Тhe first 90 days as a Chief Operating Officer (COO) are crucial for establishing credibility, understanding the organization's dynamics, and laying the foundation for long-term success. As reported by PwC Strategy&, this critical window serves as an opportunity for new COOs to make a positive impression, gain insights into operations, and build trust with stakeholders while navigating high expectations from colleagues, shareholders, and the public.
The first 90 days of COO are a critical period where expectations are high, and the stakes are even higher. For companies in the $500–2,000 million revenue range, a new COO is expected to not only stabilize operations but also chart a course for long-term success. According to a Harvard Business Review study, 68% of senior executives fail to meet stakeholder expectations in their first three months, often due to unclear priorities, time mismanagement, and inadequate support systems.
Employers seek a COO who can immediately deliver on three fronts:
Strategic: Establish alignment with the company’s vision and identify growth opportunities.
Tactical: Optimize operations, mitigate risks, and solve pressing challenges.
Operational: Build trust with the team, streamline processes, and achieve quick wins.
As legendary strategist Peter Drucker once said, "Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work." This is where OperAI steps in as a transformative tool, enabling COOs to meet expectations with precision and speed.
Here's a classic schedule for a new employee at a company in the COO position, if you ask Google or ChatGPT that question:
Understand the organization’s current state, stabilize operations, and identify critical areas for improvement.
Learn the business
Conduct meetings with the CEO, board members, and key stakeholders to understand expectations, challenges, and priorities.
Review organizational structures, financials, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Familiarize yourself with operational workflows, company culture, and strategic goals.
Assess current operations
Identify bottlenecks in supply chain, workforce productivity, and customer satisfaction.
Evaluate existing technologies, processes, and systems.
Prioritize critical operational risks that require immediate attention.
Build relationships
Establish rapport with direct reports, department heads, and cross-functional teams.
Host team introductions and encourage open communication to understand pain points.
Comprehensive understanding of the company’s operations.
Stabilized critical processes.
Established trust with the leadership team and staff.
Streamline processes, achieve early wins, and lay the groundwork for larger strategic initiatives.
Quick Wins
Address high-impact, low-complexity issues that show immediate results (e.g., reducing supply chain delays or optimizing scheduling).
Implement short-term solutions to enhance customer satisfaction and workforce productivity.
Process improvements
Review and refine operational workflows to improve efficiency.
Introduce standardized reporting and tracking mechanisms.
Data-Driven decision-making
Leverage analytics to identify trends and prioritize initiatives with the highest ROI.
Use scenario modeling to test potential outcomes before implementing changes.
Team empowerment
Define clear responsibilities and expectations for team members.
Empower managers to take ownership of day-to-day operations.
Improved efficiency in key operational areas.
Tangible early wins that build credibility.
Empowered teams aligned with organizational goals.
Drive long-term strategic initiatives and align operations with the company’s vision.
Develop a strategic roadmap
Collaborate with the CEO and C-suite to define long-term objectives.
Create a roadmap for scaling operations, entering new markets, or adopting new technologies.
Embed a culture of innovation
Encourage the adoption of modern tools and methods to enhance agility.
Establish regular feedback loops to evaluate progress and adapt to changes.
Stakeholder engagement
Strengthen relationships with external partners, vendors, and clients.
Showcase early successes to the board and key stakeholders to gain support for future initiatives.
Build agility
Introduce contingency plans to handle potential risks, such as market disruptions or cybersecurity threats.
Monitor KPIs to ensure sustained operational excellence.
A clear, actionable strategic roadmap aligned with the company’s vision.
Operational excellence and a culture of continuous improvement.
Strong relationships with stakeholders and demonstrated leadership impact.
Following Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, the global business landscape is poised for a dramatic shift. Trump announced an unprecedented $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure, signaling a race to dominate the next era of technological advancement. This initiative aims to build AI-driven industries, modernize supply chains, and strengthen data security across sectors. The move has triggered immediate reactions from global markets, with companies prioritizing AI integration to remain competitive. For COOs, this new reality demands accelerated adaptation, as organizations must rethink operational strategies to align with an AI-centric economy and embrace unparalleled innovation and efficiency.
While the classic 30-60-90 day strategy provides structure, it has significant limitations in today’s fast-paced business environment. This approach often assumes stable conditions, yet modern organizations face rapid technological changes, market disruptions, and unpredictable risks. COOs following this model may find themselves overwhelmed by competing priorities, struggling to make data-driven decisions with fragmented information. Additionally, the focus on short-term wins can distract from long-term strategic alignment. Without real-time insights and automation, the process risks inefficiency and missed opportunities. Simply put, the traditional model no longer matches the speed and complexity of operations in 2025.
Next, the article will introduce a revolutionary approach to the first 90 days of COO adaptation in 2025, aligning leadership strategies with today’s accelerated environment.
Employers expect the COO to:
Analyze and align operational strategies with the company’s broader vision.
Identify growth opportunities, whether through scaling operations, geographic expansion, or new technologies.
Build frameworks for sustainable innovation and agility.
On a tactical level, the COO must:
Address existing inefficiencies in key operations, such as supply chain management or workforce optimization.
Establish systems for real-time monitoring and reporting of KPIs.
Ensure alignment across departments to avoid miscommunication or redundancy.
Operationally, the COO must:
Demonstrate quick wins by resolving bottlenecks and improving processes.
Build trust and credibility with internal and external stakeholders.
Create a culture of accountability and transparency within the team.
To meet these expectations, COOs need to excel in seven critical roles. Below, we outline each role, its responsibilities, and how OperAI can help achieve faster and more effective results.
A COO must serve as a visionary, translating the CEO’s long-term goals into actionable plans. They are expected to evaluate growth opportunities and align operational strategy with market trends.
Challenges Without AI:
Data silos and fragmented insights can obscure strategic opportunities.
Manual research is time-intensive, delaying decisions.
How OperAI Helps: OperAI consolidates data from internal systems, market reports, and competitor analyses into a unified dashboard. Its predictive analytics identify growth trends and simulate the impact of strategic decisions. For example, OperAI can highlight markets with the highest ROI potential, allowing COOs to make data-driven expansion plans.
One of the COO’s primary responsibilities is to address operational inefficiencies and resolve crises.
Challenges Without AI:
Delayed problem identification leads to higher costs and lost opportunities.
Reactive management wastes resources.
How OperAI Helps: OperAI monitors operations in real time, using anomaly detection to flag inefficiencies or risks before they escalate. For example, if supply chain delays occur, OperAI recommends alternate suppliers or route optimizations, ensuring continuity and cost savings.
Impact: A mid-sized manufacturing firm reduced downtime by 30% within three months using OperAI’s predictive capabilities, saving $150,000.
COOs must act as the bridge between C-suite leadership and operational teams, ensuring alignment and clarity.
Challenges Without AI:
Inconsistent messaging can create confusion and disrupt workflows.
Preparing for stakeholder updates is time-consuming.
How OperAI Helps: OperAI automates the preparation of communication materials, from team updates to board presentations. It synthesizes data into concise reports and visual summaries, enabling clear, impactful messaging.
Impact: By saving up to 5 hours weekly on report preparation, COOs can dedicate more time to strategic tasks.
Strategic reviews are essential in the first 90 days to align operational priorities with business goals.
Challenges Without AI:
Manual reviews lack depth and scalability.
Decisions are often based on incomplete or outdated data.
How OperAI Helps: OperAI evaluates performance metrics across departments, benchmarks them against industry standards, and identifies high-impact initiatives. For instance, it can assess the ROI of ongoing projects and recommend adjustments to maximize efficiency.
Impact: COOs using OperAI achieve 25% faster alignment on strategic priorities.
Employers expect COOs to drive innovation by integrating new technologies and modernizing workflows.
Challenges Without AI:
Evaluating technology ROI is complex and time-consuming.
Implementation delays hinder competitiveness.
How OperAI Helps: OperAI evaluates emerging technologies, comparing their benefits with organizational needs. It automates the integration process, from workflow mapping to employee training.
Impact: A retail company reduced technology onboarding time by 40% using OperAI’s implementation tools, gaining a competitive edge.
COOs are responsible for fostering employee engagement, retention, and productivity.
Challenges Without AI:
Identifying and addressing workforce challenges is often reactive.
High turnover rates can disrupt operations.
How OperAI Helps: OperAI analyzes employee engagement metrics, tracks upskilling progress, and recommends retention strategies. It automates training program scheduling and monitors their effectiveness.
Impact: For every 100 employees, reducing turnover by 10% saves approximately $100,000 annually in recruitment and training costs.
Mitigating risks, from cybersecurity threats to market disruptions, is a key responsibility of the COO.
Challenges Without AI:
Lack of real-time risk assessment tools can lead to reactive measures.
Missed early warning signs increase vulnerabilities.
How OperAI Helps: OperAI provides scenario simulations and real-time risk alerts. It predicts potential disruptions, from supply chain delays to cybersecurity breaches, and recommends proactive measures.
Impact: A financial services firm using OperAI reduced incident response times by 50%, saving $200,000 in potential losses.
By leveraging OperAI, new COOs can achieve:
Time savings: Automating routine tasks frees up 20+ hours weekly for strategic planning.
Cost efficiency: For a 500-person company, reducing inefficiencies saves up to $75,000 monthly.
Improved decision-making: Real-time data ensures accurate, proactive decisions.
Enhanced employee productivity: Streamlined workflows increase team output by 30%.
For example, a COO who implemented OperAI during their first 90 days reduced operational delays by 50%, contributing to a $1 million revenue increase within the first year.
The first 90 days of COO are a defining period for building credibility, driving impact, and setting the foundation for long-term success. OperAI empowers COOs to navigate this journey with confidence, delivering quick wins and sustainable results through automation, insights, and streamlined operations.
As the COO’s role evolves, tools like OperAI are no longer a luxury but a necessity. Book a demo today to see how OperAI can transform your first 90 days and beyond: