sourcing genai initiatives
originally posted to linkedin
identifying the right genAI projects is simple. just target the obvious, high-roi projects. right?
not so fast. the smart play is to cast a wide net when sourcing genAI initiatives for your org.
why? because early initiatives shouldn’t be evaluated strictly by roi. you want exposure to asymmetric upside too. so the sourcing funnel needs to include some non-obvious, exploratory bets. the moon shots.
think of it like a sales funnel
every sales rep knows that to hit your sales quota, you need a much larger opportunity pipeline.
individual opportunities will vary in value, stage, and likelihood to win. smart sellers consider this when allocating their time and attention. but they don’t just focus on high-likelihood opportunities. they selectively invest in high-value, lower-likelihood ones too.
How to identify a broad pool of GenAI proposals?
the good news is that you don’t have to do it alone. start by interviewing your org’s leaders. the goal is to understand their individual business priorities and surface ideas that their teams have already discussed or worked on.
you aren’t looking for consensus — just to surface hypotheses about where value might exist.
in parallel, set up a GenAI initiative intake process open to the entire org. open intake isn’t about democratizing innovation, but increasing variance in the idea pool. your goal is to make it easy for people to submit their ideas while keeping the bar high enough on supporting detail so that you can effectively prioritize downstream.
the intake form itself should align with your organizational strategy. specifically, it should capture the information you will use to prioritize the request versus other genAI initiatives.
for example, if strategic alignment matters most in your org, ask how the initiative supports specific business objectives. if customer impact is the priority, ask about affected user segments and potential revenue impact. if feasibility is key, focus on data availability and technical dependencies.
pro tip: include open ended questions as part of the intake form. this leads to a richer understanding of each idea and more effective prioritization. i’ve had success using amazon’s “5 customer questions” as inspiration for the type of open ended questions to include:
— who is the customer? — what is the customer problem or opportunity? — what is the most important customer benefit? — how do you know what the customer needs or wants? — what does the customer experience look like?
how does your team source GenAI ideas?
and when is the last time you piloted an idea submitted by someone besides the executives?
david crowe - reducibl.com - gatewaystack.com