There is endless debate about the real impact of AI on enterprises. Some remain sceptical. I am NOT sceptical about AI.
So, is AI merely hype? Or is AI a genuine catalyst for business growth?
I have seen, across industries, how well-implemented AI initiatives drive measurable value. I have seen it in action, improving efficiency, enabling faster decisions, and unlocking new business models.
AI is not hype. It is real. Businesses will ignore it at their own peril.
Artificial Intelligence is a competitive imperative. Yet most Enterprise AI initiatives still struggle to move from experimentation to execution.
The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025, a new report published by MIT’s NANDA initiative, reveals that while generative AI holds promise for enterprises, only 5% of AI projects deliver value beyond the pilot phase.
Why is it so? And how can a business avoid that fate?
A Zero-to-Launch Execution Guide
Success with AI will not be accidental. It requires a structured methodology, sound data foundations, and disciplined execution. Enterprises must learn not only what AI can do, but how to implement it responsibly and effectively, how to meaure the returns on investment, and how to take care of the people and cultural aspects of AI.
This is the first of a series of articles where I share my practical framework for developing AI that delivers impact.
This series distils years of my experience in building Data, AI, GenAI, and AI Agent solutions. I am translating vision into value, and innovation into measurable business outcomes.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore a proven, simple, six-step framework designed to help businesses successfully bring AI from concept to impact. Given the breadth of the audience, this framework is simple, and not complete. For a thorough and deep version of this, contact the author.
KK’s six step framework consists of:
- Building the strategic foundations
- Creating a use case backlog with the stakeholders
- The prioritization matrix
- Allocating budget (strategically, but tactically astute)
- Taking the Build vs buy decision
- Executing on AI and measuring the impact
As we go through each of these steps, we will consider AI literacy, Governance, Responsible AI, and much more. We will prove a Return on Investment, bringing the stakeholders along.
KK’s 6-step ladder framework for implementing AI in the Enterprise
But before we dive into these steps, we must address the non-negotiable prerequisite for AI success: Executive Sponsorship.
With the right kind of Executive Sponsorship, the roadmap becomes a movement across the organisation.
That will be the topic of the very first article on AI execution. Consider it the starting point. Without executive sponsorship, it will be very very hard to deliver any cross-company AI efforts. Not impossible, just very hard. So read my next article, and start convincing your Executives to learn about AI, to create a culture of AI, and to start their AI journey.
The author can be reached via comments on this article, or at Data-Hat AI if you have any questions.
