From Pilot To Profitability: How To Approach Enterprise AI Adoption
CIO, Friday, September 12th, 2025
Stuck in AI pilot purgatory? The real win is focusing on business problems, not hype, and scaling smartly with the right mix of tools.
Many of the leaders I talk to are struggling to move past the pilot stage of AI. They are in pilot purgatory. It's not a lack of ambition that holds them back - it's a lack of clarity. Questions about where to build, where to buy and how to structure teams for scale create a kind of organizational gridlock. I've faced the same challenges in my own experience leading digital transformation efforts, and I've found that what breaks the cycle is not hype or vision, but a practical, focused approach.
AI doesn't need to be complicated to be effective. But it does require structure, prioritization and a willingness to rethink how work gets done.
Here's how I think about it.