Earlier today, CXOTalk released their latest podcast, which included an interview with Paul Daugherty, Chief AI Advisor at TPG and former Group CEO of Technology at Accenture.

The podcast, titled “AI Reality Check: What Works and What’s New”, provides a great overview of how businesses are transforming with Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Generative AI and Agentic AI.

The full episode can be viewed below.

Many of the topics discussed aligned with my own views and experiences. Specifically, outlined below are ten takeaways that I consider critical to increase the probability of success when looking to embed AI as part of a business strategy.

  1. You do not have an AI strategy; you have a business strategy, which AI helps enable. AI must be an embedded part of the business strategy.

  2. The impact of Generative AI and Agentic AI is real, likely to impact every industry across the value chain. AI will penetrate every layer of business structure and demand wholesale process reinvention.

  3. Large Language Models are only the beginning; other branches of AI will also mature quickly, driving additional value.

  4. Focus on transformative use cases, prioritising outcomes over output. AI investments must contribute to “page-one” scorecard metrics for the business.

  5. Implement responsible AI practices, moving beyond principles to industrialised processes. This includes comprehensive risk ranking and mitigation strategies for potential adverse outcomes.

  6. Businesses must establish verifiable AI practices that support rapid evaluation of new concepts/models, establishing trust, credibility and loyalty.

  7. Sales enablement is a common target for AI. However, the real opportunity is when you broaden the scope to include cross-functional processes and data sources.

  8. Cloud and data are prerequisites, specifically data governance/stewardship. However, do not wait for perfection to get started.

  9. Enterprise architects are key, helping to avoid the pitfalls of legacy capabilities such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), building a foundation that can securely scale.

  10. Expertise is critical, covering those who build AI solutions and those who must consume them. This must directly influence talent acquisition and ongoing organisational change management (including targeted awareness and education).

CXOTalk is an excellent podcast; I highly recommend subscribing.

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