There is now so much AI (artificial intelligence) coming our way. Many organisations are afraid that they will miss the boat. It's certainly good to experiment with new technology, but don't be fooled. New technology can only thrive if it is properly embedded in the strategy and culture of the organisation.
It is important to find a balance in the AI hype. Banning makes no sense and is also counter-productive. There is a lot of value in this innovation. But on the other hand, the unthinking use of tools over which we have little control is also dangerous.
Digital maturity: the basis of your digitisation
One way to chart your course in the AI hype is to focus on the digital maturity of the organisation. TIMAF's digital maturity model offers you all kinds of tools to steer the adoption of AI in the right direction.
Determine where you stand in maturity, where improvements are needed and how the application of AI can have real value for the organisation. You can then take actions to prepare the organisation very concretely for the AI that is to come.
Ready for AI?
There are 20 dimensions in the TIMAF digital maturity model. To give you an idea, here are the 10 most relevant dimensions. That's still 50%. ;-)
Strategy - What strategy can be helped with these AI tools? When is the strategy successful and how do we measure it? Please note: the use of AI tools is not a goal or strategy in itself!
Process - Which (end-to-end) processes can we optimize thanks to these AI tools? Who are the actors here and how do we measure whether it actually leads to an improvement?
Collaboration - How can we use AI tools to improve mutual collaboration? Can we also work together better in the field of AI initiatives?
Governance - How do we ensure that the AI tools are well embedded in the organisation? With policies, guidelines and a responsible group that can make decisions.
Innovation - AI is innovation. How do we ensure that we do the right things and learn 'fast forward' from our experiments?
Data-driven - How do we use data to determine whether the AI initiatives deliver real value? How do we use the data to improve the use of the AI tools?
Compliancy - How do we guarantee the security of privacy-sensitive information, how do we ensure that the AI output respects our house style?
Usage - How do we ensure that employees use the tools correctly and that it delivers real value and convenience?
Teams - How do we make sure teams feel safe enough to try out the AI tools and share experiences with each other?
Digital skills - How do we train and guide our employees in the skills to optimally use the AI tools?
AI is more than just using a tool
I deliberately do not yet touch on the more 'technical' aspects of AI tools such as data quality, architecture and interoperability. But for a specific group of professionals in the organisation, these are important issues.
Hopefully it has become clear to you that the adoption of tools in artificial intelligence is more than just randomly introducing some AI tools and letting 'a thousand flowers' bloom.
AI is coming anyway
The new generation of 'generative AI' will soon be available in all well-known Office applications from Microsoft and Google. Employees will therefore use it anyway.
You can probably turn off that AI functionality. But I think it would be wise to let employees experiment with availability. With clear rules, attention to respectful cooperation and the opportunity to learn from each other and to safeguard what has been learned in guidelines.
Create "go by" AI policies
Form an 'AI group' with people - not just from the IT department - who are enthusiastic about these developments. Let them draw up a policy together with the privacy officer, lawyers, communication professionals, architects and other specialists.
Regularly assess the AI experiments on their value. Stop using tools that do not add value and support initiatives that do have value or at least seem to have sufficient potential. Explain clearly why one AI tool is used and the other is not.
Test your digital maturity
TIMAF developed a maturity model to determine the digital maturity of your organisation. It also gives support in determining what needs to be done to get to a higher level and makes it clear what needs to be prioritised.
The handy self-test helps your organisation score quickly on digital maturity. Answer the questions in this self-test and ask for the results afterwards.
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