Is AI Literacy The Key To Successful Implementation?
Hint: Start with yourself.
Every week I read another article claiming that most AI projects fail. Depending on who’s writing, the number is 70%, 80%, or even higher. The exact percentage doesn’t really matter. What matters is that many organizations are investing significant time and money in AI and walking away disappointed.
The conclusion people sometimes draw is that AI is overhyped. I would propose instead that many organizations are simply starting in the wrong place.
Over the past twenty-five years, I’ve watched organizations adopt transformative technologies: the web, cloud computing, mobile applications, SaaS, and more. Some thrived. Others saw limited results. The difference was rarely the technology itself. It was how they approached it.
Organizations may be trying to implement AI before they’ve truly learned how to use it. AI literacy is the key.
This is one of the biggest reasons so many AI initiatives struggle. The good news is that it’s entirely avoidable.
If you’re responsible for leading an organization today, I don’t envy your position. You're hearing every possible message about AI at the same time:
One consultant tells you AI will fundamentally transform your business.
Another warns that if you don't move now, your competitors will leave you behind.
Then you read that most AI initiatives fail.
Meanwhile, your employees are already using ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, and other tools whether your organization has a strategy or not.
You’re expected to separate hype from reality while managing budgets, protecting sensitive information, and delivering results. It’s a challenging spot.
I’ve spent my career helping courts, county governments, and social services organizations adopt technology in high-stakes environments where reliability, scrutiny, and real human impact matter. Early in my career, I watched social services agencies implement effective, easy-to-use scripts that deflected tens of thousands of telephone calls from front-line workers. These solutions solved real problems and freed staff to focus on higher-value work. That experience motivated me to keep advancing technology toward workflow automation and interactive multilingual texting, tools that have served millions of citizens.
The pattern is consistent: organizations succeed when they solve real business problems. AI is no different. It is simply the latest technology to learn, train people on, and implement thoughtfully.
As a leader, this starts with you. Develop your own personal AI learning and usage strategy. Use it daily. Learn how to prompt it effectively. Work with it organically.
I’m not suggesting every organization should immediately launch a large-scale AI initiative. Instead, I recommend leaders first reflect on their own use of AI and how their staff are already using it every day.
Reflect. Learn. Analyze. Implement.
One of my biggest concerns is how quickly organizations feel pressured to “have an AI strategy” from vendors, conferences, boards, and the media. The question everyone seems to ask is, “What is your AI strategy?”
I think that’s the wrong first question.
The better questions are:
“Do the people making our AI decisions actually know how to use AI in their own work?”
“Do I know how to use it in mine?”
If the answer is no, then creating an enterprise AI strategy is a little like attempting a full scorpion handstand before you can even touch your toes in downward dog.
You can attempt it, but you’ll likely make many time-consuming and costly assumptions along the way.
I’m interested in helping organizations implement AI effectively. Sometimes the smartest investment isn’t another software platform, it’s giving people the opportunity to build real AI literacy. AI literacy gives more clarity on what's possible so you can develop a clear strategy and achieve impactful business outcomes.
Here’s a major insight I’ve gained over the past couple of years: Using AI and implementing AI are two completely different but inter-related skills.
Using AI means learning how these tools help you think, write, research, analyze, organize, summarize, brainstorm, code, solve problems, and make better decisions. For me, AI truly “clicked” after several months of daily use. I learned to prompt it organically, re-prompt it, iterate with it, and implement its feedback. That hands-on experience eventually allowed me to build multiple applications using AI agents that solve real problems inside our platform.
Implementing AI, on the other hand, involves building products, automating workflows, integrating systems, establishing governance, and redesigning processes.
These should not happen in reverse.
Imagine asking an organization to build an enterprise spreadsheet strategy before anyone had learned Excel. That may be what many organizations are doing with AI today.
The solution is straightforward: Start with yourself. Use AI every day: summarize reports, review contracts, write emails, research competitors, analyze proposals, and challenge your own thinking. Then encourage your leadership team to do the same. Expand thoughtfully to team members whose work naturally benefits: developers, analysts, project managers, customer service, marketing, HR, legal, and finance.
You might be surprised who benefits most. What matters is building genuine AI literacy across the organization. By the time you discuss enterprise initiatives, your decisions will be grounded in real experience.
I am not advocating replacing people. I want to help make your team dramatically more effective.
When individuals develop strong AI literacy, they begin solving problems differently. Meetings become more productive, reports clearer, research faster, and complex work more approachable. These individual gains compound across the organization: knowledge spreads faster, ideas improve, and innovation accelerates.
AI governance, security, and data protection also become much easier once people understand the technology firsthand. Teams that use AI daily are better equipped to implement reasonable use policies, manage risks, and maintain proper safeguards.
The good news? None of this requires a multimillion-dollar budget to start.
Begin by using a capable AI platform yourself every day for real work. Then identify a small group of curious employees and give them access. Encourage experimentation and celebrate practical wins. Consider bringing in an experienced AI advisor for a few hours per week, not to build your entire future, but to compress months of learning, guide strategy, support tactical decisions, and build team confidence.
After your leadership team and key staff have developed real experience, you are more prepared to tackle larger enterprise AI projects. You’re making informed decisions based on your business, your people, your customers, and your goals.
The organizations that win with AI aren't necessarily the ones that spend the most; Rather, those that learn the most effectively.
Closing challenge:
If your organization announced a major AI initiative tomorrow, how many of the people making those decisions have spent the last 30 days actively using AI as part of their own daily work?
What are you willing to do to improve your AI literacy, and challenge your team to do the same?
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