5 human-centric lessons from the AI frontlines

Whether talking to clients or anyone else, almost every conversation these days comes back to AI. Sometimes I hear excitement. But also overwhelm; exhaustion; anxiety. It's strange because real impact IS happening, BUT (lots of) real money is being wasted at the same time. 

Walmart, for example, saved $55M using AI for inventory management and cut 30M delivery miles with AI routing. Many more stories are out there. Yet! 95% of generative AI pilots are failing to deliver measurable impact on the P&L despite $30-40B in enterprise investment. 

So, how do we advise our clients to capitalize on the opportunity while at the same time, avoiding the danger of AI? 

Here are 5 human-centric lessons from the AI frontlines.

Start with strategy because it gives you a compounding foundation. 

If you’re not clear on your why, what do you measure? What does success even look like? When your strategy is tied to a high-value opportunity, even if the cost of tokens rises and the return isn’t as high as you expect, you'll still be making real business improvements.

Using AI in a bubble is paying to re-invent the wheel. 

Everyone needs hands-on experience, but finding ways to go from individual productivity to enterprise AI is where the real power (and money) is. It can start with people sharing what they’re already doing with AI. From there, the next logical steps are automating common workflows and introducing AI agents that can retrieve information and inform decisions across teams, and throughout the customer and employee experience.

Lack of planning kills momentum and ROI.

When people pour blood, sweat, and tears into pilots that don't work, it's deeply de-energizing (we’ve probably all been there). You only have so many go-rounds before your team stops believing. Plan for the costs: tokens, time, data challenges, and the unknowns you haven’t found yet. Have I mentioned starting with a strong business case?

Ask “What is now possible?,” not just “What can we make better?”. 

AI isn’t just about automating what we already do. AI lets us think about entirely new approaches. It also allows people to move from being busy with simple tasks to solving complex, human problems.

Your people are the greatest unlock to value.

That’s why change management and engaging your team from day one is essential. Adoption fails when humans don’t adapt - and it takes 66 days to form a habit (maybe longer!). Without ongoing communication, training, and coaching, you won’t get people to change how they work, and you won’t get the full ROI that’s possible.

Want to think through it together?

If you want to talk through what this all means for your company, Carl Luckett, our Director of AI & ServiceNow Growth, has been doing exactly this work for our clients and would be glad to connect with you as well to share his perspective. To get the conversation started, simply book a meeting with Carl!