AI is a journey, not a destination

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

There is nothing so permanent as business rules

November 25, 2020

There is nothing so permanent as business rules Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, “There’s nothing […]

Budget for feature discovery and adoption

November 18, 2020

Budget for feature discovery and adoption When developing a budget for implementation of a new […]

Customize staff pages for better user adoption

November 11, 2020

Customize staff pages for better user adoption The single most important element to data management […]

Don’t ask questions for which you already know the answer

November 4, 2020

Don’t ask questions for which you already know the answer I was recently completing an […]

All decisions involve risk

October 28, 2020

All decisions involve risk Whether it’s choosing a new AMS or introducing a new product […]

Try flowcharting your processes

October 21, 2020

Try flowcharting your processes Working with a client recently on their membership join process reminded me […]

“I just want a system I don’t have to fight with.”

October 14, 2020

“I just want a system I don’t have to fight with.” I asked my client: […]

Inertia Contributes to Bad Data

October 7, 2020

Inertia Contributes to Bad Data Without knowing anything about your organization or its data, I’d […]

What are you doing with new contacts?

September 30, 2020

What Are You Doing with New Contacts/ I was very interested to read in a […]

Be Aware of Selection Bias

September 23, 2020

Be Aware of Selection Bias I wrote recently about the mistaken perception of older members […]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top