Welcome to Summer — the season of action and growth in our AI adoption journey.

After planting the seeds in Spring with education and tools, Summer is when we spot the right AI use-cases and ensure that AI starts making an impact.

I break Summer down into 3 steps:

1. Spot Use-Cases Fast

In Summer, we need to move quickly. The first step is to identify where AI can have the most impact in your organization.

• Focus on Time-Draining Tasks: First, look at the areas where your teams are spending the most time. Are there manual, repetitive tasks that could be streamlined? This is what I call "brute force" tasks and they are prime targets for using AI.
• Go Small in number, Go Big on adoption: Limit the number of use-cases for your org to three at most, but go big in adoption goals. Rather than spreading your efforts thin, focus on a small number of use-cases that can have the biggest immediate impact - and be adopted by the highest number of people.

Objective: The goal is to identify use-cases that will yield the highest value and get the organization moving quickly. This ensures you’re driving early wins and building momentum. And we just looooooveeee some momentum.

2. Segment Them

Not all use-cases are the same. It’s important to segment them into internal and external to determine where to start.

• Internal Use-Cases: Start internally by focusing on personal productivity. These could include automating internal workflows, getting small tasks done faster or using AI to assist in decision-making. Internal wins build confidence in AI and can be easier to implement, before moving to customer-facing applications.
• External Use-Cases: Once internal use-cases are established, look outward. External use-cases might focus on improving interactions with consumers, clients, or partners. Since your teams are already familiar with the technology, they will be much more knowledgeable and eager to apply this externally.

Objective: The key is to build confidence with internal use-cases before scaling to more externally focused AI applications. This gives teams hands-on experience and paves the way for broader adoption, in and outside the organization.

3. Own them at Business Level

Finally, for AI to truly take-off, ownership of these use-cases needs to happen at the business level.

Each department should own its own AI initiatives, whether it’s HR, marketing, sales, or finance. Every functional area should be identifying and owning use-cases that matter to them, ensuring that AI is embedded into everyday business processes.

Objective: To get the whole organization moving, each department needs to take strategic ownership of its AI use-cases and drive them forward.

Bringing Summer to Life

In Summer, it’s all about taking action. You’ve laid the groundwork in Spring, and now it’s time to spot the use-cases that will deliver the biggest impact, segment them, and ensure they’re owned at the business level.

This is the season where AI adoption becomes real, with tangible use-cases that drive value across the organization.

Next up? Fall—the season of measurement, where we’ll focus on evaluating the impact of your AI initiatives and refining your strategy. In a nutshell, to determine if it was just a summer love OR a marriage in the making.

I'll see you next week.

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