When I was growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money.
Every year, the first day of school when everyone else had the latest set of cool kicks on their feet, I wore the way too small, worn out shoes from the year before.
They hurt my feet. I had to force my foot into them every morning before trotting off to the bus.
And I had to wear them until the soles were flapping during gym class as they were coming apart.
AI projects can be like that too small pair of shoes. You have to force things into a budget that is too small and doesn’t fit well.
It’s painful and you very quickly have to change.
Before the bottom falls off the entire operation.
In AI today, to have a successful pilot that blossoms into a real program that impacts productivity daily, you have to dive into the details of how work gets done.
Understand how your team performs, the unwritten elements that help them be productive. Only then can you truly understand where AI fits and how it can be helpful.
You have to tear down your work to build up the right systems that help employees manage their work.
And how much money it’s going to take to get the best performance from the model that fits you well.
Not every program needs an Air Jordan, many times a good pair of Chuck Taylors will fit the best.
But if you don’t take the time to find the right fit, it will be painful and cost a lot more.