Agentic AI Is Not a Lego Brick: Rethinking Innovation

Shownotes

In this provocative and insightful episode, OnBase host Chris Moody reunites with Lukas Egger to discuss one of the most talked-about frontiers in business innovation: agentic AI. Lukas explores how companies can move beyond demos and hype to implement AI in ways that reshape business models and unlock new value creation.

He unpacks the philosophical and practical dimensions of change, identifies key misconceptions about AI productivity, and argues why leaders must stop planning and start experimenting. From the “Lego brick fallacy” to the “peacocking phase” of AI adoption, Lukas shares powerful mental models and strategies to help organizations transition from isolated innovation to systemic transformation. Whether you’re in sales, marketing, or IT, this episode offers a masterclass on how to future-proof your business in the era of intelligent automation.

Best Moments

• 02:00
  Lukas describes his nonlinear path from philosophy and startups to enterprise innovation at SAP.
• 05:00
  The promise of agentic AI: opening up new domains for value creation and strategic repositioning.
• 10:00
  Breaking down misconceptions: why traditional planning fails in the face of fast-moving AI.
• 15:00
  Lowering the cost of failure and why “small wins” are key to long-term adoption.
• 20:00
  Avoiding AI homogeneity: how to resist the urge to copy competitors and build a real moat.
• 26:00
  Implementing AI at scale in large organizations: the hidden value of domain expertise and transparency.
• 32:00
  The behaviors leaders must change to avoid missing the AI wave entirely.
• 38:00
  Why marketers and sales teams must embed in AI development—early and often.

Key Takeaways

• Prioritizing Agentic AI: Leaders must prioritize agentic AI for business preparedness due to the significant investment and potential for new value creation.
• Understanding Misconceptions: It’s crucial to recognize the “Jagged Frontier of AI,” where AI’s capabilities are counterintuitive, and avoid the “Lego brick fallacy,” which assumes AI can be simply plugged into existing processes.
• Lowering Cost of Failure: To confidently adopt AI, businesses must systematically lower the cost of failure, iterate quickly, and democratize the process.
• Data-Driven Insights: Robust data and real answers are essential for understanding the ROI and impact of AI changes on business processes, systems, and people.
• Competitive Advantage: Instead of focusing solely on common AI use cases, businesses should identify their unique, unfair advantages and engage in rapid iterations and customer conversations to discover differentiating functionalities.
• Integrated Innovation: Marketing, sales, and business development should be involved early in the AI innovation process to ensure that new solutions align with market needs and monetization strategies.
• Beyond Peacocking: Avoid simply “peacocking” with AI by replicating what others are doing; instead, focus on deep integration and solving real business problems.

Quotes

“AI isn’t a Lego brick you plug into a process. It’s a new player on the team—your whole strategy needs to change.”

Shout-outs

• Helen and Dave Edwards, Co-Founders of Artificiality Institute who discuss the emotional components of AI technology.
• Peter Temes, Founder and President, ILO Institute, for his deep understanding of basic foundations.

About the Guest

Lukas N.P. Egger leads the Innovation Office & Strategic Projects team at SAP Signavio, where he focuses on de-risking new product ideas and establishing best-in-class product discovery practices. With a successful track record in team building and managing challenging projects, Lukas has expertise in data-driven technology, cloud-native development, and has created and implemented a new product discovery methodology. Excelling at bridging the gap between technical and business teams, he has worked in AI, operations, and product management in fast-growth environments. As a founder, he has experience building lean and iterating quickly to create saleable software with limited resources while fostering loyalty. Lukas has movie credits for his work in Computer Graphics research, published a book on philosophy, and is passionate about the intersection of technology and people, regularly speaking on how to improve organizations.

Connect with Lukas.