THE AI PLAYBOOK

9 Secrets & 12 Steps to Systematically Achieve AI Excellence

It's time to adopt a playbook for AI

The time to blindly experiment with AI has passed. It's time to scale AI with purpose.

In today's rapidly shifting AI landscape, proofs of concept are becoming commonplace. But responsible AI scaling and proof of transformational value remain elusive.

Too many organizations are stuck in pilot purgatory, experimenting without governance, secure data practices, or clear organizational alignment.

Ninety-two percent of organizations do not have a corporate-wide and up-to-date AI strategy in place.

The foundation of any well-run AI team is its strategic vision, governance, and innovation culture. Without them, AI becomes a liability instead of a competitive advantage.

It's time to turn AI potential into AI transformation.

Info-Tech research shows that 92% of organizations do not have a corporate-wide and up-to-date AI strategy in place.

Source: Info-Tech Future of IT Survey, 2024; n=372

IT leaders must overcome these 9 key challenges to leading AI in order to succeed

Whether you are new in your AI journey or deeply involved in enterprise-wide AI and innovation initiatives, you will inevitably face challenges that hold you back from realizing the full benefits of AI capabilities.

Through our experience and extensive research, Info-Tech has identified 9 key challenges that make AI adoption and management so hard:

In the face of these challenges, 9 secrets underpin AI success

For each of the challenges identified on the previous slide, there is a solution ready to be adopted. These solutions are what we refer to as the 9 secrets to AI success.

For AI leaders looking to succeed, focusing on these 9 core secrets will be critical.

Three more steps make your systematic improvement sustainable

In addition to the 9 secrets, there are 3 steps that make recurring success an achievable and sustainable target.

9 SECRETS

1 Anchor AI leadership in human relationships.

2 Build a mature AI center of excellence.

3 Empower teams to master emerging tech quickly

4 Shift from linear to adaptive governance.

5 Provide quality data for your AI models.

6 Let high-impact use cases drive platform selection.

7 Eliminate toil to unleash bandwidth for innovation.

8 Focus on process reinvention rather than automation.

9 Scale high-value experiences to drive loyalty and growth.

3 STEPS

Every AI leader must also master these common-sense steps:

10 AI Strategy:
Make your organizational strategy your AI strategy.?

11 Budget & Resourcing:
Fund your AI ambitions with productivity savings.

12 Value & Culture:
Ground AI and innovation in your organization's purpose.

Follow our 12-step AI Playbook to systematically achieve better outcomes

Based on our 9 secrets and 3 additional key activities, Info-Tech's proven 12-step path results in sustainable IT excellence.

Our AI Playbook is a structured, calendar-aligned, actionable framework that AI leaders can follow to confront and overcome the key challenges all IT departments face.

At Info-Tech, we firmly believe that the path to IT excellence is systematic. We've synthesized insights from thousands of enterprise AI projects into the AI Playbook - a framework that helps AI leaders step out of reactive mode to meet their mandate as true innovators and organizational partners and catapult their organizations into an exponential future.

Info-Tech's approach

Info-Tech has compiled a thorough and proven library of research products aligned to the 12 steps in the AI Playbook.

Under each of the 12 steps in our AI Playbook framework is a series of research products with associated deliverables that will help you achieve excellence in that area. There are 32 research experiences in total.

The Info-Tech difference:

1. A structured, actionable, 12-step playbook
2. Our highest-value advisory engagements
3. Clear activities to delegate to your team
4. Customizable initiatives with measurable results
5. A proven path to IT excellence

You can't do it all alone

Prioritization and delegation are keys to success.

• It is neither expected nor feasible for anyone to carry out all 12 steps within a year on their own. A core principle of the AI Playbook is that many of the steps should be delegated to team members accountable for relevant processes.
• One of the first activities the AI leader should carry out as part of the Playbook adoption is to identify the right champions for each step, then assign specific tasks to those individuals based on the experiences and deliverables within each step.
• The AI leader will then spend each month of the year focusing on a specific task to check in on progress, with Info-Tech's support.

For example, as an AI leader you may maintain accountability for the highlighted steps and delegate the remaining steps to your direct reports.

Your Info-Tech Counselor will help you create the right plan based on your organization, staff, and priorities.

How do I adopt the AI Playbook?

Adoption of the AI Playbook is a tactical mix of advisory-led and self-directed initiatives, using Info-Tech's most proven research as your journey map.

• After completing an AI Playbook Assessment with your Info-Tech Counselor, you will have prioritized two to three playbook steps to add to your annual Custom Key Initiative Plan (CKIP). Focus on completing these throughout the year with Info-Tech's support.
• The AI leader will still delegate, monitor, and track the progress of the remaining eight to ten Playbook steps to work toward the goal of systematic improvement. These initiatives will be discussed through regular progress reviews with your Info-Tech Counselor.

In this example, steps 1, 4, and 10 are prioritized in the CKIP, while the remaining steps will be monitored through regular progress checks.

Annual process overview

01 AI Playbook Scoping Call
Review the AI Playbook benefits, steps, expectations, and deliverables.

02 AI Playbook Assessment
Assess the current state of your AI services and plan for their delivery.

This will result in a prioritized set of steps to enhance your ability to deliver on your AI mandate, leveraging Info-Tech's advisory support throughout the year.

03 Comprehensive CKIP
Your prioritized playbook initiatives will be added to your CKIP. Your final CKIP will include both custom initiatives outside of the Playbook and your top 2-3 playbook initiatives.

Throughout the year, your Counselor will assist you in completing these initiatives.

04 Progress Reviews
On at least a quarterly basis, you will connect with your Info-Tech Counselor to review progress on the remaining Playbook activities (many of which you may have delegated) and determine if you would like additional assistance with any of them.

05 Annual Review
At the end of each year, you will review and measure your progress across each of the 12 areas through quantifiable success measures.

The benefits of adopting the AI Playbook are multiple

Why settle for ordinary? Your AI team has the potential to be the powerhouse that drives your organization to new heights. With our targeted improvement plan, you won't just keep up - you'll redefine the game. Let's make AI the catalyst for your organization's next big success.

A proven methodology
A proven methodology to lead AI, serving as a consistent career guide and offering a superior alternative to ad hoc advisory engagements.

A structured framework
A calendar with 12 actionable steps aligned to the AI leader's most pressing priorities.

High-value advisory engagements
High-value advisory engagements that deliver tangible results.

Clear activities you can delegate
Clear activities you can delegate to your team with Guided Implementations and actionable best practices.

Customizable and measurable
Customizable initiatives with measurable results that align with your organizational, departmental, and personal goals, with annual proof of improvement.

Measure success annually

There are two key ways to measure and demonstrate the value of the Playbook:

1 OVERALL PROGRAM

Performance Metrics

• These are the key metrics that your success will be measured by this year.
• They may include performance metrics, strategic initiatives you are accountable for, and stakeholder expectations.
• Documenting these metrics will enable you to track your progress through the playbook program, ensuring your priorities and efforts tie back to the realization of your goals as the AI leader in your organization.

2 12 STEPS

Monthly Step Metrics

• These are optional metrics to help inform your performance goals.
• Identify a metric to measure the success of each of the 12 priorities, but keep in mind that you won't need to collect all of them in a single year and should focus on the priority steps first.
• Info-Tech has identified suggested metrics for each step based on data that can be gathered through Info-Tech experiences, but these can be replaced with more relevant or obtainable metrics as needed.
• At the end of the year, when completing the Annual Review, you will assess the extent to which your performance baselines from the previous year have improved.

Leverage quantifiable metrics to help you gauge IT performance and measure success

Our 12 monthly step metrics provide a standard of actionable measures to help verify and demonstrate systematic improvement across the AI Playbook framework.

• Info-Tech has outlined recommended metrics for each AI Playbook step. These metrics will help you understand your current performance and objectively track your improvements in each area using quantifiable data.
• You can gather data for these suggested metrics through Info-Tech experiences. It is only in budget management that Info-Tech recommends leveraging your own budget data as opposed to a metric from an Info-Tech source.
• These are just suggested metrics. Replace them with metrics that are more relevant to your situation or that are more readily available to you as you see fit.

The point isn't that you would need to collect all of these or similar metrics every month or even in a single year.

Rather, throughout your multiyear AI Playbook journey, you will have the opportunity to capture baselines and benchmarks for each area to help inform your performance scores in the AI Playbook Assessment.

See the next slide for Info-Tech's recommended metrics.

Recommended monthly step metrics

What does it mean to adopt the AI Playbook? (1 of 3)

The AI Playbook is an evolution of Info-Tech's existing Custom Key Initiative Plan (CKIP) experience for AI leaders.

Adopting and customizing your AI Playbook is now a part of our Custom Key Initiative Plan (CKIP) program.

• Info-Tech has used its decades of expertise to develop a CKIP experience that captures the verified systematic path to excellence.
• CKIPs will still reflect your custom project needs, as they always have, by maintaining a focus on the improvement experiences you need in any given year.
• But in addition to these custom projects, your CKIP will also articulate your journey across the systematic improvement steps in our AI Playbook.
• A game plan for all 12 steps in the AI Playbook will be documented in your CKIP, customized to your current performance and the importance of each step in the Playbook.

What does it mean to adopt the AI Playbook? (2 of 3)

The AI Playbook program encourages a monthly focus on each step in our framework.

Adopting the AI Playbook means carving out time each month to focus on a specific step and to ensure progress of Playbook deliverables across your department.

To make these improvement steps in the AI Playbook executable and trackable, we encourage you to adopt a calendar-aligned, systematic approach, setting time aside each month to focus on a specific step within our framework.

• Aligning each priority with a month will bring specific focus and rigor in achieving the associated objectives and elevate the level of that specific priority area in the short time frame.
• Focusing on a step a month doesn't mean you will start and finish all its associated deliverables within that month! Rather, it ensures that you have time set aside to review your current state and targets and that you and your team are making progress on each step throughout the year.

An example progress review template. The point isn't to do it all in one month but to make steady progress that you can track.

What does it mean to adopt the AI Playbook? (3 of 3)

Tactically, adopting the AI Playbook is a mix of advisory-led and self-directed initiatives using Info-Tech's most proven research as your journey map.

Adopting the AI Playbook requires you to identify the experiences where you will require hands-on Info-Tech help.

Under the 12 steps in our AI Playbook framework is a series of 32 research products with associated deliverables that will help you achieve excellence in each area. The AI Playbook section of your CKIP will now detail your journey across these 32 experiences.

• While our approach is systematic, your journey will be custom. For some of the 32 experiences, you may require more hands-on help from Info-Tech, so advisory-led experiences will be scheduled to help guide your journey. For others, you may be further along or have the internal supports necessary to execute without hands-on help.
• To help you determine where support is required, Info-Tech has developed the AI Playbook Assessment Workbook, which you can complete with your AI Technical Counselor.

AI Playbook Research Map

For each step in Info-Tech's AI Playbook, we have outlined a set of proven, actionable research products from our rich library.

Our analysts are ready to guide you and your team through the research in this calendar to help you apply best practices and produce the deliverables that will enable you to systematically improve the AI function's performance.

The following slides take you through the 12 steps and highlight the associated research products.

THE AI PLAYBOOK

AI PLAYBOOK ASSESSMENT