We’re in the unsexy phase of AI right now.
It’s no longer about the flashy bet that sounds good on an earnings call, and all about having a thoughtful rollout strategy that doesn’t lead to more false starts.
Here’s the way we’ve built AI roadmaps for 100+ companies, that you should copy:
Step 1: Interviews at the top
- Ideally start with the CEO. If not possible, prioritize the most senior person with the widest aperture and clearest sense of goals/challenges
- Focus the interview on the companies biggest goals (OKRs, Rocks, etc) and the biggest blockers standing in the way of those goals
- Those blockers will always boil down to some combination of people, process, and technology
- Finish interview by asking who else you should interview to get valuable perspective on goals, blockers, and business context
Step 2: Complete first round of interviews
- If you’re doing an organization-wide AI audit, interviews are typically focused on ELT
- If you’re doing a functional audit (I.e Engineering, Data, Marketing), interviews typically include highest ranking functional leader and all N-1’s
Step 3: Gather survey responses + data
- Based on goals/gaps, that will inform survey questions and data requests
- Examples: financials for ROI studies, ERP data for supply chain processes, GA/customer data for marketing workflows
Step 4: Conduct second round of interviews
- Focused on specific opportunities called out above. If steps 1-3 were about figuring out where the treasure is buried, step 4 is about filling out the entire map
- Where you go deeper on process mapping, org chart/people dynamics, tech stack
- Pro tip: people, process, data, and technology are equal blockers. Most people get data obsessed and neglect the others
Step 5: Draft first round recommendations + roadmap
- Should include a list of opportunities with ROI estimate inclusive of all costs (people, process, technology, financial)
- Should include governance frameworks like start/stop/continue/edit on existing initiatives
- Sequence by the business’ appetite with a bias for highest expected ROI. Translation: prioritize initiatives that have a high success rate and high ROI. Cultural momentum building is the most important initial priority.
Step 6: Final presentation
P.S. This is the high-level approach. If you want the full AI diagnostic process (with interview and survey questions) we’ve used at @tenex_labs with 100+ enterprises, comment “DIAGNOSTIC” below.