If you want to achieve AI ROI nirvana, you need a business-tech alliance

The trillion-dollar investment in generative AI is a bold move but requires more than just financial commitment. It’s as much of a technological transformation as an organizational one — hinging on a strong partnership between business ‌and tech leaders.

Summarized by Writer

• Strong business-tech partnerships are crucial for successful generative AI implementation.
• Define mission-critical workflows and involve subject-matter experts (SMEs) in AI development.
• Build AI systems around LLMs as microservices for scalable and tailored solutions.
• Cultivate tech depth and passion among business leaders for effective adoption.
• Unified leadership and close collaboration between technologists and business leaders drive enterprise AI success.

Addressing the bear case for generative AI

The bear case for generative AI is a valid concern, and it’s one we can’t ignore.

The primary worry is overinvestment. Yes, to justify the trillion-dollar investment, we’ll need to see AI solve much more complex workflows than we’re generally seeing now. Many AI applications focus on low-impact tasks that don’t drive substantial business value. Plus, the accuracy of AI systems is often lacking. Relying solely on LLMs — without the necessary business-specific knowledge and specialized understanding — isn’t enough to achieve the high accuracy enterprises need.

But here’s the kicker — despite these concerns, some companies are already seeing high ROI with generative AI today. Look at some of the  top customers using Writer, like Uber or Adore Me. Adore Me’s partnership with Writer proves that the sought-after business-tech alliance can become a reality. Business users use Writer AI Studio’s no-code tools to build new apps and adjust prompts, while their engineers use Writer Framework to craft sophisticated UIs and embed these apps into their systems.

How are companies like these succeeding? They’re doing generative AI differently than everyone else.

Revolutionizing the way business and tech leaders collaborate

Achieving AI nirvana demands a top-down, full-scale transformation. Rethinking your existing systems and how you operate starts with your business leaders. They need to be in the driver’s seat.

Define mission-critical workflows

Technologists and business leaders must join forces to define mission-critical workflows for knowledge work. The reality is that the valuable, complex work we all want AI to augment doesn’t come with a neatly packaged data set. It’s the stuff in people’s heads‌ — ‌intuitive, hard-earned insights that aren’t easily quantifiable.

The best companies already understand this and have structured methods to capture and integrate the tacit knowledge of SMEs. They’re enabling SMEs to take time out of their busy schedules to work closely with engineers and vendors.

This isn’t a one-off meeting. It’s an extended period of deep collaboration. SMEs are involved in every step of this cross-functional process‌ — ‌building, testing, and iterating on AI applications and workflows.

Build AI systems around LLMs

Once you get real about your AI goals, the approach is clear: You need to build systems around your LLM to drive real results across the organization. The most AI-successful companies aren’t building RAG, guardrails, or governance from scratch each time. They’re building this tooling as microservices to support use cases at scale.

Think of these LLMs as the Swiss Army knives of your tech stack. By deploying them as microservices, you can scale your AI solutions to fit the wide range of use cases your business and tech leaders have defined. This means you’re not just throwing a one-size-fits-all solution at the problem. You’re collaborating strategically to tailor AI to your mission-critical workflows, ensuring efficient resource use and faster deployment.

Cultivate tech depth and passion among business leaders

Too often, CIOs or CTOs lead enterprise generative AI efforts with enthusiastic support from the CEO and board, but business leaders respond with a ho-hum attitude. This disconnect can be a major roadblock. The most successful companies, however, have business leaders who aren’t just passively involved but are actively driving adoption from the top down. This kind of deep partnership is unlike anything we’ve seen in the enterprise.

When business leaders are deeply engaged, they bring passion and insight that can’t be replicated. They understand the nuances of their business and can provide critical input that technologists alone might miss. You know it when you have it.

If business leaders actively participate in workshops, champion AI initiatives, and bring employees along through upskilling and reskilling programs, you’re on the right path. But if you’re unsure if you have this level of engagement, then you probably don’t.

Driving enterprise AI with unified leadership

In the quest for enterprise AI ROI nirvana, success lies in the unprecedented scale of close collaboration between technologists and business leaders. The key is to create a deep partnership where business leaders are as excited about the potential of AI as the tech team and where they are willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved in the nitty-gritty of AI development and deployment.

To justify the trillion investment, we need to see AI solve more complex workflows than we’re seeing now, but we’re moving in that direction. In the meantime, building a strong internal infrastructure will lay the foundation for this next phase. Don’t want to get left behind? Foster a collaborative environment and tap into generative AI’s full potential by partnering with Writer.