AI Explored: Moving from AI Experiments to Company-Wide Process Integration
Episode Release Date: February 4, 2025
Host: Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner
Guest: Lauren Schiavone, Founder of Wonder Consulting
Introduction
In this episode of AI Explored, host Michael Stelzner delves into the critical transition from conducting isolated AI experiments to implementing AI as an integral component of company-wide processes. Aimed at marketers, creators, and business owners, the discussion offers practical strategies for leveraging AI to drive business growth and streamline operations.
Guest Introduction
Lauren Schiavone, the founder of Wonder Consulting, joins Michael Stelzner to share her extensive experience in integrating AI within large organizations. With a 16-year tenure at Procter & Gamble (P&G), Lauren brings a wealth of knowledge in product marketing, e-commerce, and driving enterprise-wide transformation.
"AI isn't just poised to revolutionize marketing and sales. It's going to disrupt everything, right? Every industry, the way we live our lives, and certainly the way we work."
—Lauren Schiavone [02:35]
From Procter & Gamble to AI Leadership
Lauren shares her professional journey at P&G, where she managed prominent brands like Olay, Venus, Swiffer, and Mr. Clean. Her role involved blending R&D with commercial strategies to foster brand and category growth. Her passion for innovation led her to leave P&G to establish Wonder Consulting, aiming to empower non-technical leaders to harness AI effectively.
"With Wonder Consulting, my goal is to empower leaders to thrive in the AI-driven future and leverage the power of AI to accelerate business growth."
—Lauren Schiavone [04:53]
The Importance of AI Integration in Businesses
Michael and Lauren discuss why businesses should move beyond AI experiments to full-scale integration. Lauren emphasizes that AI serves not just as a productivity tool but as a growth accelerator, enabling companies to streamline tasks and focus on strategic initiatives.
"If you reframe it like that, if you want to grow and accelerate your business, AI is a great way to do that."
—Lauren Schiavone [08:04]
Establishing an AI Council
A foundational step in AI integration is forming a robust AI Council. Lauren outlines key elements for a successful AI Council:
- Balanced Team Composition: Include both senior leaders and action-oriented contributors.
- Prioritization: Treat AI Council responsibilities as a core part of members' roles, not extracurricular activities.
- Resource Allocation: Ensure adequate tools, budgets, and support.
- Regular Meetings: Maintain a consistent meeting schedule to drive momentum.
"An AI Council is an organization of folks who are essentially responsible for driving the AI transformation across their company."
—Lauren Schiavone [13:24]
Identifying and Prioritizing AI Use Cases
Lauren introduces a five-step approach to AI transformation:
- Assess: Evaluate the current state and establish goals.
- Experiment: Conduct thoughtful pilots.
- Scale: Expand successful AI applications.
- Adopt: Future-proof the organization.
A crucial part of this process involves identifying repeatable and business-critical tasks. Lauren recommends using a prioritization matrix based on task aversion and potential impact.
"You want to focus tasks that occur frequently versus sort of one-off tasks. And then ask, is the work process business critical?"
—Lauren Schiavone [19:26]
Designing Effective AI Pilots
Lauren emphasizes the importance of strategic, outcome-focused AI pilots. Key considerations include:
- Clear Success Criteria: Define measurable outcomes such as time saved or increased closure rates.
- Dedicated Ownership: Assign passionate leaders to drive pilots.
- Executive Sponsorship: Ensure support from senior leadership.
- Rapid Deployment: Aim to launch pilots within 30 days to maintain momentum.
- Continuous Monitoring: Gather feedback and iterate throughout the pilot duration.
"Set clear success criteria for your pilot. Maybe that's time saved or accuracy improvements or increased closure rates."
—Lauren Schiavone [26:32]
Measuring Success and KPIs
Determining the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is crucial for evaluating AI pilots. Lauren suggests starting with productivity and efficiency metrics, then transitioning to outcome-based measures that reflect meaningful business impacts.
"When you hold leaders accountable for outcomes rather than activities, of course, they'll focus on implementing AI in ways that truly matters for your business."
—Lauren Schiavone [44:44]
Scaling AI Integration
Successful pilots pave the way for scaling AI across the organization. Key steps include:
- Define Scaling Requirements: Identify necessary stakeholder alignment, resources, and policy updates.
- Secure Leadership Buy-In: Present ROI and potential business value to gain executive support.
- Leverage Existing Tools: Maximize the use of current AI-enabled tools to streamline scaling efforts.
- Develop an AI Roadmap: Create a strategic plan that aligns AI initiatives with broader business objectives.
- Train and Upskill: Ensure comprehensive documentation and training to facilitate adoption.
"Today, what I see is often organizations are just scratching the surface of what LLMs like ChatGPT can do. So, so much opportunity here."
—Lauren Schiavone [36:33]
Change Management: Culture, Communication, and Accountability
Lauren underscores the importance of change management in AI integration, focusing on:
- Culture: Foster humility, curiosity, collaboration, and a continuous learning mindset.
- Communication: Maintain transparent and consistent dialogue about AI initiatives, addressing fears and celebrating successes.
- Accountability: Integrate AI responsibilities into individual roles and business metrics to ensure collective ownership.
"This is going to be the hardest part called change management, which to me essentially boils down to culture, communication, and accountability."
—Lauren Schiavone [38:58]
Practical Examples of AI Integration
Lauren provides concrete examples of AI applications within businesses:
- Proposal Writing: Utilizing AI to generate high-quality proposals faster, increasing approval rates.
- Brand Content Creation: Implementing custom GPT models to produce consistent brand-aligned content efficiently.
- Contract Reviewing: Leveraging AI to analyze contracts, identify potential issues, and suggest improvements, streamlining legal processes.
"One of the things I like to do is a brand tone of voice analysis and take that analysis, put it into custom GPT and then that custom GPT can help me very quickly get to content that's written in the brand voice."
—Lauren Schiavone [21:33]
Conclusion
The episode concludes with actionable insights for businesses aiming to integrate AI comprehensively. Lauren's structured approach—from establishing an AI Council to managing cultural shifts—provides a roadmap for transforming AI experiments into sustained, company-wide growth drivers.
"AI accountability cannot just live with leaders or AI champions. It needs to be integrated with all employees. Every employee should have AI-related responsibilities in their work plan."
—Lauren Schiavone [44:44]
Connect with Lauren Schiavone:
- LinkedIn: Lauren Morgenstein Schiavone
- Email: Lauren@WonderConsultingLLC.com
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This summary captures the essence of the "Moving from AI Experiments to Company-Wide Process Integration" episode of AI Explored, providing marketers and business leaders with valuable strategies to harness AI for transformative growth.