Approach on AI Strategy Paper

C1. Process Model

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Adopting AI is not a one-time project but a long-term transformation process.

What this chapter delivers: the end-to-end process model in five phases (Assess, Strategize, Pilot, Scale, Operate) with clear decision gates between phases, each phase with activities, deliverables, participants, and the most common mistake. It answers how to proceed; the concrete, prioritized implementation plan follows in chapter C2, the critical transition into regular operations in chapter C3.

The five phases at a glance

Each phase has a clear goal and defined activities. The phases build on one another and are connected via the decision gates in the next section. Different business units can be in different phases at the same time.

C2. Roadmap and Rollout

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Chapter C1 defines which phases are traversed with which gates.

What this chapter delivers: the translation into a concrete, prioritized implementation plan with milestones: which use case starts when, in what order, with what resourcing, and which enablement work has to run in parallel. The chapter describes how the roadmap is constructed, communicated, and kept alive.

Where the roadmap gets its inputs

The roadmap does not invent a new goal; it plans the delivery of one already decided. Four inputs must be settled before the first wave is planned, and each was worked out in its own chapter. If you find a gap here, close it first: a roadmap built on unsettled inputs is built on sand.

C3. From Pilot to Production

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Most AI pilots never reach production. They get stuck at the demonstration stage: successfully shown off technically but never carried into regular operations (so-called pilot purgatory).

What this chapter delivers: the approach for building a pilot for the transition from the very start, the scaling criteria and the go/no-go checklist for the Pilot → Scale gate from chapter C1, and the rollout strategies for the path to broad adoption.

Setting up the pilot right from the start

Whether a pilot reaches production is mostly decided before it starts, with the question of what it is built as. Two mindsets stand opposed; both describe the same pilot, just set up differently: