In this live presentation from the Accelerate 2025 Conference, Esi Minta-Jacobs, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff to the CEO at AssetMark, discusses the company’s first year adopting OKRs and implementing WorkBoardAI. She shares how AssetMark clarified its long-term strategy, built executive alignment, introduced new operating rhythms, and used WorkBoardAI's tools and AI capabilities to accelerate organizational focus, transparency, and execution.
The Challenge
- Strategy Lacked Clarity and Specificity:
AssetMark operated with vague strategic pillars that were not clearly articulated or rigorously defined. Teams frequently could not connect their projects or initiatives to a cohesive long-term strategy, creating uncertainty about organizational priorities.
- Project-Driven Culture Resulted in Silos and Disconnected Execution:
Work often jumped from broad pillars directly into long lists of projects. Functions interpreted strategy differently, created their own “tribal knowledge,” and executed in isolation, leading to inconsistent approaches and fragmented organizational alignment.
- Leaders and Teams Lacked a Consistent Framework for Measuring Outcomes:
AssetMark had no shared understanding of OKRs, how to define outcomes, or how to measure success. Leaders initially struggled to differentiate outputs from true outcomes, and teams often generated long lists of activities rather than meaningful indicators of progress.
- Organizational Change Capacity Was Limited and Required Deliberate Support:
With no prior OKR experience and a workforce of 1,200, the company faced absorption challenges. Leaders were unsure how to roll out OKRs without overwhelming teams or disrupting ongoing work. A structured support model and phased approach were needed but not yet in place.
The WorkBoardAI Solution
- Activated Strategy Through Clear, Cascading OKRs Anchored in WorkBoard:
With WorkBoardAI, leadership established L1 OKRs, aligned executive teams around shared priorities, and began cascading to L3 levels. The organization now uses WorkBoard to express, connect, and operationalize strategy with far greater precision and transparency.
- Introduced Organizational Focus via HIKERs (High-Impact KRs) and Data-Driven Prioritization:
WorkBoardAI's visibility enabled AssetMark to identify and filter for high-impact KRs, reducing total KRs from 196 to ~126 and improving achievement rates. The system reinforced focus on what meaningfully advances strategic outcomes.
- Established a Repeatable, High-Accountability Operating Rhythm:
WorkBoardAI scorecards, briefs, and monthly/quarterly review cadences created a new culture of timely, candid discussion about progress, including “reds.” Leaders learned to engage constructively in problem-solving rather than avoidance, transforming the review culture.
- Enabled Scalable Change Through Integrated Communication, Support Structures, and AI Tools:
WorkBoardAI served as the anchor for newsletters, cross-functional coaching networks, steering committees, and emerging capabilities like AI co-authoring and automated briefs. These tools allowed AssetMark to adopt OKRs at scale and deepen organizational engagement.
Conclusion
By adopting WorkBoardAI, AssetMark transformed its strategic execution model from diffuse and project-heavy to focused, outcomes-driven, and data-supported. The company reduced its number of KRs by more than one-third, increased achievement rates on high-impact KRs, established disciplined review cadences, and equipped leaders with automated scorecards and AI-assisted OKR quality improvements. The result is a more aligned, accountable, and strategically activated organization.
