New book argues stalled AI and failed transformations are a hidden P&L tax

Jim Rembach’s new book, The Drift Tax, says stalled AI pilots, failed change efforts, and flat productivity all stem from the same root problem: behavioral drift inside organizations. Released today by LEI Press, the book argues companies are paying twice for the same performance and can measure the cost with a new diagnostic.

Why it matters: - The book argues companies are absorbing a hidden cost that never shows up as a single line on the P&L. - That cost shows up instead as stalled AI pilots, failed transformations, turnover, margin pressure, and missed timelines. - Rembach says the real issue is not the technology or the initiative itself, but the behavioral layer organizations expect to hold change in place.

What happened: - LEI Press released The Drift Tax: Why Organizations Pay Twice for the Same Performance and How to Stop today. - The author is Jim Rembach, Executive Director of the Leadership Execution Institute. - The book is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook through Amazon and major retailers. - Readers can access excerpts, a Drift Tax Diagnostic, and other details at more information. - The release says the book is built around research from neuroscience, transfer-of-training studies, Gallup manager data, and hundreds of Fast Leader Show interviews.

The details: - The book says roughly 90% to 95% of enterprise AI pilots fail to deliver scalable business impact. - It says about 70% of change initiatives fail. - It also says productivity has flattened in organizations where people are working harder. - Rembach argues those outcomes are all taxes on performance that organizations already paid for once. - The book opens with a composite company of about 1,100 employees. - In that example, a $2 million AI platform is at 70% of projected adoption. - The year’s most important initiative is three weeks behind schedule. - One division’s engagement score is down four points. - The book says the three problems are really one problem viewed through different dashboards. - Rembach says the hidden cost is collected in fragments across finance, operations, HR, and strategy. - The book cites McKinsey research showing more than half of CFOs say transformations now consume the largest share of their time. - It also cites research showing about seven in ten CFOs say organizational buy-in and human behavior are the main barriers to transformation. - Rembach says AI is usually not the binding constraint on returns. - The book says the binding constraint is the human layer around the technology. - It says AI scales whatever behavior it finds in the organization. - Rembach names four forces behind drift: Fear, Overconfidence, Negative Impressions, and Execution Blindness. - He says training, coaching, dashboards, and surveys all stop before the moment that decides execution. - The book introduces a “half second” concept for the instant a standard is held or moved. - Each chapter ends with tools and questions, including compensation prompts, ownership tests, repurchase audits, and a check for whether separate problems share one upstream cause. - The book also includes the Drift Tax Diagnostic, a 10-statement assessment that produces an Architecture Score.

Between the lines: - The book is making a management argument as much as a financial one. - Rembach is reframing failed adoption and weak execution as symptoms of organizational design, not isolated people problems. - That framing could appeal to executives who already spend on AI, consulting, and transformation programs but still see the same problems return. - The message is also a warning for leaders betting that better tools alone will fix execution gaps.

What's next: - Rembach says the diagnostic can help organizations identify how much of their stability is held by design rather than by effort. - The book positions its tools as a way to spot drift before companies pay to repair it again. - LEI Press says review copies, interviews, and excerpts are available on request. - The institute says research briefs and publications are available at Leadership Execution Institute.

The bottom line: - The Drift Tax argues the most expensive problem in many organizations is the one they keep paying to fix twice.