AI Leadership Handbook: A Practical Guide to Turning Technology Hype into Business Outcomes

By Andreas Welsch

The pressure on leaders to incorporate AI into their business has never been higher. Despite their best efforts, 85 percent of AI projects fail. But that is rarely just because of technolo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andreas Welsch
• Release date: Sep 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9781962280518

Andreas Welsch

Andreas Welsch is an internationally recognized AI leader, advisor, and speaker known for helping the world's leading enterprises turn technology hype into business outcomes. He is the Founder & Chief AI Strategist at Intelligence Briefing. Over the last 23 years, including in global leadership roles at SAP, he has advised Fortune 500 leaders on realizing business value from AI, accelerated the integration of AI across enterprise applications, and positioned SAP as the leader for Business AI. Before that, Andreas led global IT process automation projects. Outside of work, he contributes to academia as an Adjunct Professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of AI, Robotics, and Workplace Automation.Work with Andreas to turn hype into outcome for your business.

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PRAISE FOR AI LEADERSHIP HANDBOOK

At no other time in this century has leadership been more critical to navigate, innovate, and implement AI tools with clarity and precision. Andreas demystifies complex concepts and equips leaders with the knowledge to harness AI’s potential responsibly and innovatively. A must-read for those committed to leading at the forefront of AI integration and business transformation.

— Mary Purk, Executive Director, AI at Wharton

Andreas Welsch has written a thoughtful guide to approaching AI. Essential reading for any organization and data & AI leaders who are trying to figure out how to navigate this rapidly evolving transformational technology to deliver meaningful business value to their company and their customers.

— Randy Bean, Author of Fail Fast,

Learn Faster: Lessons in Data Driven Leadership

in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI

Data and AI leaders need to be on eye-level with their C-Levels and advocate to challenge the hype. This book provides relevant insights that help data experts to grow into AI leaders.

— Dr. Michael Zimmer, Chief Data & AI Officer,

Insurance Industry

True AI leadership requires breaking down silos and fostering deep collaboration across the organization. Welsch’s insights are invaluable.

— Bill Schmarzo, Customer AI & Innovation

Strategist, Dell Technologies

‘Model’ and ‘Magic’ are both 5-letter words beginning with ‘M’. The secret to success is understanding the difference. Use this book to turn your models into action and avoid the traps of ‘illusion’.

— T. Scott Clendaniel, Director,

Data & Analytics and AI, Gartner

Andreas’ curiosity and eagerness to learn transformed our first interaction into a lasting friendship. Over the years, I’ve followed and actively engaged with his episodes on What’s the BUZZ? The book delivers his insights to bridge the gap between technology and business as an essential guide to bring organizations along, identify the right opportunities, and set the proper guardrails.

— Harish Natarahjan, Generative AI Industry Lead

for High Tech, Accenture

An excellent resource for AI product managers and those looking to move into AI product roles to take a product-centric approach to AI.

— Supreet Kaur, Data & AI Leader, Morgan Stanley

Andreas Welsch is a rare leader who combines a broad outlook with deep, tested insights. His expertise in AI is matched only by his brilliant, probing questions. Highly recommended.

— Lasse Rindom, AI Lead, Basico P/S

Andreas captures the connection between technology and value in a book for business leaders written by a proven leader. His deep expertise in leadership took two directions: delivering technology and delivering solutions to customers. The combination allows Andreas to speak to all parts of the business.

— Vin Vashishta, Founder & AI Strategy Advisor,

V Squared

In a sea of AI hype, Welsch’s relentless focus on the practical application of AI is refreshing.

— Brian Evergreen, Author & Chief Executive

Officer, The Future Solving Company

Don’t let AI become just another shiny object. This book shows you how to make it work for you.

— Conor Grennan, CEO, AI Mindset

Bringing AI to life in the enterprise is mostly about culture, people and processes and not about the technology. Welsch’s book is a pragmatic AI blueprint any enterprise would be wise to follow.

— Mark Beccue, Independent Market Analyst

For leaders weary of AI buzzwords, this book offers real substance with a proven framework to integrate AI capabilities throughout the enterprise. Struggling with AI terminology? This book clears the confusion and provides practical, actionable insights.

— Dalith Steiger-Gablinger, Co-Founder,

SwissCognitive AI Ventures, Advisory & Research

AI LEADERSHIP HANDBOOK

A Practical Guide to Turning Technology Hype into Business Outcomes

Andreas Welsch

Copyright © 2024 - Andreas Welsch

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Disclaimer: The author makes no guarantees concerning the level of success you may experience by following the advice and strategies contained in this book, and you accept the risk that results will differ for each individual. The purpose of this book is to educate, entertain, and inspire. 

For more information: [e-mail]

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-962280-50-1

ISBN (ebook):  978-1-962280-51-8

Foreword

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch,

you must first invent the universe."

—Carl Sagan

Professor Sagan’s prescient quote aptly captures the challenges all of us, as humans, face when tasked with a practical problem. To create, to build, to bring anything novel into the world, requires first a deep contextual understanding of the landscape, the background, the environment into which our creation will reside. To put it more bluntly, we can’t just wander into an enterprise, sprinkle a little AI magic on something, and hope for the best.

While the universe of Artificial Intelligence was conceived of generations ago, and doesn’t necessarily need inventing, Andreas Welsch has provided readers of this handbook with the next best thing: a practical, approachable guide to the most pressing problems of the day, namely: how to recognize which problems should be solved by Artificial Intelligence (most of which is generative at this juncture), how to augment and upskill the people in your organizations so that their capabilities are amplified by this emergent technology, and how to leverage precious resources to positive effect in a responsible manner for those in and outside the organization.

Generative AI is one of the most exciting and promising fields of Artificial Intelligence, with applications ranging from art and music to medicine and engineering. But what does it mean for business strategists? How can they leverage Generative AI to create value, innovate, and compete in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century? And what are the challenges and opportunities that Generative AI poses for business leaders, organizations, and society at large?

This handbook aims to answer these questions and more, by providing a comprehensive and practical guide to AI for business strategists. It covers the basics of AI, its history, current state, and future trends. It showcases the best practices and examples of how leading companies and organizations are using AI to solve real-world problems, generating new insights, and enhancing customer experiences. And it offers a strategic framework and methods for business strategists to apply AI to their own domains and contexts, from ideation and experimentation to implementation and evaluation.

I have worked in, around and deeply through the Artificial Intelligence space for over a decade. Some of my education is formal, through coursework and development experiences, building software, models and productionizing platforms in and across life sciences and healthcare. Most of that experience, while of interest to me, and of value to the groups with whom we partnered and served, pales in comparison to the outsized expectations and interest received since November 2022 with the introduction of ChatGPT. Colleagues who once had asked: Will your AI be robust enough to solve this problem for me? were now asking Will your AI take my job? and everything else in between.

Sounding a clear call of reason and pragmatism and offering enthusiastic insights tempered with a healthy grounding in ethical, responsible practice was Andreas Welsch. I was fortunate enough to join Andreas as a guest on his podcast to introduce the role of the Chief AI Officer, a position I’ve now been in for over a year, and we’ve stayed close since.

You have in your hands, on your digital reader, on your device, wherever, a direct path to Artificial Intelligence success in the current climate. With comprehensive reviews of key thematic concerns to business leaders, strategists, data scientists, policy makers, funders and other important stakeholders, Andreas has crafted a tome that is easy to read, easy to apply, and easy to reference. I have a literal pile of AI books on my bookcase, but this is one that I can quickly recommend to colleagues looking to level up in the space; well done, my friend.

Like most things, in reading, I’d encourage you to begin with the end in mind; if you have a project in mind, but haven’t identified the how or the guardrails, the sections on responsible use, ethics and other such considerations may be an appropriate place to start. If you’ve already stood up an AI council, and they are looking for a first assignment for their book club, this could be a very worthwhile consideration.

In the era of augmented intelligence which we’ve recently entered, the models, the software, the platforms (and accompanying hardware) are essential to success in the competitive environment in which we operate. But, synergy is not possible if we don’t bring our human colleagues along for the ride; this handbook makes collaboration, cooperation and co-creation possible and practical, even as so much is changing in the environment.

Rishad Tobaccowala, a well regarded business strategist and international executive, has suggested that Generative AI is not overhyped, it is, in fact, underhyped. It is a reality and a force that is reshaping the world as we know it. It is also a source of hope and inspiration, a catalyst for innovation and transformation, and a tool for empowerment and collaboration. It is up to us, as business strategists, as leaders, and as citizens, to make the most of it, to harness its power for good, and to shape its future for the better. This handbook makes that possible in ways aligned to our enterprise expectations and responsibilities. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have.

— Matt Lewis, Chief Artificial and Augmented Intelligence Officer, Inizio Medical

About the Author

Andreas Welsch is an internationally recognized AI leader, advisor, and speaker known for helping the world’s leading enterprises turn technology hype into business outcomes.

He is the Founder and Chief AI Strategist at Intelligence Briefing. Most recently, in global leadership roles at SAP, he has advised Fortune 500 leaders on realizing business value from AI, accelerated the integration of AI across enterprise applications, and positioned SAP as the leader for Business AI. Before that, Andreas led global IT process automation projects. Outside of work, he contributes to academia as an Adjunct Professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of AI, Robotics and Workplace Automation.

Andreas is a frequent keynote speaker and expert panelist and has been named a LinkedIn Top Voice, Thinkers360’s Top 10 Thought Leader in Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI, SwissCognitive’s Top 50 Global AI Ambassador, and engatica’s Top 200 Worldwide Business & Technology Innovator. Follow his live stream & podcast, What’s the BUZZ? and subscribe to his newsletter, The AI MEMO. If you want to work with Andreas to turn hype into outcome for your business, you can find him at www.intelligence-briefing.com.

Contents

Foreword

About the Author

Who Should Read This Book

Introduction

Where Should You Begin If You Want to Set up AI in Your Business?

Part I: Building Leadership Foundations

Chapter One: The Forces that Drive AI

Understanding the History of AI Hype

Describing What’s Special About Generative AI

Realizing AI’s Potential Impact on Labor and Economies

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Chapter Two: Aligning AI with Business Goals

Creating a Convicted Point of View

Selecting the Optimal Technology for the Business Problem

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Chapter Three: Leading in the AI Era

Leading AI Programs With the Chief AI Officer Role

Setting Realistic Goals Around Business Transformation

Using Storytelling to Get Stakeholder Buy-In

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Part II: Enabling Organizational Success

Chapter Four: Designing for People

Distinguishing Between Projects and Products

The Project Manager vs. Product Manager/Owner

Recognizing Inhibitors to AI Project Success and Adoption

Enabling Product Teams on AI

Key Takeaways

Chapter Five: Cultivating an AI-Ready Culture

Raising AI Fluency Across the Organization

Establishing a Center of Excellence

Identifying AI Opportunities Across the Business

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Chapter Six: Harnessing Diverse Perspectives

Designing for Human-AI Collaboration

Formalizing the Process from Idea to Implementation

Improving Communication Between Technical and Business Teams

Key Takeaways

Part III: Implementing AI Responsibly

Chapter Seven: Establishing Principles for Human-Centered AI

Exploring the Importance of AI Ethics

Operationalizing Responsible AI Throughout the Business

Adopting a Risk-Based Approach to Responsible AI

Redefining Responsibility in the Age of Generative AI

Identifying Common Challenges of AI Ethics Programs

Increasing Diversity to Build AI That Serves Us All

Uncovering the Role of Sustainability and Generative AI

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Chapter Eight: Ensuring Relevant Output

Understanding Data as the Foundation for Safe AI

Methods for Generating More Relevant Output

Generating Basic Output With Prompting Techniques

What Are Common Prompt Engineering Techniques?

Creating More Relevant Output With Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Fine-Tuning Large Language Models

Choosing Between Off-the-Shelf vs. Open Source Models

Evaluating Large Language Model Output

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Chapter Nine: Mitigating Potential Risks and Threats

Investigating the Relevance of Data Privacy

Assessing Large Language Model Vulnerabilities and Security Considerations

Preparing for AI-Generated Misinformation

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Chapter Ten: Outlook: Where We Are Headed with AI

Examining Emerging Agent-Based Systems

Anticipating the Potential of Multi-Modality for Business

Raising Awareness for the Growing Risk of Disinformation

Key Takeaways

Further Reading

Conclusion

Glossary

Appendix

Acknowledgements

Here’s What To Do Next

Who Should Read This Book

If you are a current or aspiring technology leader, this book is for you. Especially if you lead a team or are part of one focusing on selecting, evaluating, implementing, or consulting on AI projects, you will find valuable learnings that you can apply in your organization. There is no single business function or team solely working on AI. If you work in a department such as data, data science and artificial intelligence, analytics, product development, or information technology, you will already have