Executive Sensemaking of Generative AI Adoption at Enterprise Scale: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Cross-Industry Executive Perspectives

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how senior executives from technology, financial services, and consumer goods publicly make sense of enterprise-scale generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) adoption. Using a purposively selected, bounded single-case design, it applies reflexive thematic analysis to the complete transcript of one moderated industry panel. Three research questions ask: (1) how leaders describe adoption trajectories, maturity, and organizational arrangements; (2) how they reconcile regulation with creative, operational, and governance innovation; and (3) how they frame workforce roles, emerging competencies, and human oversight. Technology–organization–environment, diffusion-of-innovation, and organizational sensemaking perspectives inform interpretation. Nine themes were developed: production-grade diffusion; regulation as creative discipline; industrialized versus distinctive content; personalization and data trust; practitioner-led implementation; divergent workforce responses; critical-thinking demands; human-in-the-loop brand safety; and a shift toward generative engine optimization. Timestamped excerpts and explicit code-to-theme and theme-to-question mappings substantiate the analysis. These findings describe public executive narratives, not independently verified organizational outcomes. A single public transcript and single-analyst interpretation limit transferability and preclude statistical generalization. The principal contribution is a transparent, theory-informed example of analyzing public executive discourse and a foundation for subsequent multi-source research.