Growth Insights for CEOs
Marc Umscheid
Recent Posts

The AI Training Economy: The Human Expertise Behind the Agent Revolution
The challenge of training AI models on human expertise is not new.What is new is that three college dropouts just built a $10 billion business by productizing that exact problem at scale.
Executive Takeaways
- The AI training economy is already here — and a $10 billion startup is proof.
- You can't have capable AI agents without well-trained models. Human expertise isn't being replaced; it's being harvested.
- Fast followers still have a window, but waiting another 18 months may mean competing on scale alone, not quality.
- Most organizations are underestimating the speed of this workforce transformation. The time to build AI fluency is now.
Recent Posts

Part 3: How Does Employee Engagement Win the Growth Game?
Thu, Feb 20, 2020 — Assessing the Health of Your Culture Co-Authored by Marc Umscheid, CMO, Chief Outsiders and Kristin Anderson, Partner, LeadQuest Consulting In our first two blogs (Part one and Part two) on the subject of corporate culture, we have been making the case for the importance of a serious, top-down effort to ensure your company is united around a single vision -- and that your corporate culture is working for you, not against you. We’ve seen how such a CEO-led commitment can lead to riches beyond your wildest dreams (or, at least, measurably better performance), and we’ve heard directly from one CEO who grappled with the effects of a toxic culture before his personal involvement – and a committed effort -- restored balance across his organization.

Part 2: How Does Employee Engagement Win the Growth Game?
Wed, Dec 11, 2019 — Shaping a High Performing Culture is a Top-Down Commitment Co-Authored by Marc Umscheid, CMO, Chief Outsiders and Kristin Anderson, Partner, LeadQuest Consulting In our previous blog, we established the importance of corporate culture in the paradigm of business success. Commit to it, and reap myriad rewards, including better hires, more efficient business practices – and more revenue. But, allow your culture to become toxic, and you place more at risk than just caustic commentary at the water cooler. Like any living, breathing organism, toxicity can infect the corporate ecosystem as well – and the responsibility to ensure a healthy, positive environment starts at the top!

How Does Employee Engagement Win the Growth Game? Look to Your Company’s Culture
Tue, Oct 29, 2019 — This is the first in a series of four blogs on the role of company culture as a function of your overall business strategy. Co-Authored by Marc Umscheid, CMO, Chief Outsiders and Kristin Anderson, Partner, LeadQuest Consulting What do you know about your company’s culture? And, more importantly, how it can impact the success—or failure—of your growth initiatives? Companies that do a great job of instilling culture as a way of engaging teams are 21 percent more profitable than their counterparts, according to a 2016 study by Deloitte Consulting. A thriving culture is key to growth because of its tie to profitability and recruiting top employees. With that in mind, it is surprising that only one in four C-suite executives understand their company’s culture – and appreciate its link to performance.