The AI Lab

Tap into latent expertise

Client: 'I want to realize the promised benefits of AI.'

Me: 'Got it. Here’s what you need: an AI Lab.'

This is a brief explanation of why, and more importantly, how.

For the AI Solutions Lab article The AI Value Paradox I created a podcast version which references the AI Lab idea. Listen to this for the idea in a larger context:

From Co-Intelligence, by Ethan Mollick:

 For companies, this means figuring out ways to incentivize and empower employees to discover latent sources of expertise and share them.

In my version, the core functions of your AI Lab are:

  1. Research and innovation, by connecting with internal ‘AI champions’ to gather and develop use cases.
  2. Experiment and develop, by providing resources and support, turning successful experiments into scalable solutions.
  3. Develop AI-assisted solutions, by addressing specific workflows and departmental challenges.
  4. (Optionally: Facilitate knowledge-sharing across teams and keep the organization updated on relevant external AI developments and trends.)

The AI Lab also implements metrics to track the outcomes and effectiveness of AI initiatives, from revenue growth, cost and time savings, all the way to product, manufacturing and service innovations.

→ That covers the business side of things. Your CFO will be happy.

To track adoption across your organization, metrics such as daily active users, or usage metrics per week are also useful.

→ That covers measuring change.

One Bite at a Time

While this sounds like a lot, you can – and should – start lean:

  1. Pick one department or team.
  2. Run a pilot phase for 3-6 months.
  3. Evaluate.

Not Sure Where to Start?

In case you’re curious to accelerate this process, book a free consultation with me, to assess your situation in some depth.

We can get a better sense of of what is involved:

  • Designing and implementing the AI Lab
  • Running the pilot phase, with regular check-ins and reporting
  • Conducting thorough evaluations and refining the approach
  • Providing ongoing support and expertise throughout the process

My perspective is: There’s a huge range in regards to how much value and ROI individuals and organizations are going to get out of the technology.

It really depends on understanding the capabilities and limitations, a willingness to experiment, fail and improve, and then, to double down on what’s proving to provide leverage.