Many companies are rushing to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) but they keep asking the wrong questions, like, “What AI tool should our CEO or Marketing Chief buy?”
This way of thinking misses what makes AI special. It treats AI like old software, which limits the huge potential AI can offer.
The Old Software Trap
For decades, companies bought technology for specific jobs. The Sales team got one program (CRM), and the Marketing team got another. Technology decisions were kept separate, and bringing in new software was slow and complicated.
This “job-based” approach worked for old technology. But when you apply it to AI, it stops making sense.
Why AI is Different
AI is not just a regular software update—it represents a huge change in how work gets done.
Unlike a tool assigned to a single job, AI is great at connecting a business problem directly to a solution, skipping a lot of complicated steps in the middle.
The Old Way of building software meant:
- Long review times by the IT department.
- Slow, rigid development processes.
- Lots of back-and-forth between the business team (who had the problem) and the tech team (who had to code the solution).
- Heavy coding to build the bridge between the need and the solution.
AI flips this model. Now, the people who know the business problem best can help shape and implement the solution directly.
Stop asking: “What AI tools should IT buy?” Start asking: “What big problem can AI help us solve, and how can IT ensure it’s safe and scalable?”
The “Problem-First” Approach
The most successful leaders are those who focus on problems first. Instead of looking at job titles, look at the challenges:
- Find the Pain Points: Where are your operations slow? What process takes too much time or too many resources?
- Calculate the Benefit: How much money, time, or risk will you save by fixing this problem?
- Use AI’s Strengths: Can AI, which is excellent at reading messy data or finding hidden patterns, specifically address this challenge?
- Let the Experts Lead: Allow the people who truly understand the day-to-day work to directly shape the AI solution, instead of forcing their needs through layers of translation.
This approach tears down the walls between business needs and technology solutions, letting your company fix problems more directly and faster.
The Freedom of AI
AI can free teams from the old, slow way of building software. Teams can focus on fixing the business problem itself, using AI as a tool to bridge the gap.
Example: Customer Feedback
Say a Marketing team needs to analyze thousands of customer comments.
- The Old Way: They would have to write requirements for IT, wait for coders, build data systems, and then train everyone on the new software.
- The AI Way: The Marketing team can use an AI tool immediately to analyze the comments, get instant insights, and then spend their time acting on the feedback, not waiting for software to be built.
Gaining the Advantage
Companies that switch to this problem-first mindset will gain major advantages:
- Faster Movement: Problems are fixed quickly, without long software development cycles.
- Better Use of Tech Talent: Programmers can focus on high-value projects instead of routine software setup.
- Smarter Solutions: The people closest to the problem build the solutions, meaning less gets lost in translation.
- Lower Costs: Money previously spent on long, complex software projects can be used for business innovation.
A New Way to Ask Questions
Executives should change the questions they ask about AI:
| Instead of Asking… | Ask This Better Question… |
|---|---|
| “What AI tools should our CIO evaluate?” | “What major problem is costing us a lot of resources that AI could solve?” |
| “How should our CMO use AI?” | “What customer secrets is our data hiding that AI could help us find?” |
| “What AI training does our team need?” | “What business challenges could our team solve if all the technical barriers were removed?” |
The focus must be on solving real business problems, not just on the technology itself.
Moving Forward: Embracing the Change
The winners in this new age will recognize that AI is not just another app to buy. It’s a way to completely reimagine how business problems are solved.
By focusing on the problem first and using AI to get straight to the solution, companies can unlock new levels of speed and creativity. The real winners won’t be those with the fanciest AI—they’ll be the ones who use AI most effectively to solve real problems and create clear value.
The question isn’t what AI can do for your job. It’s what problems your business needs solved, and how AI can help you get there faster, better, and more efficiently than ever before.
