How to Assess Your AI Readiness
Before beginning your next (or first) AI project, it is important to assess the AI readiness of your organisation. A proper understanding of your AI readiness will ensure you decide on the right projects to implement, assemble the best team, and deliver a return on investment.
AI readiness applies to all organisations. It is not about being at a particular stage of the journey. Rather, AI readiness is a factor whether you are just starting out with the technology or you have already implemented projects.
Assessing AI Readiness
There are four main areas you need to look at when assessing the AI readiness of your organisation:- Organisational commitment and buy-in
- The state of your organisation’s data
- Current capabilities
- Attitude to change
Organisational Commitment and Buy-In
For AI projects to be truly successful, you first need full buy-in and commitment from the senior management team – the C-suite. They need to be committed to both the digital transformation of the business and the use of AI as part of that transformation. It is also important you have a clear strategy for pursuing AI as a solution. The AI projects you are thinking of should also be aligned with the objectives of the business. Deciding how you will measure success is also important in assessing whether AI should be a priority for your business. Without thinking about and addressing the above, you risk launching AI projects that are interesting and practical but don’t align with the company’s strategic vision and won’t help it progress on its digital transformation journey.The State of Your Organisation’s Data
Access to high-quality data is one of the most important elements of successful AI projects. Therefore, you need to assess data collection, collation, and use processes in your organisation.
Do you understand the state of data in your organisation? What data are you collecting and what is the quality of that data? What data is missing? Is all your organisation’s data in a format that is machine-readable? Are there any compliance considerations or technical barriers when it comes to data? This is why having a data strategy is so important.
Current Capabilities
It is also important to assess the skillsets of the company’s employees, focusing specifically on data science, machine learning, and IT. You are likely to work with a specialist AI solution provider in the development and implementation of AI platforms and systems. But you will still need some expertise in-house.
The availability of subject matter experts is also an important consideration for many AI projects, as well as others who will be crucial to the development and implementation of the AI solution.
It is also essential to assess your current technical infrastructure, taking future plans into account. This is something which is addressed by some of our tools, like the “new solution adoption questionnaire”.
Attitude to Change
This area of AI readiness is one that is often glossed over, but it is crucial to the successful delivery of AI projects. If your organisation is slow to embrace change, resists change, or fears change, problems can occur.
Assess factors like the motivation for exploring the potential of AI and the level of desire for the technology.
You should also look at the resource planning that will be needed to manage the change that AI projects bring about. Business leaders often underestimate the scale of change that AI can deliver, so it helps if this misconception is addressed at the outset.
Harnessing the Potential
AI is a technology that is growing in importance across a broad range of industries. The potential it offers your business is significant. However, it is important to make sure your business is ready for the next steps of its AI journey while addressing any issues that could limit its success.
If you want to learn more about this subject make sure to check out our services. The Tesseract Academy can support you in this journey through our long-term support programs, as well as our workshops.
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