5 steps to design an effective AI pilot project

Introduction

Many IT leaders are currently under pressure to determine how best to incorporate AI into company processes. An AI pilot project can give insight into potential uses for the technology and how to deploy the new tech. Adding AI to business processes brings up various potential issues, including incorporating the technology into existing infrastructure, carrying out the proper training, and ensuring all required legal processes are followed. The best way to address these concerns is to conduct an AI pilot project before rolling out the new tech to all employees.

5 Steps to Follow for an AI Pilot Project

Implementing AI is vastly different than implementing past technology. In contrast to an application controlling the predefined inputs and outputs, AI might give employees different outputs to employees' questions, depending on their requests. In addition, AI applications that have been trained externally might give employees incorrect answers because the AI has not been trained on company data. A navigate the complexities of AI implementation.

Before beginning an AI pilot project, the project sponsor should collaborate with key stakeholders, such as department leaders and technical staff. The goals should include a projected go-live date, KPIs for the project, and milestones that the project must hit for go-live to proceed. The project sponsor can share the goals with other team members as the new members join the project and can also consider sharing the goals more widely if other employees are curious about the project and the topic of AI in the workplace.

The company's legal team should be involved before the AI pilot project begins. For example, the IT employees configuring and training the application must be aware prior to the start of the project if certain company data is off-limits because of legal reasons. In addition, technical IT staff should perform testing to confirm that users cannot access certain data through the AI application.

As part of the project initiation phase, the executive sponsor should consider the ROI from implementing AI. One project KPI could be particular ROI. The team can calculate potential ROI from the AI tool based on research and input from vendors. The pilot project team might need to adjust ROI as the project progresses so projected ROI is as accurate as possible.

Employees often have concerns about new technology implementations, including wondering whether AI will lead to job cuts and whether the model is able to access confidential information. The project sponsor should speak with members of the C-suite about these potential employee concerns. Sharing how the company intends to use AI and explaining the guardrails that protect confidential information could help alleviate these anxieties.

Who's Who on an AI Pilot Project

An AI pilot project requires a team of employees. A senior leader, such as the CIO or VP of IT, usually serves as the executive sponsor who is responsible for making the final decision on whether to move forward with the technology. The leader makes that decision after consulting with other executives and the pilot project team. A project manager develops and manages the schedule, while the IT director or manager handles most questions and issues that arise during the pilot. Technical IT staff, such as an IT architect and technical support, are involved in the technology configuration and integrations. They also support employees who are part of the pilot project. The team might also include training specialists, who teach employees about how to use the application, and the employees themselves, who are carefully selected from different departments and who test the new technology.