There is no shortage of headlines declaring that artificial intelligence is transforming everything but what seems to be harder to find are the honest conversations about what it actually feels like to lead through that change.

That was the spirit of our most recent National Digital Roundtable, hosted by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Leaders from nonprofits, healthcare organizations, research institutions, advocacy groups, and media came together not to pitch solutions, but to compare notes about what is working, what is not, and where uncertainty still lives.

The clearest theme to emerge was not optimism or fear. It was tension.

Excitement and Unease Can Coexist

Across sectors, leaders described a familiar dynamic inside their organizations. AI presents real opportunities to increase capacity, improve insight, and better serve communities. At the same time, it raises profound questions about trust, privacy, workforce impact, and ethics.

That tension was especially visible in conversations about healthcare and aging services. AI can support social connection, improve operational efficiency, and help stretched teams do more with less. But for older adults, families, and frontline staff, concerns about surveillance, data use, and loss of human connection are very real.

The takeaway was not that AI is inherently good or bad, but that adoption is a human challenge, not just a technical one.

The Measurement Problem No One Has Solved Yet

If AI is changing how information is created, discovered, and trusted, it is also complicating how success is measured.

Many leaders described internal pressure to demonstrate ROI without clear agreement on what should count. Traditional metrics still matter, but they are increasingly incomplete.

A recurring idea in the room was the importance of pairing data with what one participant memorably called “anecdata”—the stories behind the numbers, the comments on a post, the context around a specific initiative that sparks conversation even if it barely moves aggregate traffic.

Looking at individual programs or moments of engagement can surface impact that disappears in roll-up reports. That nuance matters when communicating value to boards, funders, executives, and partners.

How Leaders Are Beginning to Reframe Success

While no one claimed to have cracked the code, several patterns emerged that leaders are actively testing:

• AI opportunity and AI anxiety are rising at the same time
• Measurement frameworks are evolving, but no single tool tells the full story
• Engagement quality can matter more than raw reach or impressions
• Faces, voices, and demonstrated expertise are becoming more influential than logos alone
• Subscription, participation, and trust are signals leaders are learning to defend internally
• Small changes in structure and clarity can improve visibility in AI-driven discovery
• Learning together is more productive than projecting certainty that does not exist

A Cross Section of Leaders

This National Digital Roundtable convened leaders from across policy, philanthropy, research, media, advocacy, healthcare, and technology, including representatives from AARP, The Aspen Institute, Atlantic Council, Cato Institute, Consumer Healthcare Products Association, Data Quality Campaign, de Beaumont Foundation, Flamboyan Foundation, Future Privacy Forum, Gallup, Gates Foundation, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Global Fund for Children, KFF, LeadingAge, National Academy of Medicine, NORC at the University of Chicago, Peterson Institute for International Economics, The Brookings Institution, Washington Monthly, and Freedom Forum.

The Value of Not Having the Answers

One of the most reassuring moments of the conversation came at the end: no one in the room felt like they had it all figured out. Yet instead of feeling uncomfortable, that honesty felt grounding.

So much of leadership right now comes with pressure to sound confident and decisive, even when the landscape is still shifting. What this conversation made clear is that progress does not always come from having the right answer. Sometimes it comes from asking better questions, out loud, with peers who are wrestling with the same things.

That is why our National Digital Roundtables matter. By convening leaders who can speak candidly about what is unclear, what is still in progress, and what they are learning along the way, the work feels more honest and more sustainable.

We are grateful to everyone who showed up ready to listen, share, and learn from one another.