The Case for Learning Before Optimizing

Line-of-business leaders are in a tough spot. Their managers are demanding fast AI adoption, presumably in service of efficiencies. But it’s too soon. Best practices haven’t emerged yet. They might not even be feasible yet: the technology is changing too fast. Still, mindful leaders are encouraging their teams to embrace AI. Experiments proliferate. Overnight, teams find themselves grappling with dozens of “agents” that cover similar ground. There’s more competition than collaboration among team members. There’s little coherence. Most of these efforts don’t solve strategic business or customer problems. At best, they’re compelling — yet ad-hoc — proofs-of-concept. Worse, they’re emerging in a context of generalized anxiety. Team members are trapped in a “damned if they do/damned if they don’t” conundrum: Their jobs are at risk if they don’t adopt AI, but media constantly reminds them AI might replace their jobs. The anxiety is understandable, but also a bit sad. There’s so much…