Daemon’s Roadmap for AI Adoption

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an essential pathway for business growth and staying ahead of the competition. At Daemon, we know that jumping into AI can be tricky, so together with our AI & Machine Learning (ML) team, we've put together a roadmap to help organisations navigate the whole process. 

This roadmap has four movements: Ideation and experimentation, design thinking and business focus, rapid prototyping and proof of value, and scaling and building capability. 

We stress the need to ask the right questions at each movement: What’s the value here, and is there really value here?

Exploring the ‘art of the possible’

Ideation and experimentation: 

The journey of adopting AI kicks off with brainstorming and experimentation. Part of this will come from embracing Design Thinking, experimentation and workshops - but all this has to be purposeful and handled in the right way. A lot of businesses have access to tools for trying things out, but the real value comes from grasping what Damien Duff, our AI & ML principal, calls ‘the art of the possible.’ Companies need to see not just what AI can do now, but what it could potentially achieve down the road.

A Deloitte survey found that 63% of organisations said their most successful AI projects came from small-scale experimentation, which laid a strong groundwork for scaling up. This lines up with Daemon's belief that businesses should start small, iterate quickly, and keep learning.

The good news is, when it comes to AI, your business has plenty of ways to explore. You could dive into AI on your own, playing around with simple machine learning models or cloud-based AI services, which would quickly familiarise you with AI's strengths and weaknesses. When you’re ready to take things further we’d also recommend bringing in AI experts, because technical expertise can make a huge difference. Daemon helps businesses move beyond just basic experiments and focus on creative applications that fit their specific needs. 

Explore our latest AI case studies

Focus on business outcomes

Design thinking:

Throughout the AI adoption journey, we use Design Thinking to line AI up with your business goals. This stance is all about creating value, not just churning out more AI solutions. Focusing on business outcomes is key; a recent survey estimates that 80% of AI projects fail because of unclear objectives or not aligning with strategy. By making sure AI initiatives match up with your goals, you can avoid wasting time and money.

At Daemon, as part of our Design Thinking movement, we do workshops with clear methodologies, designed to quickly get to answers. During these workshops, cross-functional teams work together to spot AI opportunities. Businesses should ask: How can AI provide measurable value? This approach makes sure that efforts tackle real issues instead of just being driven by tech curiosity.

Bringing in Design Thinking means really understanding what users and businesses need; workshops are an essential part of this movement. Group sessions bring together people who know AI's potential and those who understand business challenges, and you can use this to find the best use cases and prioritise the most impactful projects for your business. 

Fail fast, fail cheap

Rapid prototyping and proof of value: 

Once you’ve set clear objectives, the next move is to jump into rapid prototyping to show just how valuable AI solutions can be. The goal here is to get real results fast without pouring too many resources into it right away. Companies should aim to create minimum viable products (MVPs) to get to the point of generating value quickly. This is important because AI can accelerate prototyping, to begin creating revenue fast. 

 At Daemon, we recently had a lot of fun creating a prototype of AI that brings history to life, and that became our startup client's MVP. If you’re looking for inspiration, listen to our podcast about the steps we took. We also recently developed a prototype with Tachmed, a healthcare startup. You can read more about that here.

For your business, the rapid prototyping movement is all about iteration. Your AI solutions should be created quickly, thoroughly tested, and continuously evaluated according to both task and important business metrics. If the first prototype doesn’t cut it, it’s important to fail fast and make adjustments. This approach can be way more cost effective than sinking too much time into a project that might not fit your business.

Getting early proof of value is key here, letting you check if the AI solution is hitting the mark. The quicker your business can validate the project, the faster you can ramp it up. As you gain confidence, you can put more resources into growing the AI initiative. In many ways, AI is an exponential technology, the further you go, the more value you can build. Let’s move on to the final movement:

Building capability

Scaling and gaining value:

Once AI shows its worth on a small scale, the next move is to roll it out across your business, focusing on improving current systems and using AI for growth and innovation. Scaling AI isn’t just about spreading the tech around; it’s about boosting your company’s ability to use AI to get more growth and revenue.

The first use cases from the prototyping movement sets the stage for future growth. Since these early examples are usually the trickiest, later AI rollouts are often simpler. When you do things right the first time, it is easier to take the solution and broaden it - while you are building a solution you are also building a platform. This ability to scale is a huge perk of AI. In fact, companies that take a smart approach to AI see a 4x boost in ROI compared to those that dive into large-scale implementation without a solid base. 

At Daemon, we believe that building capabilities is just as important as the tech itself. As you ramp up your AI efforts, make sure your teams can handle the growing complexity of systems and models. This can be done by enabling your teams, but also by building and adopting frameworks that simplify interfacing with sophisticated AI tech.  AI adoption is a tough journey, and you must be mindful at each movement to ensure you’re adding value. Whether it’s through ideation and experimentation, focusing on business outcomes, rapid prototyping, or scaling capabilities, keep the question in mind: 

What is the value here, and is there value here?

At Daemon, we help businesses like yours to navigate this journey. We’re experts in AI and ML, allowing you to implement strategies tailored to your needs successfully. We’re here to help you unlock value and stay ahead in a competitive landscape.

Talk to us today