Insights

AI in practice for most companies has fallen short of the hype.  Why is that?  It comes down to companies adding AI tools without strategy, or a loosely constructed pseudo-strategy. Most companies are attempting to keep up with the AI adoption velocity within their industries, circumventing the natural skepticism when rolling out significant change. Now that the initial wave of aggressive AI campaigns and word-of-mouth pressure has exhausted most industries, CEOs should be considering building more effective AI strategies to fit their operations.  Consider the last 18-24 months as the experimentation and test phase.

Here are five pre-strategy and organizational discovery steps to incorporate that will help build a fit-for-purpose AI strategy for their organization.  It is recommended to lean on each department for each of the steps to build a more holistic view of where your organization stands and identify practical concepts for your strategy.

5 Actions and Importance

1. Get A Pulse on Your Organization’s Current AI Use: This will help define viable business use cases and identify each department’s starting point.
2. Transcribe Workflows and Processes: This will map out some potentially quick wins and opportunities to calculate direct return on investment (ROI) from AI use.
3. Identify Time Drains and Deferred Activities: This will present opportunities to leverage AI without disrupting any current processes.
4. Plan AI Licensing: This will calculate and provide cost impact to operational expenditures (OPEX) and allocation to each department to implement based on team size and AI tool selection.
5. Assess Data Silos: Identify the areas requiring technical attention to connect data for leveraging AI and define where not to expect initial AI ROI.

Upfront Guidance

As you start to examine potential AI use, keep the following in mind:

Focus on Simplicity and Practicality

The benefits from leveraging AI start in the “simple”, while poor AI strategies are often misconstrued by attempting to identify complex tasks to throw AI at.  As you start to build a strategy that fits specifically with your company, hone your focus to simple, and practical, tasks.  For instance, try to find items where AI can save 5 to 10 minutes per week, rather than dreaming of how AI could power new market offerings.