Building an AI portfolio that delivers enterprise impact requires a prioritization methodology that is significantly more rigorous than most organizations expect. This article explains what effective AI project prioritization actually requires, how to move from a ranked list to a deliberately constructed portfolio, and what separates organizations that treat prioritization as a discipline from those that treat it as a meeting.
AI is everywhere. Enterprise impact isn’t. The gap between the two is not a technology problem but a structural one. Most organizations manage AI as a collection of one-off projects, missing the synergies, wasting resources, and blocking their own highest-value initiatives. This post makes the case for AI project prioritization and portfolio thinking as the operating discipline that changes that.
Knowing where your organization stands across nine layers of AI capability is the beginning, not the end. Part 2 of our enterprise AI framework series moves from diagnosis to action: how the SoT AI Operating Model drives build-buy-partner decisions, use case prioritization, market research, and AI strategy, and the questions every operational and technology leader should be asking right now.
AI tools are not an AI strategy. Most mid-market companies are investing in AI that makes their existing operations faster or cheaper. While it is real value, it is rarely the kind that changes a competitive position.
This post discusses how the companies that are pulling ahead are thinking about it differently.
AI pilots are succeeding. Enterprise impact is not following. Across industries, organizations are accumulating pilot wins while the structural and infrastructure gaps that prevent those wins from reaching business performance go unaddressed.
This article draws on direct observations from fractional Chief AI Officer engagements to identify the scaling problems most organizations are not talking about enough, and what leadership teams can do to close the gap.
AI infrastructure investments are moving faster than most organizations can manage. Platforms are fragmenting. Vendors are pivoting. Regulatory requirements are tightening. For mid-market companies, a wrong bet is not just expensive. It is a setback there is no easy budget to recover from.
This post introduces a practical framework for future-proofing your AI infrastructure: a continuous lifecycle management strategy that helps CEOs, COOs, and CAIOs protect their investments, maximize flexibility, and manage change deliberately. Includes a self-assessment diagnostic and five action steps you can apply before your next AI investment decision.
AI is everywhere. For most organizations, meaningful business impact is not. Whether you are running a large enterprise or a mid-market company where every AI dollar has to earn its return, the challenge is the same: AI initiatives emerge faster than the structure needed to manage them.
This blog introduces the AI Operating Function, explains why it is missing in most organizations, and outlines what leaders can do to close the gap.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted cities and communities worldwide. As the number of infections and deaths surge, governments are turning to technology and innovative approaches for help. However, current efforts to engage the innovation communities are reactive, piecemeal, and have limited effectiveness.
This blog describes a Smart Cities COVID-19 Collaboration framework. It provides a structured way to identify the collaboration opportunities between cities, public health systems and the technology community.
While smart cities represent a major business opportunity for utility companies, they are better suited to co-lead the building of the “smart region”. Utility companies have the regional focus, infrastructure, resources, operational and execution capabilities to support the largest metropolitan areas to the smaller cities and regions.
This article discusses some entry level smart region opportunities for utility companies, as well as some of the key gaps they must address.
While a smart city is powered by technology and data, it is enabled and sustained by trust. Many people equate trust with privacy and cybersecurity. However, these are only two elements of many that create trust in a smart city. Trust must be embedded into the processes, policies and technology that create the city services. It must be integrated into its creators, users and beneficiaries from the very beginning.
This article introduces a holistic framework for building trust in a smart city for smart city planners and architects to consider.
Smart city innovation labs provide an organized structure for cities, community, experts, and vendors to collaboratively create viable solutions. Successful solutions piloted in smart city innovation labs can then be scaled and deployed into a city’s operations and infrastructure.
Based on our experiences in creating, launching and operationalizing San Mateo County’s Smart Region innovation lab (SMC Labs), we share ten best practices for civic innovation leaders planning their own innovation labs.
Whether you are planning or have already started your smart city journey, there are eight things that cities must get right. While smart cities are often associated with technology, it is but one component within the larger smart city ecosystem that needs to be addressed.
This article discusses the eight things that leaders and planners must get right, in order to build the sustainable and well functioning smart city.
Are you ready for IoT? Despite its transformational potential, most organizations are not ready. In an era of rapid disruption and digital transformation, IT executives and managers must lead the charge. They must bridge the gap between technology, business, engineering and operations. They are evangelists, teachers, facilitators and innovators.
This article lists six things IT managers must do to successfully accelerate IoT adoption within their organizations.
The real innovation of smart parking solutions is not in the technology. While smart parking solutions bring immediate value to drivers, parking enforcement agencies and cities, the real innovations and value will emerge once it is deployed and new beneficiaries emerge.
Smart parking is not all about parking. This article describes who the new beneficiaries are, shares examples of where new value is being created, and lists best practices to uncover real innovations.
In the digital enterprise, the strategic fusion of IT, operations technology [OT], audio-video [AV] with transformational technologies (Cloud, Internet of Things, AI, analytics, edge processing) leads to richer customer experiences, business acceleration, and operational agility. This fusion leads to new innovation and digital transformation of the organization.
This article highlights the new roles and expectations of IT in an age of digital transformation.
Don’t confuse IoT with innovation. The real IoT innovation is not in the technology, but in what it can do and what it allows organizations to become – intelligent, agile and adaptive, in creating new value for its customers.
This article describes five innovation paths with IoT solutions to consider when planning digital transformation projects, along with advice to get started on turning the Internet of Things into the Innovation of Things.
Buyers face a dilemma with buying IoT solutions today. Buy an immature solution now and risk obsolescence in the near future, even if the solution has value for them today, or hold off buying until things become clearer.
In this blog, we will share common causes of obsolescence and a framework for futureproofing your IoT infrastructure. We will list some tactical practices to put in place to maximize the useful life of your IoT solution.
A recent study by Cisco found that three quarters of IoT projects were not successful. The reasons included long completion times, poor data quality, lack of internal expertise, integration and budget overruns.
In this blog, we will share ten best practices, from project planning to implementation, to help managers and project planners overcome common mistakes made with projects implementing emerging technology solutions.
Today’s IoT market is very dynamic, continuously evolving, and fragmented. No single vendor has a connected IoT stack. Partnerships are a critical business capability that IoT vendors must develop in order to be relevant in this type of marketplace.
This post, the second of two parts, describes ten best practices that vendors should use when forming and managing partnerships with other IoT partners.
Today’s IoT market is very dynamic, continuously evolving, and fragmented. No single vendor has a connected IoT stack. Partnerships are a critical business capability that IoT vendors must develop in order to be relevant in this type of marketplace. This post, the first of two parts, describes the basic partnership types, the relationship models and key engagement scope parameters.
You’re sold on the Internet of Things (IoT) and its benefits for your organization. But how do you get in the IoT “game”? Where do you start?
While there is a lot of information on the technology behind IoT, case studies, and visions of what it can do, there is not a lot of practical content on what you need to get started today.
This post discusses five options that managers have for executing pilot IoT projects.
Recently, I met with key executives from an industry trade group to discuss disruptive innovation in Silicon Valley.
One key concept I shared with them is that although many people equate innovation with technology, there are actually five types of innovation and that some or all may occur at the same time.
This post describes the five types of innovation, and provides managers with three takeaways to guide their innovation strategy.
Are you ready? The Internet of Things (IoT) is here and its ability to drive new innovation will be huge.
But how much is real and how much is hype? Today’s IoT are “point” solutions that don’t live up to the hype. They offer limited utility and solve a small set of problems.
This articles discusses what IoT will look like when it lives up to the hype. It provides fives takeaways for managers to do today to begin the transformation from Internet of Things to Innovation of Things.