Luke Medvegy, known as the AI Logistician, is a fractional Chief AI Officer and AI architect focused on supply chain, manufacturing and defense, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of service, and the founder of The Business Navigators. He led a $1B logistics initiative, established a governance program credited with $350M+ in savings, and builds AI systems hands-on. He was named 2025 Indiana Vetrepreneur of the Year.

Can Luke join our leadership team?

Yes. Luke accepts select executive appointments as Chief AI Officer, Head of AI, VP of AI and Transformation, COO, VP Supply Chain or Chief of Staff, along with fractional and advisory engagements. Start with a free 15-minute conversation.

What problems does Luke solve?

Eighteen common problems where strategy, operations and execution collide: AI pilots that never reach production, no clear AI owner, AI spending with no measured return, disconnected data and tools, missed leads and slow quotes, late projects, downtime and scrap, slow manual reporting, low tool adoption, stalled change efforts and lost know-how. Each fix is tied to a KPI.

What is The Collision Point?

A CEO interview series hosted by Luke. Each CEO tells the story of the moment their strategy, operations and execution collided and what they did next. Episodes run across VVM TV, the Founders & Ventures Alliance podcast and Valor & Ventures Daily.

What does a Chief AI Officer do?

A Chief AI Officer sets AI strategy tied to revenue, cost and risk; puts governance and data guardrails in place; drives adoption through training and process change; makes build-versus-buy decisions; and reports results to the CEO and board.

What is a fractional Chief AI Officer?

A fractional Chief AI Officer leads AI strategy, governance and adoption part-time on a retainer. It suits mid-sized companies that need senior AI leadership before they are ready for a full-time hire.

What would Luke do in his first 90 days?

Days 1 to 15: listen to every leader and inventory current AI tools, data and risks. Days 16 to 45: publish an AI use policy, form a governance group and deliver two or three measurable wins. Days 46 to 75: build data readiness, shared tools and training. Days 76 to 90: deliver a board-ready scorecard, a 12-month roadmap and a budget.

Luke is based in Indiana and works with organizations across the United States.

Where can I see Luke's full background?

His full history is on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/luke-medvegy. On a free 15-minute call he can share a detailed bio and case summaries for your situation.

Luke Medvegy, AI architect and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel

2025 Vetrepreneur of the Year

Accepting select executive and advisory engagements

Hello, I'm Luke Medvegy.

Fractional Chief AI Officer · Agentic AI ArchitectMaking the impossible, possible.

Q: Which industries does Luke know best?

Aerospace and defense, manufacturing, energy, logistics and supply chain, professional services, government contracting and veteran-focused organizations.

The AI Logistician. Where strategy, operations and execution collide, I make AI work.

AI rarely fails because of the technology. It fails where the plan meets the people doing the work. I've spent 23 years leading at that point, as an Army officer running billion-dollar programs and as a founder building 13 companies on AI. I set the strategy, put the guardrails in place, and build the agentic AI systems myself.

For supply chain · manufacturing · aerospace and defense · energy · consulting firms

$1B programs led · $350M+ in savings · 30,000+ people across 14 nations

Start a conversation · 15 min Ways to work together ↓

C-suite and VP-level appointments, fractional leadership and AI builds · Based in Indiana · LinkedIn ↗ · circle@thebusinessnavigators.com

Programs led

$1B

Billion-dollar logistics initiative

Savings

$350M+

From a governance program he established

People

30,000+

Staff and contractors across 14 nations

Built

Brands running on AI systems he built

My agent

Chat with Luke

Hiring for an AI leader, recruiting for one, or need AI working in your company now? Tell my agent what you're solving. It will point you to the right conversation with me.

Two or three replies, then it hands you to me.

Nav · Luke's agent

Figures out how to work with Luke

LIVE

What brings you here?

Your answers stay in this conversation unless you choose to message Luke.

18 problems I solve

Strategy, operations and execution: where companies get stuck.

These are the problems leaders describe to me most, in their words. Each one has a fix and a number we use to prove it worked.

Where it starts

Strategy

The plan is unclear, unowned or unmeasured.

“We have AI pilots everywhere and nothing in production.”Rank every pilot by value and effort, then scale the few that pay and stop the rest.Measured by: Pilots moved to production
“No one owns AI here.”Name one accountable leader, a small governance group and a clear operating model.Measured by: Decisions closed on time
“We can't tie AI spending to results.”Write a value case for each use case and track it on one scorecard.Measured by: Return on AI spend
“The board keeps asking for our AI plan.”A 12-month roadmap with budget, risks and milestones, in board language.Measured by: Roadmap milestones hit
“We don't know what to build and what to buy.”Vendor reviews and build-versus-buy calls based on cost, risk and speed.Measured by: Cost per use case
“AI risk and compliance keep us up at night.”An AI use policy, data rules and approval paths before tools spread.Measured by: Policy coverage and incidents

Where it breaks

Operations

The work runs on disconnected tools and manual effort.

“Our data lives in a dozen tools that don't talk.”One connected system of record for customers, projects and money.Measured by: Hours spent re-entering data
“Leads and quotes fall through the cracks.”Every inquiry captured and answered fast, with quotes drafted from real costs.Measured by: Speed to lead and quote turnaround
“Projects run late and over budget, and we find out too late.”Project management tied to time, budget and margin, with early warnings.Measured by: On-time and on-budget delivery
“Downtime, scrap and rework eat our margin.”Plant-floor tracking by reason code and maintenance before breakdowns.Measured by: Unplanned downtime and scrap rate
“We can't hire fast enough to keep up.”Automations and AI assistants that take repetitive work off your people.Measured by: Revenue per employee
“Reporting takes days of manual work.”Dashboards that update themselves from the systems you already use.Measured by: Hours to produce reports

Where it sticks or slips

Execution

Good plans stall when people, rhythm and follow-through are missing.

“People don't use the tools we paid for.”Hands-on training, simple workflows and champions in every team.Measured by: Weekly active use
“Every department runs its own playbook.”One operating rhythm: shared scorecard, meeting cadence and owners.Measured by: Cross-team handoff time
“Change efforts stall after the kickoff.”A battle rhythm of weekly status, clear owners and visible progress.Measured by: Milestones hit on schedule
“Our leaders are stuck in meetings instead of making decisions.”A command center that puts the numbers and the next decision in one place.Measured by: Meeting hours per decision
“Know-how walks out the door when people leave.”AI assistants that answer from your own procedures and past work.Measured by: Time for new hires to be productive
“We can't say what success looks like in 90 days.”A written 90-day plan with three to five KPIs and a named owner for each.Measured by: 90-day KPIs met

Why an operator belongs in the CAIO seat

Most companies now have a Chief AI Officer. Few have AI people actually use.

IBM's 2026 CEO study found that CEOs see people adoption, not technology, as the deciding factor for AI. That is an operations and leadership problem: training, process change, governance and a steady drumbeat of measurable wins. It's the work I've done my whole career.

76%

of organizations had a Chief AI Officer in 2026, up from 26% a year earlier.

83%

of CEOs say AI success depends more on people adopting it than on the technology.

25%

of the workforce uses AI regularly. The gap is where value is lost.

Source: IBM Institute for Business Value global CEO study of 2,000 CEOs, as reported by People Matters (May 2026).

The CAIO mandate, and the proof behind it

Everything the seat requires, already done at scale.

What a Chief AI Officer owns	What I bring
AI strategy tied to the P&L	Led a $1B logistics initiative and runs operations as a fractional COO. MBA, Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Every AI project starts from a revenue, cost or risk number.
Governance and risk	Established a governance program credited with $350M+ in savings. I set AI use policy, data guardrails and approval paths before tools spread on their own.
Adoption and change at scale	Helped lead 400+ staff and 30,000 contractors across 14 nations. Training, communication and follow-through are how AI moves from pilot to habit.
Hands-on building	I build the systems myself: CRMs, project management software, automations and AI agents. Thirteen brands run on them today.
Vendors and build-versus-buy	I run an AI tools marketplace, Strategy Unlocked, where vendors are vetted before they're listed. I know what's real and what's a demo.
Measurement	Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Demonstrated Master Logistician. Every system ties to a KPI and an owner, reported in plain language.
Board and executive communication	M.A. in Diplomacy, Norwich University. Author of a book on AI for business, and chair of a nonprofit board.

First 90 days as your Chief AI Officer

A plan you can hold me to.

Days 1–15

Listen and take inventory

Meet every leader. List every AI tool, data source, risk and idea already in motion.

Days 16–45

Guardrails and quick wins

Publish an AI use policy, stand up a governance group, and ship two or three wins with clear KPIs.

Days 46–75

Build the engine

Data readiness, shared tools and a training program so every team can use AI safely.

Days 76–90

Scale and report

A board-ready scorecard, a 12-month roadmap and a budget tied to measured results.

Adjusted to your industry, size and current AI maturity in the first two weeks.

Ways to work together

An executive seat, fractional leadership, or a build.

Executive appointment

Chief AI Officer

A seat on your leadership team, reporting to the CEO or COO. Also VP of AI and Transformation, Head of AI and COO appointments.

Start a conversation · 15 min

Part-time leadership

Fractional Chief AI Officer

AI strategy, governance and adoption on a monthly retainer. Built for companies not ready for a full-time hire. For Indiana manufacturers →

Scope it · 60 min · $2,500

Project

AI systems build

A CRM, project system, automation or AI agent, built around how your team works and live in weeks. Custom builds start at $5,500.

Working session · 30 min · $1,500

Appointments I take on

Chief AI OfficerVP of AI and TransformationHead of AI OperationsChief Operating OfficerVP Supply ChainChief of StaffFractional COO

Industries I know

Aerospace and defenseManufacturingEnergyLogistics and supply chainProfessional servicesGovernment contractingVeteran-focused organizations

Prefer email? Write to circle@thebusinessnavigators.com — every message reaches Luke directly. Or use the contact form, book a 15-minute AI fit call, or see Fractional Chief AI Officer for Indiana manufacturers.

Case files

Proof from the places strategy met execution.

$1B

Billion-dollar logistics initiative

Led a billion-dollar logistics program: plans, contracts, budgets and people across organizations and borders.

$350M+

Governance program

Established a governance program credited with more than $350 million in savings.

365+

Projects in 19 countries

Planned and delivered 365+ projects across 19 countries with multinational teams.

Companies built on AI

Built and runs 13 brands in consulting, media, software and community, each on systems he designed.

Twenty-plus years of proof

Leading teams. Balancing budgets. Delivering the impossible.

The Army taught me that a big goal is just a long list of supply lines, deadlines and owners. I have run that playbook on a billion-dollar program, hundreds of international projects and a portfolio of my own companies. AI is the newest supply line. The playbook still works.

Full history on LinkedIn ↗ Request a full bio on a call

Service: Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel23 years leading soldiers, logisticians and multinational teams
Scale: Led a $1B logistics initiativeHelped lead 400+ staff and 30,000 contractors across 14 nations
Results: $350M+ in savingsFrom a governance program he established
Reach: 365+ projects across 19 countriesPlanned and delivered with multinational teams
Executive: Fortune 500 Chief of Staff experienceFounder of The Business Navigators · fractional COO
Education: MBA, Indiana University Kelley School of BusinessM.A. in Diplomacy, Norwich University
Credentials: Demonstrated Master LogisticianLean Six Sigma Green Belt · PMP trained
Recognition: 2025 Indiana Vetrepreneur of the YearIVMF Ambassador and mentor · Four Block coach
Board: Board Chair, American Heroes Equine ConnectionAdvisor to several veteran-focused nonprofits

The traits behind the work

What CEOs hire for that AI cannot do.

An AI leader has to earn trust before anyone will change how they work. These are the traits I lead with.

01 · TRUSTKeeps the promise

Says what will happen, then makes it happen. Tells you early when it won't.

02 · LEADERSHIPPeople follow

Gets a team to move together when the plan changes.

03 · JUDGMENTDecides with gaps

Makes the call with 70% of the facts and owns the outcome.

04 · LOGISTICSSees the whole chain

Knows the next three things that break if one thing slips.

05 · COMPLEX PROBLEMSUntangles the mess

Breaks a problem with no clean data into steps a team can run.

06 · GOVERNANCEGuardrails first

Clear rules on data, risk and approvals, so speed doesn't create exposure.

07 · CALMSteady under fire

Lowers the temperature in a crisis so people can think.

08 · BUILDERFounder grit

Ships the first version, learns, and ships the next. Thirteen brands and counting.

Insights

Field notes on leading with AI.

AI and careersAI won't take your job. Someone who learns it will.

AI leadershipWhat a Chief AI Officer actually does, and how to hire one

LeadershipWhat CEOs hire for that AI can't do

ManufacturingWhere AI and automation pay back first on the plant floor

Complex problemsHow a logistics mindset turns an impossible project into a plan

Leadership team reviewing a presentation in a conference room — Photo: Campaign Creators on Unsplash

AI leadership

What a Chief AI Officer actually does, and how to hire one

By The Business Navigators · 5 min read

The Chief AI Officer went from rare to normal in about a year. IBM's Institute for Business Value reports that 76% of organizations had a CAIO in 2026, up from 26% the year before. The same study found that 83% of CEOs believe AI success depends more on people adopting it than on the technology, while only about a quarter of the workforce uses AI regularly.

That gap tells you what the job really is. A CAIO is not mainly a technologist. The role is to turn AI into results people use every day, safely.

What the role owns

Strategy: which problems AI should solve first, tied to revenue, cost or risk.
Governance: AI use policy, data rules, approvals and model risk.
Adoption: training, process redesign and the change management that makes tools stick.
Platforms and vendors: build-versus-buy decisions and a shared toolset instead of dozens of disconnected apps.
Measurement: a scorecard the board can read, with owners for every number.

What to look for in a candidate

Has led large, cross-functional change, not only technical teams.
Has owned a budget and a P&L number.
Can explain AI risk to a board in plain language.
Has built or shipped real systems, so vendor claims don't go unchecked.
Brings a written 90-day plan to the interview.

Full-time or fractional?

Large or regulated companies usually need a full-time CAIO. Mid-sized firms often start with a fractional CAIO for strategy, governance and the first wins, then hire full-time once AI is part of daily operations.

Source: IBM Institute for Business Value global CEO study, as reported by People Matters (May 2026).

Talk about your AI leadership role →

Diagram: The Business Navigators. People lead; AI agents do the repeatable work.

AI and careers

AI won't take your job. Someone who learns it will.

By The Business Navigators · 5 min read

Most people are still using AI like a search box. In Pew Research Center's survey of U.S. workers, 63% said they don't use AI much or at all in their jobs, and only about 1 in 10 use AI chatbots daily or a few times a week. A large study of ChatGPT use found that practical guidance, looking up information and writing make up nearly 80% of conversations.

Meanwhile, the fear has been aimed at the wrong target. Economist Richard Baldwin put it plainly at the World Economic Forum's Growth Summit in 2023: AI won't take your job; a person using AI will.

AI has moved from answers to work: agentic AI

Two years ago, AI answered questions. Today agentic AI can draft the proposal, update the CRM, reconcile the invoices and flag the late shipment. It works through a task step by step as an agent, with a person approving the result. Typing a keyword and reading the answer uses a small fraction of what it can do.

The new org chart

In teams that have made the shift, each person leads a small crew of AI agents. The scheduler, the follow-up writer, the report builder. The person's job moves from doing every step to designing the work, checking it and owning the result. That is a leadership skill, and it can be learned.

How to pivot

Stop searching, start delegating. Give AI a whole task with context and an example, not a keyword.
Pick one task you dread. Hand AI the first draft of it every week for 30 days.
Write your process down. AI can only follow steps that exist on paper.
Learn to check the work. Facts, numbers and judgment calls stay with you.
Build one agent. A repeatable workflow for follow-up, reporting or research.
Measure the hours you save. Then show your team the number.
Teach someone else. It's the fastest way to become the person your team turns to for AI.

For leaders

Tools are the easy part. IBM's 2026 CEO study found that 83% of CEOs say AI success depends more on people adopting it than on the technology, yet only about a quarter of the workforce uses AI regularly. Train your people first, redraw the org chart around people leading agents, and measure the result.

Sources: Pew Research Center, U.S. workers and AI (Feb. 2025); Chatterji et al., How People Use ChatGPT, NBER Working Paper 34255 (Sept. 2025); Yahoo News on Richard Baldwin's 2023 remark; IBM Institute for Business Value CEO study, as reported by People Matters (May 2026).

Build your team's AI bench →

Two professionals shaking hands across a desk — Photo: Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

Leadership

What CEOs hire for that AI can't do

By The Business Navigators · 6 min read

AI can write the memo, run the numbers and summarize the meeting. It cannot earn a room's trust, make a hard call with missing facts, or get a tired team to give one more push. Those are the skills CEOs fight hardest to hire, and the data shows they are getting more valuable, not less.

In the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, analytical thinking is the top core skill employers name, with about seven in ten companies calling it essential. Leadership and social influence posted the biggest jump of any core skill since 2023, up 22 percentage points. Resilience, flexibility and agility rose 17 points. The same report found that 69% of the skills it assessed have low or very low potential to be replaced by generative AI.

1. Trust

Trust is built one kept promise at a time. Leaders who say what will happen and then make it happen, and who warn early when it won't, get the benefit of the doubt when things get hard. No model can borrow that history.

2. Judgment with incomplete information

Real decisions rarely come with clean data. AI can lay out options. A leader has to choose, explain why, and own the result.

3. Leadership and influence

Getting a team to change direction mid-course is a human job. It takes credibility, timing and knowing what each person needs to hear.

4. Solving messy, cross-team problems

The hardest problems sit between departments: sales promised it, operations can't build it, finance can't fund it. Untangling that takes someone who can see the whole chain and talk to every link.

5. Accountability

Strong operators tie every project to a number and a name. When the number moves the wrong way, they say so first.

6. Calm in a crisis

Resilience shows up when the plan breaks. The leader's job is to lower the temperature so people can think clearly.

7. Building and growing people

Teams that stay and improve are built by leaders who coach. That is still the best return on any hire.

How to spot these traits in an interview

Ask for a time they missed a target and what they told their team.
Ask how they made a decision when key facts were missing.
Ask who they developed and where that person is now.
Ask what they changed their mind about in the last year.

Where AI fits

Use AI to speed up the research, drafting and reporting. Then hire, and develop, leaders for the parts that need a person: trust, judgment and the will to see it through.

Source: World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025, Skills outlook.

Talk through your leadership team →

Technician in safety glasses assembling electronics on a factory line — Photo: Alireza Hatami on Unsplash

Manufacturing

Where AI and automation pay back first on the plant floor

By The Business Navigators · 5 min read

Manufacturers can't hire their way out of the labor gap. A September 2025 study from The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte projects the U.S. could need up to 3.8 million manufacturing workers by 2033, and more than 1.9 million of those jobs could go unfilled. Sixty-five percent of manufacturers named attracting and keeping talent as their primary business challenge.

When every hour of every person counts, the fastest payback comes from small systems that remove waste people already complain about.

1. A downtime log people actually use

A tablet at the machine, a short list of reason codes and a daily summary to the supervisor. Within weeks you know which three causes eat most of your hours.

2. Maintenance before the breakdown

Schedules based on hours run and past failures, with reminders that go to the right tech. Planned work is cheaper than emergency work.

3. Same-day quotes

Pull material, labor and machine costs from the spreadsheet or ERP you already have, and draft the quote automatically for a person to check and send. Faster quotes win more orders.

4. Shift handoffs that don't get lost

Digital handoff notes, searchable by machine and date, so the night shift doesn't repeat the day shift's problems.

5. Quality checks with photos

Checklists on a phone, photos attached, and an alert when a result is out of spec.

6. Training from your own SOPs

Short how-to videos and an AI assistant that answers questions using your procedures, so new hires get productive sooner.

The KPIs to watch

Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
Unplanned downtime hours by reason
Scrap and rework rate
Quote turnaround time
On-time delivery and first-pass yield

Start with one line, one KPI and 30 days. Prove it, then roll it across the plant.

Source: The Manufacturer, reporting on The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte workforce study (Sept. 2025).

Pick your first line and KPI →

Forklift moving pallets between tall racks in a distribution warehouse — Photo: Bernd Dittrich on Unsplash

Complex problems

How a logistics mindset turns an impossible project into a plan

By The Business Navigators · 4 min read

Military logisticians don't call a mission impossible. They break it into supply lines, checkpoints and owners until it becomes a schedule. Luke Medvegy, founder of The Business Navigators, used that approach on a $1 billion logistics initiative and across 365+ projects in 19 countries.

The same playbook works for a plant expansion, a CRM rollout or a firm merger.

Define the end state and the date. What does done look like, and when?
Work backward. Find the critical path: the tasks that move the finish date if they slip.
Name the real constraint. People, money, time or materials. Plan around the tightest one.
One owner per line. Every workstream gets a single name, not a committee.
Set a battle rhythm. Short daily check-ins and a weekly status with the same format every time.
Build the dashboard first. If you can't see progress, you can't steer it.
Plan for friction. Write a Plan B for the top three risks before they happen.
Run an after-action review. What was supposed to happen, what did, why, and what we keep.

Most "impossible" projects fail on steps 3, 4 and 6. Fix those and the rest gets much easier.

Bring us your hardest project →

Questions

Straight answers

See all 10 questions

Proof in print

Harnessing AI for Business Success

A Guide for US Military Veteran Entrepreneurs, by Luke Medvegy.

A practical guide to putting AI to work in a small business, written by our founder for veterans who are building something of their own. The same methods behind every system on this page.

Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9798281476614
Available on: Amazon

Get the book on Amazon ↗ Book a call with the author

CEO interview series

The Collision Point

Illustration: a CEO interview in a studio, two leather chairs and microphones

Every company has a moment when its strategy, its operations and its execution collide. I'm interviewing CEOs about theirs: what happened, what they decided, and what they would tell the next leader. Your story, in your words.

Thirty minutes, recorded remotely. You get the five questions ahead of time and approve the final cut.

Request an interview Ask a question first

Episodes are shared across VVM TV, the Founders & Ventures Alliance podcast and Valor & Ventures Daily.

Five key questions

Tap each one to unveil it.

01The moment

Take us to the moment your strategy, operations and execution collided.

Every story starts here: the day the plan met reality.

02The signal

What did you see first, and what did you miss?

Leaders learn as much from the warning signs they missed as the ones they caught.

03The decision

What did you decide, and who did you trust to carry it out?

The call itself, and the people you bet on.

04The tools

Where did technology or AI help, and where did it get in the way?

An honest look at what worked, not a sales pitch.

05The lesson

What would you tell the next CEO walking into the same moment?

The advice other leaders will remember.