Christopher Mims Wants to Make AI Simple for Executives

Christopher Mims, author of the book "How To AI," has set out to make artificial intelligence approachable for business leaders, according to SmartBrief.

The technology journalist's new book arrives as corporate executives face mounting pressure to deploy AI without a clear playbook. SmartBrief highlights Mims's effort to translate the technology into practical guidance for decision-makers who are not engineers.

Mims writes about technology for a living, and "How To AI" extends that work into book form. The pitch, as summarized by SmartBrief, is direct: AI does not have to be intimidating for the people who sign the budgets and set the strategy.

The audience matters. Business leaders increasingly must approve AI spending, judge vendor claims and decide where the technology fits in their operations. A guide written for that audience, rather than for developers, fills a gap between technical documentation and executive summaries.

SmartBrief's coverage positions Mims as a translator between the AI research community and the corner office. That role has grown more valuable as companies move from experimentation to deployment and the cost of misunderstanding the technology rises.

For executives, the takeaway is straightforward: accessible explanations of how AI works, and where it fails, are now part of the management toolkit. Books like "How To AI" suggest publishers see enough demand for plain-language AI guidance that the category can support dedicated titles.

Whether Mims's approach converts into better AI decisions inside companies will depend on whether leaders read past the hype — the very thing the book aims to cut through.