Why your AI roadmap should start with your business—not a demo
Introduction: The AI Gold Rush—And Why You Should Slow Down
We’re in the middle of an AI gold rush. Every software provider, from the biggest Tier 1 ERP vendors to niche SaaS players, is touting artificial intelligence as the game-changer your business can’t afford to ignore. They’re throwing around buzzwords like predictive analytics, generative AI, machine learning, and cognitive automation. The pressure is real—if you’re not adopting AI now, are you already behind?
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: Most organizations are adopting AI tools without a clear strategy. They’re buying features, not outcomes. They’re listening to what vendors are telling them is possible instead of asking themselves what they actually need.
Let’s flip that narrative.
Because no matter how smart the tech is, you know your organization better than any software vendor ever will. Your business needs, challenges, culture, and goals should define your AI strategy—not a feature list.
The Trap: Letting Vendors Lead the Conversation
AI vendors are excellent at painting a vision of the future. The slide decks are sleek. The demos are impressive. And the potential sounds almost magical—faster decision-making, smarter workflows, and seamless automation. But what gets lost in that excitement is a fundamental question:
What problem are we trying to solve?
When you let a software vendor define your AI use cases, you’re outsourcing your strategy. You’re reacting to someone else’s product roadmap instead of creating your own. And that’s a dangerous place to be.
Why? Because software companies are optimizing for sales—not your long-term business transformation. Their priority is to showcase the capabilities that look good in a demo, even if those features have little relevance to your actual operational needs.
Let’s be honest: the demo rarely includes a nuanced understanding of your internal processes, change readiness, or workforce capacity. That’s your job—and it should come before you talk about platforms.
Step One: Get in a Room and Ask the Right Questions
Before evaluating any AI tool, get your leadership team in a room and block out the noise. No vendor presentations. No tech talk. Just an honest conversation about your business.
Here are a few starting questions:
- Where are we trying to go as an organization?
- What are our biggest inefficiencies or blind spots?
- Which business units are struggling to scale or innovate?
- What data do we have access to—and what are we doing with it?
- How does our team feel about technology today? Excited? Overwhelmed? Resistant?
These questions are foundational. They may not be flashy, but they uncover the real barriers and opportunities that AI could address—if applied thoughtfully.
When you approach AI with this kind of internal clarity, you move from “What can this software do?” to “What do we need to do, and how can AI help us get there?”
That’s a transformative mindset shift.
Defining Your AI Strategy: A Business-First Approach
Too many companies mistake tools for strategy. But a true AI strategy is more than a list of technologies you plan to implement. It’s a roadmap that links business goals with technological enablers—grounded in your unique organizational DNA.
Let’s break down the core components of a business-first AI strategy:
1. Vision and Goals
Start with clarity on what success looks like. Are you trying to reduce costs? Improve customer experience? Increase speed to market? Without a defined objective, your AI efforts will drift—or worse, create more chaos.
2. Process Identification
Map out the processes that have the most friction, delay, or inefficiency. This helps prioritize where AI can create tangible value. Don’t just automate for automation’s sake—automate what matters.
3. Data Readiness
AI is only as good as the data feeding it. Audit your data infrastructure. Do you have clean, accessible, well-structured data? Or is it scattered, siloed, and outdated?
Data is your AI engine. Without fuel, you’re not going anywhere.
4. Change Management and Culture
AI adoption isn’t just a tech project—it’s a change initiative. Consider your people. Are they ready for this? Do they understand the value? Will they trust and adopt the outputs?
A strategy that ignores organizational change is destined to fail, no matter how cutting-edge the tools are.
5. Governance and Ethics
AI decisions can have real-world consequences—especially in areas like HR, finance, and customer service. Who is accountable for AI outputs? What guardrails are in place?
Governance is critical. And no, the vendor isn’t going to handle that for you.
AI as a Partner, Not a Tool
Here’s a powerful mental shift: Stop thinking of AI as a tool you use. Start thinking of it as a partner in your strategy.
This doesn’t mean anthropomorphizing AI or falling into sci-fi fantasies. It means designing systems where AI augments decision-making, elevates human capabilities, and plays a proactive role in your business.
For example:
- Instead of using AI just to summarize reports, use it to generate insights your team can act on.
- Instead of automating basic tasks, use AI to support complex decision workflows.
- Instead of deploying AI in isolated departments, embed it in cross-functional strategic initiatives.
When AI is part of the business strategy—not just a reaction to vendor marketing—you build lasting competitive advantage.
Why Following the Vendor’s Roadmap Is Risky
Let’s talk about the risks of being reactive.
1. Feature Overload with No ROI
You adopt a bunch of AI-enabled features—but no one uses them. Why? Because they weren’t tied to real business problems. Now you’re paying for shelfware.
2. Confusion and Low Adoption
Teams don’t know how to integrate AI into their workflows. Training is minimal. The change feels sudden and confusing. Adoption rates plummet.
3. Misalignment with Business Goals
You’re doing cool things with AI, but they have no measurable impact. Leadership is excited about the tech but frustrated by the lack of results.
4. Neglecting Organizational Change Management (OCM)
One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is ignoring change management. AI introduces new roles, responsibilities, and ways of working. If you don’t support that transition, the tech will fail—even if it’s “state of the art.”
5. Security and Compliance Gaps
You implement AI solutions without proper governance, risking data breaches, compliance issues, or reputational damage. Again, not something your vendor is likely to cover in the demo.
The Winning Organizations: What They’re Doing Differently
The organizations that win with AI aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the most advanced tools. They’re the ones who take ownership of their strategy.
Here’s what sets them apart:
- They define success on their own terms. They don’t let vendors dictate value.
- They build cross-functional AI steering committees that align business, IT, and operations.
- They prioritize transparency, trust, and communication around how AI is used.
- They invest in training and change management, not just licenses.
- They continually iterate and evolve their strategy as their organization grows.
They treat AI not as a tech trend to chase, but as a business capability to develop.
From Shiny Objects to Sustainable Strategy
AI is not a magic wand. It’s not going to fix broken processes, outdated systems, or toxic cultures. What it can do is supercharge a well-run organization that knows what it wants.
But only if you treat it like a strategic partner—not a spreadsheet with a chatbot.
If your AI roadmap is just a reflection of your software vendor’s demo, it’s time to take a step back.
Start with your business.
Then build the tech around that—not the other way around.
Conclusion: Own Your Strategy—Don’t Rent It
AI is here to stay. But not every AI capability is worth chasing. And not every vendor knows what’s right for your business.
The companies that come out ahead in this era won’t be the ones that move the fastest—they’ll be the ones that move with clarity, purpose, and alignment.
So before you sign the next software contract, ask yourself:
Is this solving our problem—or just checking a box?
Because the most powerful AI strategy isn’t the one someone sells you.
It’s the one you build—with your people, your goals, and your future in mind.
