Practical and proven AI deployment strategies for non-technical business leaders
In Your AI Survival Guide: Scraped Knees, Bruised Elbows, and Lessons Learned from Real-World AI Deployments, business executive and technologist Sol Rashidi delivers an insightful and practical discussion of how to deploy artificial intelligence in your company. Having helped IBM launch Watson in 2011, Sol has first-hand knowledge of the ups, downs, and change management intricacies that can help you with a successful deployment beyond all the AI hype. She walks you through various frameworks for how to establish your AI strategy, pick your use cases, prepare your non-technology teams, and overcome the most common obstacles standing in the way of successfully implementing AI in your business, based on her many years of deploying AI projects in businesses, which few can claim.
Sol demystifies the topic of artificial intelligence in a way that business leaders and business owners - and those who want to be more business minded - can easily understand. The book also offers:
- Real-world use cases from ten different industries, including retail, healthcare, energy, insurance, agriculture, and more; ten different functions, including supply chain, manufacturing, procurement, legal, and more; and personal stories, anecdotes, and insights gained from implementations
- Techniques for facilitating executive-level buy-in for your most ambitious and promising AI strategies
- Jargon-free and accessible language that simplifies a seemingly complicated topic
- And practical advice that’s not based on AI hype
Perfect for executives, managers, directors, founders, entrepreneurs, practitioners and other non-technical business leaders, Your AI Survival Guide is the ideal guide to help you deploy artificial intelligence in your business and increase your chances of success whether your business goal is top-line growth, increased productivity, or efficiency gains without having to add headcount as the go-to answer.
Table of Contents
Foreword xi
Chapter 1 Overcoming the Inertia 1
Inertia 3
Who Is This Book For? 5
Organizational Benefits 6
Business Benefits 7
Business Growth 8
Chapter 2 The Rogue Executive 11
Why the “Rogue Executive”? 12
My Formative Years 14
Sports 16
Leveling Up 16
Coach Doug 17
My Transition to Artificial Intelligence 18
Joining the C-Suite Ranks 21
Where Rubber Meets the Road 23
Chapter 3 Bend the Rules, Don’t Break the Spirit 25
The Framework 26
Ask “Why?” 27
Develop Your AI Strategy 28
Think Big, Start Small, Scale Quickly 30
Choose Your Technology Partner 31
Pace Yourself 32
The Five Pillars 35
Chapter 4 How to Start 37
The Experience You Need 38
Framework for AI Initiatives 41
Phase 1: Conducting a Readiness Assessment 43
Readiness Questionnaire 45
Questionnaire Results 51
Phase 2: Your AI Strategy 55
Demonstration of How It Works 60
Phase 3: Creating and Selecting Use Cases 61
Use-Case Ideation 61
Use-Case Selection 63
How to Score Criticality and Complexity 64
Real-World and Practical Walk-Through 69
Phase 4: Preparing and Designing 72
The Vision 74
The Impacts 76
The Approach 78
The Process 84
The Support 89
Phase 5: Selecting a Solution 91
Tool Selection 92
Interoperability with Your Experts 97
Phase 6: Deploying and Going Live 99
Key Outcomes 101
Chapter 5 Your Project Killers: The Wrong People 105
Change Ain’t Easy 105
Team Virtues 107
The 10 AI Archetypes 110
The Naysayer 111
The Evangelist 111
The Doer 112
The Discerner 112
The Blind 113
The Curmudgeon 113
The Saint 114
The Optimist 114
The Data Scientist 114
The Know-It-All 115
Change Management 115
The Dumpster Fire 118
Chapter 6 Human in the Loop 123
What is “Human in the Loop” 124
Responsible AI 124
The Four (4) Layers of Responsibility 125
The Six (6) Tenets of Responsible AI 128
Transparency 128
Accountability 129
Fairness 130
Privacy 130
Inclusiveness 131
Diversity and Nondiscrimination 132
Human in the Loop 132
My Nightmare 133
Chapter 7 How AI Will Impact Every Industry and Function 137
The Tipping Point for AI 138
How AI Is Impacting Various Businesses 139
Blue Chips 140
Well-Off Private Companies 140
Small Business Operations 141
Start-Ups and Scale-Ups 141
Small Businesses 142
How AI Is Impacting Industries 143
Agriculture 143
Travel and Leisure 145
Manufacturing 145
Retail 146
Media and Entertainment 148
Healthcare 149
Consumer Electronics 150
Fashion and Apparel 151
Education 152
Food and Beverage 153
Environment Health and Safety 154
Conclusion 155
How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Functions 155
Legal 156
Procurement 156
Project Management Office 157
Human Resources 158
Customer Service 159
Sales 161
Training and Development 162
Finance 163
Research and Development 164
Marketing 166
Conclusion 167
Chapter 8 AI Jargon and Development 169
What Is AI? 169
What Is Not AI? 171
The Difference Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence 172
Jargon, Terms, and Definitions 173
Computer Science 173
Data 176
Analytics and Data Science 176
AI Terms 178
How We Got Here 182
Early 20th Century: Conceptual Foundations 183
Mid to Late 20th Century: Expansion, Growth, and Challenges 184
Late 20th Century: Rapid Growth 185
2010s-Present: Modern AI 187
Conclusion 189
Chapter 9 What the Future Holds 191
What Keeps Me Up at Night 194
What’s Next 197
Appendix: Sources 201
Index 205
