A Tale of Two Leaders

As the wave of artificial intelligence sweeps across industries, business leaders find themselves at a critical juncture. The path they choose in embracing AI can significantly influence their organization’s future. Here’s a tale of two leaders – one proactive, the other reactive – and their journeys in AI readiness.

The Proactive Leader: Embracing AI Strategically

The proactive leader views AI as a transformative tool. Here’s how they prepare:

She “slows down to speed up”.  She takes a pragmatic approach to understanding the current state of business processes first.  She works collaboratively with her team and peers to identify the best use cases to derive value.  She doesn’t aimlessly start engaging software vendors who all have the same messaging. 

The path she follows segments A.I. into two parts:

Lazy AI:  She calls it “Automating the Ordinary”: Eliminating manual unnecessary tasks that don’t add value

Creative AI: Her team and peers leverage data to unlock what wasn’t possible before with new capabilities

She designs and executes the 5 stage approach below:

Strategic AI Integration: Integrating AI into her organization’s business strategy, aligning it with organizational goals and customer needs.

Investment in Talent and Training: Her team and peers outline and identify the need for skilled personnel, hiring AI experts and training existing staff on a common language. 

Data Management and Governance: She establishes a robust data management policy, ensuring quality data feeds AI systems.  She explores creating a Data and AI Center of Excellence internally. 

Innovation and Adaptability: She actively pursues a culture of innovation, encouraging her team and peers to explore AI-driven solutions and continuously improving. 

Ethical AI Practices: An often over-looked and unaddressed part of embracing AI. She prioritizes ethical considerations in AI deployment, focusing on transparency and fairness for her team and her customers. 

The Reactive Leader: Lagging Behind in AI Adoption

The reactive leader, on the other hand, is hesitant:

Delayed AI Adoption: He adopts AI solutions late, often in response to competitors, market pressure or the Board.   

Limited Understanding of AI: There’s a lack of comprehensive understanding of AI’s potential and challenges.  There is no common language identified and established with the organization.  He doesn’t address employees concerns on “is my job at stake by doing this?” and instead pushes forward haphazardly.

Business Process Controls: He doesn’t take the time to document and establish the current state of business processes before engaging with software vendors.  Instead, he consumes his teams time with demo after demo after demo…with no real direction on what to do next. 

Inadequate Data Strategies: He doesn’t build out a strong data foundation.  More importantly, he nor the organization haven’t identified a data strategist and owner.

Conclusion: The AI Journey Awaits

The contrast is clear: proactive leaders harness AI as a powerful ally, while reactive leaders risk falling behind and wasting time and resources in the process.

AI is not just a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic imperative.

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