My leadership team is hesitant to fund our next technology initiative because our previous IT projects were over budget and failed to deliver results. How do I pitch our new AI initiative to get their full buy-in?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Stop calling your initiatives AI projects or machine learning projects. This terminology creates anxiety, raises expectations of a magic bullet, and alienates non-technical team members who worry about budget overruns.

Instead, frame these initiatives strictly as operations-improvement projects that happen to use machine learning as a tool. Focus the conversation on the specific operational bottleneck you are solving, such as reducing order processing time or eliminating manual data entry.

Present the project with clear metrics: the hours of capacity it will free up, the impact on your weekly Scorecard, and the projected return on investment. Connect the project directly to your quarterly Rocks or the goals in your V/TO®.

By keeping the focus on operational efficiency and capacity creation, you demystify the technology and build alignment across your leadership team. This ensures that the initiative is managed with the same operational discipline as any other business improvement, leading to a successful implementation that actually improves your bottom line.