AI can organize information faster than any team you’ve ever built. It can surface patterns, speed up workflows, and remove friction from execution. But it still can’t make judgment calls when the data is incomplete, the market is shifting, and real money is on the line.

In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Jeff Holman talks with entrepreneur and financial advisor Luigi “Lou” Rosabianca about where AI actually fits in a scaling business and where CEOs still have to step in and decide.

Lou has built and advised small and mid-sized businesses through multiple disruptions, from 9/11 to financial crises to the pandemic. His perspective is shaped by operating when capital tightens, banks pull back, and clean answers don’t exist. That experience informs how he thinks about AI, cash flow, and resilience today.

The conversation centers on a simple reality that many CEOs are living right now. Tools are more powerful than ever, but businesses still fail when leaders confuse automation with judgment. AI can help organize the ingredients, but CEOs still decide what gets cooked, what gets scrapped, and when it’s time to pivot.

This episode is for CEOs and founders who are navigating uncertainty, experimenting with AI, and trying to scale without losing control of the fundamentals. It’s a grounded conversation about decision-making, resilience, and why leadership judgment still compounds when everything else levels out.

Listen to the full episode of The Breakout CEO for a candid, operator-level discussion on scaling through chaos without outsourcing your judgment.

Check out Lou's work at https://www.shieldadvisorygroup.com/ and https://creditbanc.io/.

Say hello to Luigi!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luigi-rosabianca/

Enclosed is also a copy of his book (free audio version), Buying The American Dream - A Strategic Playbook for Acquiring Small Businesses. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iCSh0yb8PrwKFo0AZnpjV4Z84YZj2Elx/view

If you want a paper copy, it’s also available on Amazon. http://bit.ly/3ZwSHnz.

Most leadership advice breaks down the moment real pressure shows up.

In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Cydni Tetro, 3-time CEO, board member, and former CIO of Swire Coca-Cola, draws from her experience as a 3-time CEO, enterprise executive, and board member to talk through those moments honestly. Not as lessons learned in hindsight, but as decisions made while the outcome was still unclear.

Cydni explains why people-centered leadership becomes harder as companies scale, not easier, and why many CEOs underestimate the operational cost of misalignment until it’s already doing damage. She also breaks down how “blue sky thinking” actually works inside real companies: not as vision work, but as a way to surface options teams stop seeing once constraints harden.

The discussion also addresses a reality many CEOs quietly face; isolation at the top, decision-making without certainty, and the internal weight of responsibility when outcomes rest on a few calls made under imperfect conditions.

If you’re building, scaling, or resetting a company and carrying the weight that comes with it, this one’s for you.

Check out Cydni's work at https://www.swirecocacola.com/.

Say hello to Cydni!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cydnitetro/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cydtetro/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cydtetro/

What does it take to build a company when the mission matters more than momentum?

In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Jeff Holman sits down with Thomas Bishop, founder of Paleblue, for a grounded conversation on conviction, persistence, and building products that genuinely change behavior. Tom shares how a near-death experience reshaped his career decisions and why meaningful missions became the filter for every company he chose to build.

The discussion traces Tom’s path through product development, global manufacturing, and consumer electronics, leading to the creation of Paleblue batteries and its focus on eliminating single-use battery waste. Along the way, Tom breaks down the real challenges of hardware entrepreneurship, from supply chain complexity to fundraising during market shocks, and why progress often comes from simply staying in the fight longer than others.

This episode offers practical insight for CEOs and founders navigating long build cycles, uncertain markets, and decisions that test personal conviction.

If you are building something you believe in and need a reminder of why staying in the course matters, this conversation delivers clarity without gloss.

Check out Tom's work at https://paleblueearth.com/.

Say hello to Tom!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-bishop-bb67267/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pale_blue_earth/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pale-blue-earth/

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