Dan Ilett writes The Executive Summary for CEOs and leadership teams of the FTSE 350. He advises boards on growth strategy, organisational change, AI, storytelling and commercial tactics. He chairs the City CIO Club, a private network for technology leaders. As a journalist, he has written for the Financial Times, the Economist Group, the Daily Telegraph, the New York Times and a string of tech publications. He launched several media titles including CoinDesk, where he was founding editor. Dan went on to lead transformation and advise on commercial delivery in FTSE and Fortune organisations. Dan delivers workshops for leadership teams in growth, go-to-market and AI transformation.
Leadership
The upside of this recession? Hi from sunny (ish) Dublin Recessions: The Executive Summary: * The sooner you’re in a recession, the sooner you’re out * Buyer rationale is easier to predict as there’s more certainty * A lot of bad stuff has already happened * AI – the Average Intern – won’t
AI
The holes in AI messaging Hi guys Sorry it’s late this week. Half term and kids running around. (Quite nice really, but they’ve been banned from their computers today for being naughty.) Now with all the noise about AI, this week I have a test for you. I’m not seeing a credible benchmark,
Leadership
The Swiss Army Knife of Leadership Tools Welcome to The Executive Summary. This is my email to the CEOs I know. It covers strategy, leadership and communication – and whatever is the flavour of the day. One concept per email. The Executive Summary doesn’t follow the news agenda. I did that
Leadership
Welcome to the Executive Summary… This is my email to the CEOs I know. It covers strategy, communication and leadership. You’ll find hacks, trends, recommendations, introductions and the bleeding obvious all laid out in a few short paragraphs. It’ll will also serve you with a diverse array
Growth
And other major consultancies… Hi guys, Taking out the incumbent can seem overwhelming, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know. I’ve led a number of projects either in brand comms or bid sales – to replace the existing supplier to a customer. Often big, hefty organisations that look
Growth
Paws for Thought: Insights on Pet Care Pricing A month ago, I had to take my dog to the vet. She had an infection of the womb called Pyometra. The vet looked at me and said: “This is very serious. We need to operate on your dog now to remove her womb or she could die. Pyometra kills a lot
Downtime
Get involved… Hi folks How has 2024 been treating you? Did you tune into the World Economic Forum with avid interest? Or did you just see your mates taking selfies there? I’ve left this edition a couple of weeks into the year to give you (me) time to wake up. There’s more optimism in the
Downtime
Sushi shops, micropublishing and divine interventions This is the last post for 2023 and it’s no place for the standard annual wrap up. Instead I wish to say a huge thank you for reading The Executive Summary this year. When I lived in Japan, I used to love the tiny sushi shops that could
Downtime
The $1tn industry you shouldn’t ignore So here’s a Sunday evening curveball for you. Have you ever thought of working in space? Not as an astronaut, but leading your industry there to create new products or services. The pharmaceutical industry is already developing drugs in space to take
Leadership
Succession vs success… There are many new faces at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) this year – and herein lies an underlying problem in tackling multi-decade projects: CEO tenure. This is not just for sustainability, but leadership and teams in general. It’s well known that
Growth
Investors look for greater revenue potential A shift in value creation priorities is changing investment decisions… Private equity investing is based on majority share ownership of companies where the investor – or general partner – can make active decisions in the company they have
Wellbeing
Glass half full or empty? What are CEOs thinking today? It’s not pretty, according to Deloitte and Fortune in their 2023 winter CEO survey (104 CEOs). Here are the key takeaways from Fortune (paywall): * 48% of CEOs are pessimistic about the global economy * 36% expect growth to be strong.
