5 Crucial AI

Questions Every
Executive Must Ask
Before Building
Custom Software
As enterprises
increasingly embrace
AI,

business leaders have a responsibility

to ensure these technologies are built
strategically. Asking the right questions
of technical teams paves the path for
responsible and impactful AI adoption.

The following summarizes key

considerations executives should
request before launching AI projects.
1.
How will this AI align
with our core business
priorities?
•AI should serve clear business needs
identified by leadership, not be an isolated
technology initiative.
•AI/Data scientists should explain how the
AI maps to strategic goals and priorities
defined by executives.
•What business challenge or opportunity
will it help address? How does it build on
existing capabilities?
•Ensure there is tight strategic
alignment and value focus from
the outset.
2.
What are the specific
business outcomes
we're aiming to
optimize?
•Define the tangible business objectives
and metrics the AI will optimize for.
•Examples: increased sales, higher
customer retention, improved demand
forecasting accuracy, and greater
production efficiency.
•Set measurable key results to track. AI
works best when targeting very specific
organizational outcomes rather than
vague general goals.
3.
How will we monitor and
maintain model performance
over time?

•AI requires the same ongoing governance

as any other business software.
•Plan for monitoring model performance
post-deployment to detect decay and
ensure reliability.
•This includes continuously ingesting new
data to retain predictive power.
•Make sure maintenance protocols and
accountability are spelled out.
4.
How will we ensure
transparency, and responsible
development?
•Being proactive about ethics,
interpretability, reducing biases, and other
risks is crucial for AI.
•AI and Data scientists should detail how
the organization will enact governance
policies around transparency, auditing for
fairness, and access controls.
•Responsible AI development demands
diligence.
5.
How will we integrate AI with
existing processes and
systems?
•Rather than operating in a silo, AI should
integrate seamlessly with human teams
and workflows.
•AI and Data scientists should demonstrate
how the AI will augment end-users and
stakeholders rather than replace them.
•Smooth human-AI collaboration and
integration equals success.
AI holds tremendous potential
but also risks if deployed
without diligence.

By demanding clear answers from

technical partners on strategy,
outcomes, governance, ethics and
integration, leaders can steer AI's
trajectory in their organization
responsibly.
Thoughtful inquiry will reveal if plans
align with core priorities and values.
With pragmatism and partnership
between business and technical
leaders, enterprises can unlock AI's
immense opportunities.
 Mutt Data,
Your Machine Learning,
Big Data, and Generative
AI Partner