Before You Invest: The AI Readiness Check

**What You'll Learn in This Episode:** In this episode, Catherine McDonald is joined by Dajana Achelpohl to explore the AI readiness gap. The difference between simply giving people access to AI and actually creating meaningful business value from it. They discuss why organizations can invest in AI tools, licenses, and pilot programs yet still struggle to see measurable results or sustained adoption. Dajana introduces a practical five-question framework organizations can use to assess their AI readiness: **Why? How? Who? What if? Then what?** The conversation begins with understanding why AI is being introduced and connecting it to real business priorities rather than adopting it simply because everyone else is. They also explore why organizations need to understand how work actually gets done before deciding where AI belongs. That means involving the people closest to the work, identifying bottlenecks and repetitive tasks, and integrating AI directly into workflows instead of treating it as another tool sitting alongside the work. The conversation then turns to the people side of AI adoption, including AI literacy, leadership modeling, ongoing coaching, and giving employees the time and skills they need to become comfortable with new tools. Dajana also explains the importance of preparing for AI mistakes through human oversight, strong data practices, clear governance, and practical AI-use policies. Finally, they discuss why AI adoption is **not a one-and-done initiative**. Organizations need to continuously learn, gather feedback, reinforce AI use through leadership, and determine what happens after pilot programs if they want AI adoption to stick. **Key Takeaways:** 1. Having access to AI doesn't automatically create business value 2. Start with the business problem or opportunity—not the AI tool 3. AI must be integrated into how work actually gets done 4. Successful AI adoption requires bringing people along, building AI literacy, and modeling its use through leadership