"AI isn’t a race. It's a readiness game. Sandboxes turn experimentation into value without the chaos."

Howard Yu at IMD maps out why the AI arms race is a trap. Drawing on Coca-Cola's six-person sandbox that birthed 'Create Real Magic' and DHL's patient, works-council-approved AI rollout, he argues that organisations fall into one of four zones (stagnation, complacency, frustration, or innovation), defined by how urgently they're pushing AI versus how ready their infrastructure actually is. Most organisations in 2025 are stuck in frustration: leadership is shouting about AI overhaul while the data is siloed, teams are untrained, and the plumbing doesn't exist.

What gets organisations out is clean data, actual sandboxes where people learn by doing, and a simple discipline for governing decisions (reversible experiments move fast; irreversible bets get scrutiny).