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
Next-to-Nothing Goals
Next-to-Nothing Goals I saw a Ted Talk by Christine Carter recently discussing the concept of […]
Just because you can…
Just because you can… In response to a recent Wednesday Wisdom on averages hiding the […]
Always ask “Why?”
Always ask “Why?” Little kids ask “Why?” all the time, because they are sponges for […]
Averages hide the extremes
Averages hide the extremes I can’t remember where I first heard it, but “averages hide […]
Look up PARTIAL names!
Look up PARTIAL names! Train your staff to do look ups on partial names, not full […]
Not Just Technology
Not Just Technology There was recently a discussion on the ASAE online community about project management […]
Consider quitting
Consider quitting Patient: “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” Doctor: “Then stop doing that.” […]
There is nothing so permanent as business rules
There is nothing so permanent as business rules Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, “There’s nothing […]
Budget for feature discovery and adoption
Budget for feature discovery and adoption When developing a budget for implementation of a new […]
Customize staff pages for better user adoption
Customize staff pages for better user adoption The single most important element to data management […]
