In today's world of fast fashion, retailers sell only a fraction of their inventory, and consumers keep their clothes for about half as long as they did 15 years ago. As a result, the clothing industry has become associated with swelling greenhouse gas emissions and wasteful practices. The startup Armoire is addressing these issues with a clothing rental service designed to increase the utilization of clothes and save customers time. The service is based on machine-learning algorithms that use feedback from users to make better predictions about what they'll wear. Customers pay a flat monthly price to get access to a range of high-end styles.

In the race to seize the competitive advantage that artificial intelligence (AI) can offer, many businesses have focused on the decades-old assumption that as long as the technology is good, they'll undoubtedly be successful. While technology is important, prioritizing it at the expense of talent can often become a pitfall for organizations. If you want to build an armoire, you need a craftsman, not just the latest, most expensive hammers. Behind every successful AI project lies a foundation of AI skills -- people who understand the importance of the trifecta of business priorities, sector context and technology. With this in mind, here are three reasons why your AI strategy needs to start with AI talent sooner rather than later.