AI is the headline everyone wants, but rushing in without the right foundations is how businesses waste money. Readiness comes down to three things: data, process and people.
Data: AI is only as good as the information it can access. If your data is scattered, inconsistent or locked in silos, the first investment should be organising it, not bolting on AI.
Process: automation amplifies whatever process it touches. Automate a broken process and you just break things faster. Map and tidy the workflow first, then automate it.
People: the best AI projects have a clear human owner and buy-in from the team. AI should remove drudgery so people can focus on higher-value work — and that message matters for adoption.