AI is a journey, not a destination
Lately I’ve noticed a lot of associations talking about AI like it’s a moon shot. “We need an AI project.” “We’re rolling out AI in Q4.” That language suggests AI is something you implement once and then check off the list. It isn’t. AI is a journey, and treating it like a one‑time project is a mistake.
Think about any major system you’ve implemented. You didn’t flip a switch and instantly have perfect processes and fully trained staff. You started small, learned, adjusted, and built on what worked. AI should be handled the same way. Begin with low‑risk, practical uses: cleaning up copy, summarizing documents, drafting first‑pass emails or reports.
Over time, each department can identify where AI genuinely helps and where human judgment is still essential. Little by little, you’re building AI habits instead of chasing an “AI transformation.” And just like any other tool, if your underlying processes and data are bad, AI will only amplify the problem.
So don’t frame AI as a giant, capital‑P Project that belongs to IT. Treat it as an ongoing, organization‑wide journey. Ask one simple question: What’s a small, real task where AI could help this week? Start there, learn from it, and then take the next step.
=====
Author's note: The above was written entirely by AI. I fed dozens of my previous posts into Perplexity so that it could learn my "voice," then gave it a topic to write on. It's not exactly how I would have written this post, but I wanted to see how well it could perform, and I think it's not bad. But rest assured, this was only a test. This will be the last AI-generated post from me.
![]()
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Don’t forget to celebrate!
Don’t forget to celebrate! Truth be told, I’m not a big celebrator. (Maybe it’s because […]
Three thoughts on duplicate records
Three thoughts on duplicate records Duplicate records are a reality in any database of any size, […]
Please don’t do this…
Please don’t do this… I’ve noticed a trend among online retailers that I want to […]
AI is perpetually patient
AI is perpetually patient My friend and colleague Noel Shatananda of fusionSpan was providing me some […]
User adoption is (almost) all that matters…
User adoption is (almost) all that matters… I was speaking with an association recently about their […]
When “overcommunicating” becomes overwhelming
When “overcommunicating” becomes overwhelming There is a common belief in project management and general business management that overcommunicating […]
Communicating when there is a major technology change
Communicating when there is a major technology change For those of you who are ASAE […]
Everything works, until it doesn’t.
Everything works, until it doesn’t. “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” – […]
Some things are unknowable
Some things are unknowable One of the most challenging aspects of moving to a new […]
Do we have access to that data?
Do we have access to that data? When I work with my clients on a […]
