Hey there,
Readiness isn’t found on a checklist. It’s the power to consistently direct momentum rather than just watching data. Trade reactive scramble for proactive orchestration and build a steady edge while the rest of the market stays loud.
See how preparation and resilience become building blocks to the top.
In this issue:
Playbook of the Day
Piloting Your Operational Readiness Strategies through AI
Goal: Shifting from reactive management to proactive readiness through AI, human expertise, and data-led solutions
Who: COO, HR Director, Head of IT, and Department Leads. Same time as the annual planning session.
Before the meeting (15 mins):
Each lead identifies one data set (Safety, HR, or Ops) that is currently trapped in a separate spreadsheet.
Leads prioritize one critical area where technology is moving faster than their team’s ability to use platforms.
During the Meeting (2 hours):
Structuring Systems (30 mins): Review data sets and discuss moving from "Rearview Reports" to a Unified Leadership Dashboard linking training completion to real-world performance indicators.
Bridging Gaps (30 mins.): Identify 3 high-risk tasks where AI-enabled "Adaptive Microlearning" can meet employees and design system issues trigger refreshers for potential affected tasks.
Operational Well-being (30 mins): Discuss prioritizing employee well-being as a readiness metric and leverage connected data metric results to identify early warning signs of fatigue.
Readiness Confirmation (30 mins): Pick one "Disruption Event" (climate, system outage) and assign lead to build a simulation that allows the team to fail safely in a digital environment and verify readiness.
Rules: No "checkbox" compliance talk, no new side-projects, and keeps every phase focused on how data flows between departments for speed and accuracy.
Latest News
How Bamboo Rose Transforms Data Chaos Into Speed 🧠
Read the full story here «
Published: 01/07/26
Bamboo Rose is heading to NRF 2026 with a fix for the "too much data, too little time" problem. Their new Decision Intelligence layer for TotalPLM™ isn't just another dashboard; it’s an agent-first "brain" that does the heavy lifting for your teams. By embedding AI into the messy parts of sourcing and development, they’re helping retailers stop drowning in manual updates and start moving at the speed of their customers.
Upside: This is about sanity and speed. Instead of your team wasting hours on data entry or tracking down vendors, AI agents handle the grunt work of compliance and documentation. It gives you back the time to focus on high-level strategy while the "Silicon Workforce" keeps the gears turning in the background.
Impact: You’re moving from scrambling to true orchestration. When your operations "think" ahead, you aren't just saving pennies, you’re protecting your margins and your team's morale. It’s a way to prove that your supply chain is a high-speed engine that stays calm even when the market gets chaotic.
How Siemens and NVIDIA Become Problem-Solvers ⚡
Read the full story here «
Published: 01/06/26
Siemens and NVIDIA are turning "dumb" factories into thinking ones with their new Industrial AI OS. It moves beyond passive models to "Physical AI” but into digital twins that actually learn and solve floor problems in real-time. Instead of just watching data, this system simulates every "what if" scenario virtually, then automates the fix on the physical line.
Upside: No more crossing your fingers during a rollout. You can virtually test a thousand floor changes in seconds, ensuring that when you finally flip the switch, it works perfectly. It saves your team from the stress of trial-and-error and stops the bleeding on energy waste and design delays.
Impact: This shifts your role from manager to visionary. With a facility that essentially manages its own complexity, you gain a massive competitive moat and a more resilient workforce. It’s about building a shop floor that’s as fast and flexible as the people running it.
Sally Wallace’s Redefined COO Arrival for Leonardo DRS ☄️
Read the full story here «
Published: 01/07/26
Sally Wallace just stepped into the COO role at Leonardo DRS after more than two decades at the company. She started in plant management and worked her way up through the ranks. This isn't a story of a flashy outsider coming in to disrupt things. Instead, it is about a leader who truly knows the people and the projects she is leading because she has been right there with them since 2002.
Upside: Having a leader who grew up within the organization is a massive win for team morale. You get someone who understands the culture and the quirks of the business without needing a manual. It saves time and builds immediate trust because the team knows their boss has actually done the work herself.
Impact: When you promote from within like this, you send a clear message that loyalty and hard work still matter. It turns the workplace into a community where people feel seen and valued. For the company, it means a seamless transition and a steady hand during a busy time.
Prompt of the Day
The COO Human-AI Collaboration Prompt
Trigger Event | Action | Use Case Example |
|---|---|---|
Start of a project. | Risk mapping + AI role assignment. | Roles that match task risk level. |
Reviewing AI work. | Give a correction + a specific critique. | An AI that actually learns your preferences instead of repeating errors. |
Morning ops sync. | Shared dashboard of AI tasks + human priorities. | Total clarity on who is responsible for which part of the workflow. |
High-stakes decision. | Human judgment + AI pattern detection. | Decisions guided by experience. |
Weekly performance review. | Efficiency audit (Hybrid speed vs. Human-only speed). | Proof that your team is faster and more accurate than before. |
Prompt
“Act as my Project Launch Strategist. Based on this project outline and our core goals, (1) map the risk ($R$) and complexity ($C$) to assign yourself a specific role: Advisor, Co-Pilot, or Guardian, for each milestone, (2) draft a shared cognitive task-graph that clarifies exactly where human judgment vs. AI efficiency will lead, and (3) suggest two review checkpoints where my strategic critique is required to recalibrate the system’s logic.”
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
One Last Thing
Operational readiness happens when the workforce clears the noise so your leaders can focus on strategy. By mastering AI precision and human intuition, you stop managing crises and start orchestrating outcomes.
Discipline builds a resilient moat that protects your margins and your morale while less prepared competitors get knocked sideways.
Until next edition,
Chloe Rivers
Editor-in-Chief
COO Intelligence
P.S. Interested in sponsoring a future issue? Just reply to this email and I’ll send packages!