What Do You Want to Use AI For?

September 12, 2024

Written by Eric Krapf, General Manager and Program Co-Chair, Enterprise Connect Publisher

I’m not the first person to observe that we’ve kind of gotten AI backward: The whole world seemed to embrace Generative AI almost two years ago, and only later thought to wonder: Well…what’s this really good for?

When IT leaders confront that question, it’s generally in the context of an enterprise that has entrenched business processes and legacy installed-base technology. So you don’t just have to figure out what Gen AI can do; you need to understand how prepared your enterprise is to adopt it.

We’ve got a great session scheduled at the upcoming Enterprise Connect AI event in Santa Clara, CA, next month that aims to help address this challenge. Veteran consultant Steve Leaden of Leaden Associates is presenting a session entitled, The AI Assessment: The Critical Path To Charting Your Organization's AI Delivery, in which he’ll offer suggestions for a step-by-step process to determine whether Gen AI is the right fit for a situation, and—just as important—whether your enterprise is positioned to implement AI successfully.

Part of Steve’s process is to interview key stakeholders, and I want to highlight just a few of the questions he suggests including as you conduct your AI assessment:

• What do you want to use AI for? and What do you hope AI will improve on? To the point I started with, the first question to ask about AI is whether it’s really the best way to solve the business problem you’re facing.
• What is your current UC, collab, contact center platform and near-term plans for these technologies? Whatever AI-driven capabilities you deploy won’t exist in a vacuum. It’s important to understand AI’s role in the broader strategy for your collaboration, CX, or other technology estates.
• What are your current remote worker policies? This question struck me because it’s not an issue you hear as much about when it comes to AI. But so many AI applications will be used in the context of hybrid workforces, with the attendant security, compliance, and equity issues, that this becomes an important question.

There’s lots more in Steve’s presentation, but you get the idea. Doing an AI assessment means evaluating the AI, but also taking a close look at your organization.

This session is just one example of the approach we’re taking with Enterprise Connect AI. This program is not meant to advocate for AI, nor to debunk it. AI is a fact of life in enterprise technology; the question is how you as an IT leader will make the right decisions about it. Whether it’s the cybersecurity implications, data readiness, the all-important cost factors, and much more, Enterprise Connect AI is going to be 2 days of intense learning and sharing of ideas. I hope you can join us Oct. 1 – 2 at the Santa Clara, CA, Convention Center!