Unprecedented developments make it feel as if 2025 is hurtling toward us at ludicrous velocity, requiring leaders to seize new expertise needed for digital transformation.
Change and control are two forces that shape our lives but rarely align. Change drives progress and growth—it’s relentless and disruptive. Control represents efforts to manage advancements and create order within chaos.
Balancing these two forces often determines if we thrive or merely survive. Alarmingly, countless corporate cultures, leaders, and advisers are woefully unprepared for the relentless, warp-speed surge of cyber and digital attacks, now turbocharged by artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, operational mistakes are amplified on the internet, leaving many blindsided or paralyzed, unable to mount an effective public response.
In the game-changing book I co-authored in 2011, Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks, we established a standard digital response process, setting eight hours as the response time to minimize digital harm.
How times have changed! In a Fortune article about 20 months ago, I introduced the concept of the “two-hour digital day” and how it would impact business and organizations. It is no longer a concept— it’s upon us. AI amplifies the speed and magnitude of cyber attacks and data leaks.
With AI at the forefront of everything today, even the most advanced tech giants, equipped with similar breakthrough technology, face similar relentless challenges in the unforgiving two-hour digital day. Their struggles reveal a harsh truth—no one is immune to the unrelenting digital onslaughts in the high-stakes battleground of the AI era.
Brace yourself! Here are three global examples of how AI can ruin a good day in two hours.
Houston, we have a problem
On Feb. 8, 2023, Google’s Bard AI—rebranded as Gemini as of October 2023—made a critical error during a public demonstration, falsely claiming the James Webb Space Telescope had captured the first-ever image of a planet outside the solar system.
This misstep followed Bard’s initial launch earlier in 2023, which faced intense public scrutiny due to high-profile mistakes, highlighting Google's challenges with AI.
This error quickly went viral, resulting in Alphabet’s stock dropping 8%, wiping out nearly $100 billion in market value. The speed at which this information spreads showcases the unforgiving nature of the two-hour digital day.
Rather than issuing an immediate explanation, management delayed, offering a vague statement that failed to address the error or reassure investors. This hesitation allowed uncertainty to fester, further undermining confidence in the company’s AI capabilities.
In the AI era, delays amplify crises. By failing to act within the new two-hour window, Google allowed a minor mistake to spiral into a significant financial and reputational setback.
Microsoft’s Bing AI goes off-script
In February 2023, Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot generated widespread concern after delivering unsettling responses. These bizarre interactions quickly spread online, escalating a manageable issue into a full-blown stakeholder crisis as millions commented in real time.
Microsoft mishandled the situation. Instead of swiftly pausing the chatbot and addressing the growing concerns, they downplayed the issue, which fueled negative speculation and eroded and deepened mistrust.
Microsoft needed to act decisively by shutting down the AI, delivering a transparent explanation, and outlining clear corrective actions.
Boeing’s colossal crisis
The Boeing 737 MAX crisis, triggered by fatal crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 that killed 346 people, stands among aviation’s worst disasters.
Both crashes were tied to failures in the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), leading to the global grounding of the 737 MAX fleet and exposing severe flaws in Boeing’s corporate culture and oversight.
Then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg downplayed the crisis, promising a swift return of the 737 MAX. His overly optimistic projections and lack of transparency worsened the situation as news spread instantly, resulting in Congressional and regulatory oversight, media scrutiny, and stakeholder outrage.
This failure, rooted in an outdated corporate culture unprepared for the relentless pace of the digital era, led to sluggish and opaque responses, causing Boeing’s stock to plummet and eroding stakeholder trust as speculation replaced facts.
Muilenburg’s ouster in December 2019 marked the start of leadership turmoil. Greg Smith briefly took over as interim CEO, followed by Dave Calhoun in January 2020, who faced the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing regulatory scrutiny. Despite his efforts, leadership turnover continued.
In August 2024, Boeing appointed its fourth CEO in six years, Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, who has been tasked with repairing the company’s shattered reputation.
Boeing’s ongoing crisis underscores the catastrophic impact of failing to act decisively and communicate transparently in today’s fast-paced, AI-driven digital world, transforming a manageable issue into one of the most devastating corporate disasters in history.
2 hours to weather a crisis with precision, speed, strategy, and transparency
In the two-hour digital day, leadership means acting decisively, making swift decisions, and turning challenges into opportunities before a crisis takes over.
Here’s how commanding leaders go beyond reactive thinking, steering through cyber storms with vision, clarity, and purpose.
Who owns the crisis?
In the 1948 western Fort Apache, Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) tells Captain Kirby York (John Wayne), “A command is something you take... you don’t ask for it, you take it.”
The same holds true in crisis management. When disaster strikes, CEO leadership isn’t optional—it’s mandatory. Stakeholders want swift answers and a decisive direction. Leaders must seize control, act confidently, and reassure everyone that the situation is under control.
Why trust matters
Trust is the cornerstone of effective crisis management. Transparency reassures stakeholders and shows the leadership team can manage pressure. Clear, consistent communication—without corporate jargon or legalese—is essential to maintaining that trust.
New synthetic threats loom
In the two-hour digital day, AI-driven threats like deepfakes create unprecedented risks. AI-generated videos or audio can go viral within minutes, shaking confidence and damaging reputations. Companies must be prepared with digital response teams, crisis simulations, and strategies regularly updated to oversee these emerging threats.
Prepared or exposed?
In a crisis, guesswork is a liability. AI-driven scenario training ensures teams can respond instantly. Companies must have digital response teams, led by a C-suite news chief, ready 24/7 to combat threats like ransomware and deepfakes. Tailored playbooks with clear action steps are essential.
Metrics drive success
It’s because they guide recovery. The focus should be on stopping the bleeding, restoring operations, and assessing the impact. Clear, jargon-free communication is essential to rebuild trust. Outdated plans are dangerous—digital strategies must evolve with the pace of today’s technology and threats.
Every crisis is public—and every response a test of trust
AI crises spread like amoebas, absorbing data from countless sources, and generating insights from vast datasets, only to resurface when least expected.
That’s why organizations need to cultivate a companywide culture of cyber resilience. Response speed and transparency ultimately define how the world views you.
Long before AI, Warren Buffett highlighted the critical importance of being prepared and taking swift decisive action in times of crisis stating, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
More must-read commentary published by Fortune:
- AI optimists are behaving like the investors who got burned in the Great Depression and dot-com bubble, Vanguard’s chief economist warns
- Demis Hassabis-James Manyika: AI will help us understand the very fabric of reality
- I worked with Steve Jobs. Here’s what he’d say about today’s leadership style
- The real reason Spain’s economy is bucking the trend of European decline
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
