As the evolution and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to proliferate, it’s clear that we’re at an inflection point – one where company utilization and individual users are growing. With new use cases coming to light every day, companies are aware of the need to accelerate their transformation and, according to our recent AI Readiness Report, those that wish to stay competitive are investing accordingly to keep pace with the market.

Source: Avanade AI Readiness Report, 2023

Dive into the world of AI
While a clear strategy and responsible framework are imperative to achieving AI readiness, to truly understand the power of AI you have to use it. As children, we learn through play – trial and error are a part of the process – and we adjust accordingly to achieve different outcomes. Adopting AI should work much in the same way.

By experimenting, testing prompts, and trying new things you can find different ways to solve problems. Generative AI tools deliver results we could never imagine because they aren’t worried about getting something wrong. This is what we need to emulate as we play with and learn how AI can impact our daily lives.

Putting in the time with AI is what gets you results, and there are two paths for getting started – thinking big and using AI as a tool to achieve your wish list, and focusing on small problems with easy-to-solve use cases. 

Think big to move beyond what you thought was possible
Implementing technology for the sake of technology isn’t a viable use case. Eliciting enhanced experiences and designing solutions specifically for users is what matters.

What are you trying to achieve? Is there a problem that once felt unsolvable or a process you wanted to change but the traditional solution seemed too time-consuming or difficult?

AI is a solution looking for a problem to solve, and for it to be useful, you must have a clear understanding of what experience you want to achieve.

Successful AI adoption is a balancing act
After establishing what experiences you want to create, you must determine whether that solution can deliver meaningful outcomes:

• Will it generate value?
• Does it solve employee and/or customer needs?
• What is the technical viability?

Finding the balance between these three things can tell you whether the idea you have is practical. If it isn’t, then no amount of AI intervention is going to lead to results that feel worth the investment.

Additionally, utilizing your existing technologies with AI can open doors to new possibilities. You can simulate scenarios instead of just trying to solve them or create deeply personalized communications for your customers at scale. Workers who aren’t skilled in certain areas but have ideas for new solutions can create or ideate while AI does the work.

AI’s ability to fit in with and scale your existing technology shifts focus to the outcome of the work, instead of the process.

Solve small problems to make big impacts
While thinking about the broader opportunities AI can have for your work and workers is exciting, it would be a mistake to overlook the simple ways you can get started. Granting your workforce access to technology like Microsoft Copilot can have dramatic impacts, leaving more time for creative and critical thinking by aiding in daily tasks such as drafting emails, generating reports and summarizing notes.

At Avanade, we speak from experience. As a Copilot Early Access Program member, our people are already seeing the benefits – and giving us new ideas for how we can use AI to achieve those bigger transformation projects.

Based on preliminary findings from our pilot groups, employees across various functions have reported positive correlations between their use of Copilot over the last six months and their overall work satisfaction, creative outputs and collaboration opportunities.

More than a means to an end

Copilot for M365 isn’t just an execution tool – it can alter the way users approach tasks, giving them the confidence to try new things or collaborate more efficiently because they have AI at their fingertips as an enabler.

Source: Microsoft 365 Impact Report

Take an experiences-first approach
AI isn’t just a solution that you turn on and leave – it’s a transformative tool that requires continual support, change management and adept “prompt engineering.” By creating a culture of play and experimentation, it can accelerate your transformation journey and enable you to excel, but only if you get it into the hands of the users and understand their experiences.

Avanade X, our experiences business group, can help you humanize AI to build a roadmap for solutions that create value, meet customer and employee needs, and transform your business.

Whether you’re looking to dip your toe in and set up Copilot to usher in a new era of organizational efficiency or you’ve already imagined what you can do but need help translating those ideas into actionable AI use cases, we’ll create a proof of concept that works for you.