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Brain Circuits

Are you reaping the advantages of GenAI?

Published February 26, 2025 in Brain Circuits • 3 min read

Many companies are trying to do too much with the latest AI tools. AI projects require thoroughly thought-out process engineering. Go through this simple checklist to make sure you’re going about it the right way to capture real value.

#1: Is your house in order?

Even the best GenAI tools are not going to unlock much value for your organization right out of the box if your data systems are not in great shape. To do this:

  • Think about your systems and ways of working.
  • Make sure your internal data is clean.
  • Put governance infrastructures in place.

 

#2: Have you identified simple tasks that GenAI tools can do?

Take it easy, especially at the beginning. To avoid disappointment:

  • Start humbly with modest goals, such as transcription and translation, or summarizing long and complex texts.
  • Be on the lookout for other sensible use cases.

 

#3 Are you tackling business problems from the ground up?

This technology won’t work if it’s pushed from the top down – you cannot implement AI by diktat. To ensure this is not the case:

  • Get the tools into the hands of the people who are working in the field.
  • Provide access to AI tools to a broad swath of your employees to democratize their use.

 

#4: Have you put mitigation mechanisms in place before you go live?

Provide AI training to improve your staff’s understanding of technology and its limitations. Then, make sure you have oversight and risk mitigation in place. Keep the following actions in mind for content creation:

  • Align your organizational values with AI principles by including transparency, fairness, accountability, and safety in your AI use.
  • Make it mandatory that all entities creating content with AI use a watermark to label that output as such.
  • Create a controlled environment within the organization to fine-tune the use of AI and avoid leaking damaging information.

 

Key learning

The companies extracting positive outcomes from GenAI are the ones that have their bases covered and start with a portfolio of simple problems. To capture value over the longer term, be cautious. With good data governance and AI tools in the right hands, you can avoid the crime of wasting GenAI’s potential and capture its full value.

Authors

Amit Joshiv - IMD Professor

Amit M. Joshi

Professor of AI, Analytics and Marketing Strategy at IMD

Amit Joshi is Professor of AI, Analytics, and Marketing Strategy at IMD and Program Director of the AI Strategy and Implementation program, Generative AI for Business Sprint, and the Business Analytics for Leaders course.  He specializes in helping organizations use artificial intelligence and develop their big data, analytics, and AI capabilities. An award-winning professor and researcher, he has extensive experience of AI and analytics-driven transformations in industries such as banking, fintech, retail, automotive, telecoms, and pharma.

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