Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents an opportunity for businesses in nearly every industry to evolve and improve business operations. The numbers speak for themselves: Data from Fortune Business Insights shows that the AI market size was valued at $27 billion in 2019 – a figure projected to reach $267 billion by 2027. It's no wonder enterprises are grappling to get involved in what is likely the most prolific technology of our time. But implementing an AI strategy is challenging, especially for legacy organizations and those who simply don't know where to begin. By definition, pilot experiments are carried out before large-scale quantitative research to avoid using time and money on an inadequately designed project.

A few years ago, I was listening to a vendor pitch with a group of enterprise IT veterans. The sell focused on features of an intrusion detection software product and the value of artificial intelligence. The vendor said AI techniques allowed the product to automatically detect threats. Discussing the pitch afterward, the general sentiment of the group was "I don't buy it. There is no such thing as magic!" Based on our past software experience, the vendor pitch seemed like snake oil.

The sell focused on features of an intrusion detection software product and the value of artificial intelligence . The vendor said AI techniques allowed the product to automatically detect threats. Discussing the pitch afterward, the general sentiment of the group was "I don't buy it. There is no such thing as magic!" Based on our past software experience, the vendor pitch seemed like snake oil.

We recently posed five questions to ask when identifying AI opportunities in your organization. Once you've found answers, what do you do next? For most teams and companies, it makes sense to start with a pilot. Call it a pilot project or pilot initiative or pilot program – the name doesn't matter so much as the purpose, which is to create a tangible, actionable starting point for AI in your organization. That's necessary because most businesses are starting from scratch.