Goals, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics.

To take the use of AI beyond single or siloed use, and to be able to exploit the full power of AI across the organisation, a strategic plan is necessary.

To build a strategic plan, we first need to build a GOST (Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics) Plan, starting with the goals that we want to achieve.

Goals.

The first step in building a plan for using AI involves setting out clear goals that align to the broader organisational objectives. There are many different reasons why an organisation may wish to start using AI, for example:

·      Gain competitive advantage

·      Maximise sales opportunities  

·      Increase market share

·      Offer customers better, personalised experiences

·      Reduce costs, risks and errors

·      Increase productivity and operational efficiencies  

·      Make faster business decisions

·      Grow expertise

Offer smarter services.

Objectives.

With a broad set of goals defined, the next step is to prioritise, quantify, and time-bind them into a set of objectives. Some example objectives could be: 

·      Increase sales opportunities by 10% within a year

·      Increase customer experience satisfaction ratings by 10% within a year

·      Reduce costs by 10% within a year.

Strategy.

When clear measurable objectives are set out, the means by which the objective will be met needs to be defined. For example, to achieve the objectives above, the strategy could be:

·      More accurately target offerings to specific market segments

·      Create personalised, localised and friction-free custom experiences

·      Automate repetitive processes - a claims process, for example.

Tactics.

At the tactical phase, it’s about selecting exactly what technology will be used to meet the strategic intention – for example:

·      A chatbot on the company website to deliver a better customer experience

·      An AI analytics package to obtain purchase predictions

·      A specific RPA + AI solution to categorise claims.