Generative AI is everywhere — in boardrooms, roadmaps, and leadership conversations.
But when it comes to real-world execution, many projects stall out. Why?

Because we often start with “What could we do with AI?” instead of “What needs fixing in our business?”

AI isn’t the strategy. It’s just one of the tools we can use to solve what matters.

The Pattern I Keep Seeing

I’ve been in countless rooms where the excitement is high and the ideas flow fast:

1. A strategy workshop fills a whiteboard with AI use cases.
2. A pilot kicks off—sometimes with funding, often without a business case.
3. Twelve months later, the model works, but the original pain point is still there. No time saved. No dollars returned. Just a smarter system solving a problem no one had.

Sound familiar?

A Better Starting Point: Business Pain First

Rather than beginning with a wishlist of AI features, flip the script.

Ask your team:

• Where are we bleeding time, money, or trust?
• What processes are slow, manual, or error-prone?
• Where are our people frustrated? Where are our customers waiting?

Once you’ve pinpointed the pain, then assess whether AI is the sharpest tool for the job. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s a dashboard, a workflow, or just better training and change management.

My Practical AI Filter

I use a simple rule when helping clients assess AI opportunities:

If it can’t deliver a 3x return within 12 months or save $25K+ per month, it’s not a priority.

Here’s how to break that down:

• Include full costs: licensing, infrastructure, implementation, training, and change effort.
• Forecast tangible benefits: revenue uplift, cost avoidance, risk reduction, time saved.
• Be honest about the effort: AI isn’t “just another feature.” It requires clean data, governance, and user readiness.

If the numbers don’t stack up, shelve the idea—or solve it another way.

Small Wins Still Take Resources

Launching a small pilot with minimal impact doesn’t cost less in time or energy.
If the result is underwhelming, it makes it harder to get buy-in for the next big swing.

Instead, focus on meaningful outcomes. Pick problems worth solving and prove you can deliver results.

Final Thought: Tech Should Serve the Business, Not the Other Way Around

Gen AI isn’t the goal. It’s optional gear in your toolkit.

The real goal?
Fix the pain, prove the value, scale what works.
When AI fits that purpose, it’s a game-changer. But only then.