### AI Implementation: Overcoming Challenges and Building Trust

Cathy Reese emphasizes that organizations must prioritize speed and iteration over perfection to unlock AI's business value.

### Embracing AI: Overcoming Fear and Driving Business Value
* 🚀 Cathy Reese emphasizes that many organizations struggle to make progress due to a desire for perfection, urging them to "**move quickly, see value, and iterate**" instead of waiting for ideal conditions.
* 📊 To assist organizations in assessing their readiness for AI, an AI readiness assessment with **over 500 questions** evaluates various factors including **data, technology stack, and talent management**.
* 🔍 Organizations vary in maturity, with some needing more support in **technology** while others require **talent development** to advance on the maturity curve.
* 😨 Fear of AI often stems from concerns about **job loss and compliance risks**, yet Reese believes AI will **create new jobs** and enable employees to focus on **higher-value tasks** rather than routine work.
* 💡 The goal is to ensure that AI initiatives are linked to **tangible business value**, with prioritized use cases that can **unlock this value effectively**.
* 🔄 Reese advocates for breaking down large business problems into manageable pieces, encouraging organizations to **put solutions into production even if they aren't perfect initially**.
* 🤝 Trust is crucial in the adoption of AI, and **communicating successes and security measures** can help **alleviate fears within the organization**.
* ❤ Reese finds fulfillment in guiding clients on their AI journey, acting as a **trusted advisor** to help them **solve business challenges through technology**.

(upbeat music) Cathy Reese: I see a lot of organizations who aren't making forward progress. They're doing a ton of work. They're doing a lot of proof-of-concepts. But they keep spinning their wheels because they want it to
be absolutely perfect.

Don't wait for it to meet every
single business requirement and meet every single need. Move quickly, see value, and iterate. (upbeat music) Every organization starts
at a different point. Some are less mature. Some are more mature.

We have an AI readiness assessment
that's over 500 questions that looks at data and technology stack, their change management, their skills. Some need a lot more help with talent, some need a lot more
help with the technology. We give them an overall rating
of kind of where they're at

and a roadmap of what they need
to do to move themselves up the maturity curve. All organizations have some sort of fear, whether that be from
a legal, risk, compliance standpoint. There's lots of doomsday
scenarios that people like to kind

of think about and talk about
every way it could go wrong, and a lot of people fear that
AI's gonna take their job. I think what people don't realize is that AI is gonna result in
the creation of net-new jobs,

and it's gonna allow them
to focus on higher value activities within the workflow. They're no longer stuck
doing the busy work that can be automated and done for them, and they can spend their time
doing higher value activities. We don't want people doing
AI for the sake of doing AI,

so we make sure that
there's a link to that. There's a link to business value, and the use cases are
prioritized in a way to be able to unlock that business value. Let's break down a big business
problem into small chunks,

get something into production,
and then iterate on that and add onto it. It doesn't have to be
100% perfect from day one in order to put it into production. I don't think there's
ever going to be a perfect moment to jump in.

People just need to get started. Every little win that you have, how you're keeping your AI
secure, all the protections that you're putting in place,
the more you communicate that throughout the organization, the more comfortable
people will be with it.

The trust is very essential. I love what I do. I love helping clients figure out where they're going on this journey. Sometimes they need a helpful hand and a trusted advisor
to help them get there. I like being part of the process

and I like really helping
them solve business problems with technology. (upbeat music)

Perfection Can Be The Enemy Of Progress | Business Insider

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Business Insider

Obstacles to AI Adoption and the Importance of Iteration

Many organizations struggle with AI implementation due to a pursuit of perfection, hindering progress.

The speaker advocates for rapid iteration, focusing on achieving value quickly rather than aiming for initial flawlessness.

An AI readiness assessment helps organizations understand their strengths and weaknesses in data, technology, change management, and skills.

Addressing Fears and Concerns Surrounding AI

Organizations often express concerns related to legal, risk, and compliance issues.

The speaker counters the fear of job displacement by emphasizing AI's potential to create new roles and free up human workers for higher-value tasks.

The importance of linking AI initiatives to business value and prioritizing use cases to unlock that value is stressed.

The speaker suggests breaking down large problems into smaller, manageable chunks and iteratively developing solutions.

Perfection is not a prerequisite for initial deployment; starting early and iterating is key.

Regular communication about security measures and protections builds trust and acceptance within the organization.

The Role of Trusted Advisors in AI Adoption

The speaker highlights the importance of trusted advisors to guide organizations through their AI journey.