How to Prioritize Artificial Intelligence Projects

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just for tech giants.

As one of the most powerful and most important technology innovations of our times, AI is transforming the way we work and live. That’s why companies of all sizes in every industry need to create a clear and actionable AI strategy.

In this article, I’ll give you a step-by-step process for developing an artificial intelligence strategy for your business.

Step One: Define AI Use Cases

How can your company best use AI? Identifying your AI priorities or use cases is the first step in building your company's artificial intelligence strategy.

In theory, your company could use AI in hundreds (or even thousands) of ways. So instead of asking, “How can we use AI?” go back and start with your business strategy and your business challenges.

Start with the questions, “What do we need to achieve as a business? What are our biggest goals? What are our biggest challenges? What are the rear priorities for us? And how can we use artificial intelligence to help us with all of this?" Then identify places where AI fits your business.

When I work with organizations, I usually look at three different lenses when we’re trying to identify a list of possible use cases. Consider the ways your company can use AI to:

• Develop smarter products
• Develop smarter services
• Make business processes more intelligent

I’ve created an AI Use Cases Template to help you identify and structure your use cases.

The template will help you structure each case study, so you can make decisions about the next steps in your strategy. Fill in a separate template for each potential use case.

Step Two: Identify the Most Important Use Cases

Narrow down your list of potential use cases and select the most important ones for your business.

Depending on how ambitious you want to be with your artificial intelligence strategy, you can identify just one or maybe up to five strategic use cases. The ones you select will be your priorities.

I also recommend that you identify 1-3 “quick wins” that will help you get results fast, show the benefits of your AI initiatives, and get buy-in from stakeholders.

I've also created a template that can help you with the selection process. Examine all your use cases and use this template to identify the most strategic and important ones.

Step Three: Examine the Cross-Cutting Implications

Once you've identified your use cases, refine your AI strategy by examining some of the cross-cutting implications, such as legal, technology, and workplace skills. This is where you’ll think through some of the implementation and change management challenges around your AI strategy.

For example, as part of your AI strategy, you will also need a data strategy. You can look at my blog post and video on how to develop your data strategy.

Once you've identified the other implications, you can write up a solid artificial intelligence strategy that you can implement as a business.

In organizations of all sizes, you will notice a big difference once you start looking at AI strategically instead of just seeing individual projects that may or may not contribute to the ultimate success of your business.

For more information on creating an AI strategy that works for you, check out the rest of my website and my YouTube channel.