I love this infographic recently floating around LinkedIn. Sorry, don't know to whom to give credit, but it does provide an interesting depiction of how senior management thinks AI works and the realities of what's required to make AI work (Figure 1). Intent is an understanding and clarification of the intended need or objective defined at the beginning of the process. Intent is the why we are on this journey. Understanding Intent requires a detailed articulation of what are you trying to accomplish (e.g., objectives, need, purpose), what are the KPIs and metrics against which you will measure progress and success, who are the different stakeholders and constituents who will be involved in the scoping and execution of business objectives, what are the key decisions that these stakeholders need to make in support of the objectives and what are the KPIs and metrics against which they will measure progress and success, what are the Desired Outcomes, what are the potential costs associated with making the wrong decisions (critical for understanding the ramifications of False Positives and False Negatives), what are the ramifications of objective or nee failure, what are the potential unintended consequences…should I keep going (Figure 2)?

Which metrics and KPIs should be chosen? Already the choice which KPIs to monitor has a major impact on the project – the parts that are not reflected in these numbers might as well not exist. Are the KPIs and metrics chosen really the ones benefitting the company most? Or are they just the default set of numbers that have always been monitored? Can the choice of KPIs be changed?