Michael Carroll | On the nature of agency, and the value of discomfort | Episode #71

In this episode of The Only Constant, Lasse Rindom speaks with retired tech executive and deep thinker Michael Carroll about the coming shift from automation to true agency. They explore what it means when AI no longer just supports decisions, but begins to reason with us - and sometimes, for us.

 

Highlights include:

• What agency really means - and why some AI projects miss the point
• The illusion of better decisions through more dashboards
• Why discomfort is essential for growth - and what’s lost when AI does the hard things for us
• How causal AI could change enterprise architecture from gatekeeping to guidance
• Whether AI isolates us from peer groups - or makes us more deeply understood

It’s a conversation that asks more than it answers - which is exactly the point.

 

Do you want to know more about Mike Carroll?

Mike Carroll grew up on a farm in Ohio, where work began at breakfast and was measured in sunrises, where results were earned with sore muscles and finished with calloused hands. That foundation instilled the discipline of process, respect for time-tested practices, and the belief that lasting value is built, not borrowed. Those lessons carried him from the fields into engineering and later into leadership, shaping a career grounded in both tradition and innovation.

 

From the mills of Mead’s pulp and paper operations to executive leadership at Georgia-Pacific, he drove transformation at scale by embedding innovation into the core of operations. As Deputy Chairman and CEO at Shepard LTD in the UK, he navigated global markets. At McTech Group, he forged growth with Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Kroger. Today he serves as Chief Strategy and Operations Officer at Trek.AI, Research Fellow at LNS Research, and Board Advisor to the Industrial AI Nexus, working with the Chief Architects Network. Alongside these roles, he advises multiple AI startups, mentoring the next generation of leaders shaping the future of intelligence.

 

Across this journey, Carroll has been recognized as Visionary of the Year by Smart Industry and Innovator of the Year by the Association of Suppliers to the Paper Industry. A sought-after keynote speaker and columnist, he weaves real-world case studies with lyrical storytelling that challenge leaders with a simple question: “What must be true in one year, three years, a decade?” Whether advising boards, guiding innovation councils, or speaking to global audiences, he holds to one conviction,  the next industrial revolution will not be won by those who claim to have every answer, but by those willing to seek and bold enough to ask better questions.