The book every chief officer needs to read before the next upgrade arrives.
When ChiefBot 9000 — Municipal Leadership Optimization System, Version 4.2 — arrives in Chief Dana Mercer's office, it doesn't make demands. It just works. In four hours, it completes what took her three weeks. It finds patterns in five years of incident data that nobody saw. It builds a training needs assessment, drafts a five-year strategic plan, and prepares a budget presentation that wins on the data.
Dana isn't fired. She isn't replaced. She is something more uncomfortable: unsettled. Because the system keeps being right about things she expected to be hers. And the question it keeps asking — silently, through its outputs — is the one she's been avoiding: what am I actually here for?
"The numbers are right. The answer is wrong."
This book follows Dana through eleven encounters with what AI can and cannot do — from the 2 AM LODD call to the Station 4 closure recommendation to the community meeting she schedules before she has the answer. It is a story about what only humans can do, written for the leaders who need to hear it most.
It is also a practical guide. By the end, you will know how to build an AI workflow, lead your organization through the transition, and stay relevant in a profession that is changing faster than most departments have decided to prepare for.
Each chapter follows the same three-part structure:
Eleven chapters in three parts. Part One shows what AI can do. Part Two shows what it cannot. Part Three is what you do next.
Available in print and digital formats. Bulk orders available for departments, training programs, and leadership cohorts.
Orders of 10 or more copies receive a discount and can be bundled with the Team Discussion Guide for department-wide professional development. Contact Alex directly to arrange bulk pricing.
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