Start with a rough prototype, like I did. Once you get your hands dirty, you’ll see what's actually possible today. That hands-on experience will shift your mindset in ways that you can't envision until you try it.


You are not too late. You are not too busy. For the health of your organization and all those you serve, you've got to leave the press box and get on the field.


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👉Want inspiration for what to build in an hour? Here are real, practical examples tied to your work as a CXO: 7 AI Build Ideas for Busy CXOs (No Code, No Database, Just Results).

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Need help getting your AI efforts moving or back on track, reach out to my team at admin@drlisa.ai

 
 
 

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