In the ever-evolving world of AI, many organizations find themselves trapped in what several affectionately term the "pilot purgatory." They're stuck in a cycle of testing and retesting, never quite making the leap to full-scale implementation. So, how do you break free and harness the true potential of AI? Let's dive in.

Key considerations for navigating out of AI pilot purgatory

Focus on the Job, Not the Toy

It's easy to get dazzled by the latest AI demo or trend. However, the real magic happens when you focus on the primary job to be done. AI's versatility means it can be tailored to fit your specific needs, so prioritize based on value, adoption, and feasibility. Identify the core business outcomes you're aiming for, be it customer acquisition, reducing churn, or improving service.

Large Projects vs. Incremental Changes

While it might be tempting to overhaul everything at once, GenAI often offers the ability to augment existing processes with the greatest degree of impact, and lowest barrier to entry This means that a complete transformation might not always be the best approach. Instead, focus on targeted, incremental changes that can be easily integrated and controlled.

ROI Considerations

Every AI initiative should be backed by a clear understanding of the expected return on investment. This not only ensures financial viability but also helps in prioritizing projects and building momentum and support across the organization.

Adoption and the Explainability Gap

Specific attention must be paid to what represents a unique challenge with AI: the "explainability gap." This gap often results in trust barriers for users, potentially stalling AI adoption in its tracks. To navigate this challenge, it's essential to zero in on distinct segments of a process ripe for AI enhancement. By concentrating on well-defined outcomes, we can establish benchmarks for comparison, fostering a sense of control and trust among users. This strategic focus doesn't just pave the way for smoother AI adoption; it also delivers on the productivity front. By enhancing specific workflow segments, we not only realize immediate gains but also begin to cultivate an AI-centric culture within the organization.

A Real-World Example: eDiscovery

With all the buzz around ChatGPT flashy text-generation skills, it's easy to overlook its other strong capabilities AI brings to the game. A big part of legal operations is figuring out how relevant certain documents are to specific cases or investigations. With platforms like Teams or Slack, this can mean sifting through millions of messages and it’s growing as we see with our clients at Hanzo.

Enter AI. By focusing on assessing relevancy (the key Job to be done in this domain), AI can now significantly help something difficult for previous AI generations. What once required intricate search and sampling techniques with TAR can now be accessed more intuitively without needing any special expertise.

The benefits are manifold:

• Seamless Integration: The AI engine fits perfectly into existing ediscovery workflows, replacing the well-defined step of relevancy assessment without requiring new skills or reorganization.
• Efficiency: AI-powered automation replaces time-consuming tasks, streamlining the process and tirelessly removing the tedious task of assessing millions of documents from your legal teams, freeing them up to focus on more strategic work
• Rapid Decision Making: The speed at which AI pinpoints critical documents surpasses traditional human first-pass reviews by a significant margin. This rapidity not only shortens the time to comprehension but also accelerates decision-making, a vital aspect of risk management in legal operations.

Strategic AI Adoption: From Purgatory to Transformation

Breaking free from the pilot purgatory requires a strategic approach, focusing on real-world applications and incremental changes. By understanding the core jobs to be done and leveraging AI's versatility, organizations can truly harness its transformative power, creating a virtuous circle of adoption in their organizations.

This blog is part two of a three-part series. You can read part one here. For our next and last installment, we will consider best-suited approaches to align with the broader strategy of the enterprise.

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