The quality of your AI strategy is set by the quality of your questions. The right ones cut through vendor hype and internal excitement to reveal whether a move actually creates value. Keep this list to hand for any AI proposal, pilot or purchase.
The ten questions
- What business problem does this solve? - if none, stop
- How will we measure success? - name the metric and the baseline
- What could go wrong, and how bad? - risk before reward
- Where does our data go? - privacy, security, ownership
- Who is accountable for the output? - a named human, always
- What does it really cost? - people and data, not just licences
- Is this the highest-value use of the effort? - or just the most visible
- How do we know it actually works? - evidence, not a demo
- Can we start small and reversible? - pilot before commitment
- What happens if we do nothing? - the cost of standing still
Why questions beat answers
In a fast-moving field, no fixed answer stays right for long - but good questions always work. They are the durable core of the skills to understand business AI, and they double as the questions to ask before buying AI tools.
Use them as a gate
Make any AI proposal pass these ten before it gets budget. It is the simplest guard against expensive, hype-driven mistakes.
The bottom line
Strategic AI questions - about value, risk, cost and evidence - are your best defence against wasted spend. Learning to ask and answer them well is the heart of the Strategic Application of AI in Business course at London School of Business UK. Enquire today.