This guide outlines the essential steps and considerations for adopting AI strategically by 2026. It is designed to help businesses understand the prerequisites for successful AI implementation, from defining objectives to selecting the right tools and building organisational capability.
Let’s get started!
It’s important to start with tangible outcomes, not technology. You need to determine what problems you want to solve with AI. Here are some common examples:
We recommend tying each initiative to measurable KPIs such as cost savings, revenue growth, or customer satisfaction. Let’s look at an example from Myrtec:
Myrtec wants to grow but doesn’t have the bandwidth to hire a Service Coordinator. We have identified that AI could replace the following tasks that a Service Coordinator would complete:
Once you have taken the time to get clear on your objectives, it’s time to get the wheels turning on your AI project!
The reality is most AI projects fail due to fragmented or low-quality data. Structured data is paramount to a successful AI project. We recommend conducting a data inventory and rationalisation project. Here’s some useful information to get started:
You need to understand where your data is stored.
Once you understand where your data is stored and where it is going, you can conduct a Data Rationalisation project. This means consolidating as much of your data as possible into your Office Suite. For example, if you are a Microsoft user, ensure you are using Outlook and Teams in place of Zoho and Slack.
The added benefit to data rationalisation is strengthened security and savings when removing unnecessary subscriptions.
Map out your entire org chart from top to bottom. Use this as a guide to assign role-based permissions to access data, i.e. decide who requires access to which folders.
Now that your data is ready, let’s kick off some AI processes that will attract quick wins on the board to demonstrate ROI and gain the support of your team.
Now you can map out processes per department and build business cases with predicted ROI.
We recommend that you form an AI Committee within your organisation that features stakeholders from different departments including IT, legal, HR, etc. This committee will be responsible for:
Conduct a market analysis of available AI tools that align with your business cases and governance guidelines. Here are some tips to get started:
Once you have selected your AI tools, unfortunately it is not as simple as just granting access to your team and instructing them to use it. Your team may benefit from:
AI adoption is not a linear process. Leadership must drive initiatives with clear success measures, appropriate resources, and a positive culture. Engage your team and keep your business competitive. We strongly recommend:
Contact our team to discuss our FLEX Managed Service Agreement or Technology Advisory Service can help you prepare for the next wave of AI adoption.
