“Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction” – John F. Kennedy
Generative AI is poised to be a catalyst for growth across the world, with the global investment bank Goldman Sachs estimating that it could increase global GDP by 7% (or nearly $6 Trillion) over the next 10 years1. The path to success with GenAI is not a simple one, though, as its foundational capabilities rapidly evolve and new solutions and leaders emerge. To successfully leverage the benefits of GenAI, leaders will need to establish a clear, compelling, and adaptive ‘True North’ for their organization’s GenAI adoption efforts.
Start by understanding GenAI’s foundational capabilities
Leaders will first need to understand what GenAI is capable of today, and what it will likely be capable of in the very near future. While ChatGPT is an impressive use case, GenAI’s underlying capabilities present a much broader range of strategic potential to create new sources of revenue, drive margin improvements, deliver personalized customer experiences, and supercharge team member productivity. While GenAI is still maturing, companies that leverage its foundational capabilities faster and in more targeted ways than their competition will outperform for years to come.
Develop a clear and compelling shared vision
During periods of disruptive innovation, it’s often unclear exactly what ‘great will look like’. In these cases, the ‘what’ is less important than the ‘so what’. Leaders need to build energy around the case for change, and create a shared vision for the benefits successful GenAI adoption will have for their clients, their shareholders, and ultimately, their team members.
Define an integrated and aligned strategy
While creating a coherent GenAI adoption strategy may sound like common sense, in practice, it’s very difficult to do… To successfully leverage the benefits of GenAI, organizations will need to think, act, and collaborate differently, with extensive collaboration required across the full scope of your business. Don’t aspire to a ‘perfect’ strategy, but focus on assessing the needs and impacts across all of your organizational functions, and architect an integrated strategy that addresses the needs, foundational capabilities, and required sequencing across those groups.
Create an adaptive, outcomes-focused roadmap
One thing is certain when adopting GenAI, your path will look different in the end than what you drew up at the beginning. GenAI is evolving too rapidly and has far too many challenges that are still being worked through for adoption to be a linear journey. In this context, defining clear and measurable strategic Outcomes, that leave flexibility on the specific approach and solutions will be the best approach. It’s also key that you make your roadmap highly visible across the organization, with the expectation that it will evolve over time, but that execution against committed Outcomes is critical to your organization’s long-term prospects.
Address Secure & Responsible AI needs from the start
This is non-negotiable… As you set out on your GenAI journey, it’s critical that you solve for Secure & Responsible AI needs first. That starts with creating a secure GenAI ‘Sandbox’ for authorized team members to conduct experiments and Proof of Concept efforts in. But it ultimately extends to ensuring you’ve addressed GenAI security needs rigorously and comprehensively. Responsible AI practices are equally important, but often take longer to fully embed across the full scope of your business. Make sure you have actionable plans to guarantee Fairness, Accountability, Safety, and Privacy across your GenAI solutions.
What We’re Seeing in Practice
- A Lot of ‘Works in Progress’: In 2024, there’s a lot of variability in how organizations are approaching GenAI adoption. Some are ‘all in’, with Board-sponsored programs and dedicated capacity. Others are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach that places them at risk of being left behind. Most companies are somewhere in the middle, with small-scale PoC’s taking place across the organization, but without a truly coherent vision, strategy, and roadmap for success with GenAI.
- Significant Institutional Focus Required: Those organizations making impressive progress are carving out significant institutional focus for their GenAI efforts. One client we’re working with went as far as canceling all non-GenAI meetings on Friday and hosting weekly company ‘all-hands’ sessions to demo progress and demonstrate clear commitment. In the case of GenAI, Thomas Edison’s quote that ‘Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration’ is relevant, and the organizations that emerge as leaders in GenAI adoption will need to put the work in to earn it.
- Sustained & Aligned Commitment Needed: GenAI adoption is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. While we need to prioritize delivering a range of high-visibility ‘Quick Wins’ to build and sustain momentum, leaders will need to remain explicitly committed to GenAI adoption and aligned throughout its many ‘twists and turns’.
- Tech-Led North Stars Struggle: Though GenAI is a highly technical capability at its core, successful adoption needs to be approached as a Business Architecture challenge and opportunity, not simply a technical one. Leaders will need to systematically think through Business Model, Operating Model, Product, Talent, Capability, Legal, Compliance, and Technology considerations to realize the full benefits of GenAI. In this context, Technology considerations will plan a critical and foundational role, but the organization’s ‘True North’ will need to encompass a far more expansive scope than tech alone.
- When the Stakes are High, Most Companies Struggle with Adaptability: This isn’t new, but it’s also not very well understood. When ‘strategic’ priorities reach the level of Board Reporting and analyst updates, expectations get awfully linear and rigid. That’s important for Business As Usual and well understood strategic change efforts, but can drive significant dissonance between executive expectations and how the work actually needs to be approached. When it comes to GenAI adoption, leaders need to align on a clear strategic intent, with clearly defined target Outcomes, but expect significant variability in terms of how those outcomes are achieved, and what ‘good looks like’ over time.
‘In the land of the blind, the one-eyed ‘person’ is king…’ – Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch philosopher and humanist
No one has all the answers when it comes to GenAI, and you should be cautious of anyone who tells you they do. What’s important is that you develop a clear vision for the role GenAI can play in accelerating your business performance, engage key stakeholders across your organization, and mobilize the organization to securely leverage these new capabilities across your business.
This is the second blog of an integrated ‘Keys to Winning with GenAI’ series. Please click below to explore the remaining ‘deeper dive’ topics.
- Ensuring You Have the Talent & Capabilities to Win with GenAI
- Building and Sustaining Momentum for your GenAI Adoption Efforts
- Streamlining GenAI Innovation and Solution Delivery
- Developing a ‘GPS’ for Your GenAI Journey
Previous Blogs in the series:
To learn more about Accelerated Innovation’s end-to-end GenAI enablement services, or specific topics of interest, schedule a call to get started on your GenAI journey.
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