Is Your Business Ready for AI?

As Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng put it, AI is expected to impact nearly every industry in the coming years—similar to how electricity changed the world a century ago.

The global AI market is projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2031, with the United States accounting for nearly $74 billion of that by 2025. Government initiatives are also aligned with this growth. In 2023, the U.S. committed $140 million to support National AI Research Institutes focused on innovation and workforce development.

Organizations in every sector—from small and mid-sized businesses to enterprise-level corporations and manufacturers—leverage AI to gain new efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience.

If you’re considering an AI solution for your business, there are four key pillars you need to assess to make sure you’re ready: strategic alignment, data readiness, team readiness, and technical readiness.

Five Areas That Determine Success

These five readiness pillars determine whether your business is positioned to move forward with AI implementation.

1. Strategic Alignment

The starting point for AI is not the technology but your business objectives. Start by identifying the core problems you want AI to solve. Once you have a clear understanding of the problem to be solved, ask questions like:

• Who is championing AI internally?
• Where will AI deliver the most value?
• Have you clearly defined and confirmed AI use cases for the relevant business units?
• Do you have AI expertise within your business

2. Team Readiness

Three areas determine your team’s AI readiness: training, in-house expertise, and change management. Questions to help you assess your employees’ readiness include:

• Is your team trained on AI’s technical, ethical, and regulatory aspects?
• Do you provide all employees with AI retraining or upskilling opportunities?
• How effectively is your team interpreting, analyzing, and using data?
• Are you encouraging staff to experiment with AI?
• Have you educated all lines of business on how AI will impact their processes and workflows?
• Do you have a team to support and oversee AI usage and improvement?
• Do you have experienced internal AI specialists who can create, implement, and maintain your AI solutions?

A McKinsey report suggests that big players have already started to rewire their structures to leverage generative AI. Some high-level AI positions include AI Architect, AI Engineer, Data Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, AI Researcher, and AI Product Manager. These roles are in high demand, so hiring for them can be challenging.

If you don’t have the necessary in-house talent, you may need to hire or partner with experts who can make your AI projects successful.

Learn More: Accelerating AI Implementation with AIaaS

3. Data Readiness

AI is dependent on data, preferably accurate and organized data. If your data is messy or difficult to access, AI won’t be able to do its job. To determine your data’s readiness for AI, consider the following questions:

• Is your business data stored in a centralized database?
• Are your critical data sources identified and documented?
• Have you established clearly defined data domains?
• Are there established data dictionaries for your applications and data warehouse?
• Is there an existing data catalog connected to your data dictionaries?
• Do you have a data quality improvement lifecycle?
• How easily can users report a data quality issue?
• What is the process for determining where data quality issues are occurring?
• How do you fix identified or reported data quality issues?
• What anomaly detection solution do you use, if any?
• Is data classified in a way that prevents AI model bias?
• Do you have ethical AI frameworks to avoid bias and data privacy risks?

4. Data Governance

You’re making systems that can impact how decisions are made and how outcomes are predicted. That means governance can’t be an afterthought.

You’ll need clear internal policies around how AI models are built, tested, monitored, and audited. For example, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has emphasized that existing laws apply to AI and that companies must ensure their AI systems do not engage in deceptive or unfair practices.

5. Technical Infrastructure

AI requires a robust technical infrastructure to deliver the most value and responsiveness. Questions to ask about your current infrastructure include:

• Do you have the required hardware and data storage to support your AI initiatives?
• Will your chosen software support your AI goals?
• Do you have backup contingencies in place?
• Will your AI solution scale to meet increased demand from business and staffing growth?
• Do you have the bandwidth to support high data demand?
• Will you run AI on in-house servers or leverage cloud computing?

How to Approach Your First AI Initiative

Once your organization has assessed its readiness, the next phase is a focused pilot. It provides a low-risk environment in which to explore fit and build internal confidence in using AI operationally.

Start Where Data and Value Intersect

The best pilot candidates sit at the intersection of data maturity and business value. Identify processes that already rely on well-structured, accessible, and sufficient data. The problem should be clearly defined and tied to measurable business outcomes.

Ideally, a successful pilot should either create a visible impact or open up new possibilities across other teams or functions. Using AI to automate repetitive decision workflows is often a good pilot opportunity that shows results quickly and helps decision-makers understand how AI fits into broader business objectives.

Evaluate: Buy or Build?

At this stage, it is key to decide between adopting existing tools and building your own. Off-the-shelf AI products are often quicker to implement and are well-suited for common business challenges where customization isn’t necessary. They can offer immediate efficiency gains and are easier to pilot if speed is a priority.

But if your business processes are complicated, building a custom solution may make more sense. Either way, the focus shouldn’t just be on the performance of the model, but on whether the AI integrates into actual workflows and produces value that business teams recognize.

Track the Right KPIs

Rather than tracking only technical performance, focus on outcomes your business already cares about. Speed is often a strong early indicator of whether AI reduces turnaround time or response cycles.

Cost reduction is equally important, particularly if the AI replaces repetitive labor or reduces error-driven waste. Accuracy is essential in decision-support or automation scenarios where outcomes are measurable and consistency matters.

Beyond efficiency and precision, don’t overlook experience. Internal adoption or clearer handoffs between teams can be early signs of organizational fit.

Next Steps

Once your pilot project shows positive results, you can then implement it company-wide. Introduce AI into other business areas, optimizing systems and addressing challenges as they arise.

AI is a long-term investment. Continue refining your AI strategy, align it with your broader business goals, and keep improving based on feedback and lessons learned from your initial AI projects.

Take the Leap into AI

AI solutions can transform your operations, uncover new opportunities, and make your business measurably more efficient. According to a study by IDC, 92% of AI users are leveraging AI for productivity, with 43% seeing the greatest ROI from productivity use cases. Companies using generative AI average $3.7x ROI for every $1 spent on implementation, with the high end being a $10.3 ROI.

AI is here to stay, so the longer you delay in leveraging its advantages, the more your competitors will outpace you.

To accelerate your AI adoption, consider engaging an AI implementation partner like Taazaa. We have a deep bench of AI expertise to guide you through the process—from the AI readiness assessment to piloting and scaling your custom AI solution. We even support and maintain your AI to ensure it keeps delivering the most value. Contact us for more information!