AI Transformation: 3 Tips to Mastering Operationalization

Let’s get this out of the way: if your business does not begin to own artificial intelligence, AI will own your business.

Consider this an opportunity, however, to transform your organization with leadership and intent. The world of technology is as innovative and fast-moving as ever, and with the right state of mind, you can take steps to implement the latest tools to help deliver profitable outcomes in the long run.

For this reason, CDW is at the forefront of smoothing out the AI adoption curve for organizations of all sizes across multiple industries. There is a lot of noise in the information landscape, and to glean valuable insights requires a programmatic approach.

The goal is to find your clearest path to AI sovereignty.

Here are three tips to get you on track to mastering operational AI transformation.

Developing a comprehensive strategy with buy-in from leaders and IT experts cannot be underscored enough. This can take a while depending on the size and scope of your organization.

Once your strategy is in place, you can start focusing on tactics, which are the individual actions that get you closer to achieving the goals established in your strategy.

While strategy is high-level, tactics are granular in how you complete day-to-day tasks and overcome challenges. Your tactics will involve breaking down goals into smaller, reachable goals and delegating tasks to the right people so they can meet deadlines on any timeline while under pressure.

When it comes to AI adoption, factor it into your strategy and decide on reasonable benchmarks so that you can deploy the appropriate tactics to meet them.

With the market shifting swiftly, your organization is bound to, at some point, become saddled with technical debt (aka tech debt), defined as the cost of maintaining outdated systems as opposed to investing in better solutions.

I often hear from customers that they’re technologically “still in the 1990s and need to get to the 2000s.” This is a hard conversation to have, but simply acknowledging it can be the first step toward making incremental changes that lead to vast improvements.

Remember: making no decision to decrease your tech debt is making a decision. Transformation means not only rethinking how your business operates, but also how you seek funding in the boardroom to support new initiatives that are potentially lucrative.

Emotions for AI adoption range from utopian to doomer, but all the same, we’ve seen AI computing power double every few months. It’s wise to gain the edge over your competition wherever you can, as soon as you can, so that you are better prepared to thrive in the future.

The speed and velocity of AI technology hitting the business world is opening lots of eyes. It’s also challenging us to scrap and revamp outdated modes of thinking, such as on timelines.

Business leaders might have heard of the 30-60-90-day plan as a guide through which to help employees meet goals and milestones. It’s natural to think of business advancement on this scale, but rapid AI development is necessitating that we speed things up.

Try instead shifting to a 10-20-30-day plan model. This might be an initial shock but can foster discussion on planning how to accomplish more with less resources down the road. The paradigm of AI replacing labor is stressful, but the sooner you have these conversations intentionally, the faster you can realize and obtain the solutions you need.

At CDW, our rooted partnerships with trusted industry leaders, as well as our knowledgeable solutions architects, can help you deliver positive outcomes on any timeline, at any step of the way on your AI adoption journey. Whether you need guidance creating a holistic business strategy based on input from a cross-functional team or pinpointing areas in your business where AI can streamline operations, we have the knowledge and resources to get you where you want to be.

AI is much bigger than just IT or security. It is changing the foundation of how business functions.