Artificial Intelligence Strategy Consulting: What the Internal Review Revealed
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO):
Thanks for joining. As you know, today’s agenda is the review of the AI integration pilot—and whether we scale it. Let’s keep this honest and useful. I want to hear both wins and warning signs.
Head of Data Science:
I’ll start. Technically, we got what we needed. The consultants helped structure the models, but more importantly, they worked with us on aligning model logic to our business questions. That made a big difference.
Chief Operations Officer (COO):
I’ll second that. This is the first time an external partner didn’t just drop in tools. They sat with our operations leads. They actually rode along with dispatch to understand how scheduling breaks down in the real world.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO):
From a cost perspective, I was sceptical at first. We’ve been burned before. But this engagement was different. The firm didn’t try to upsell us. They framed their artificial intelligence strategy consulting around three things: feasibility, alignment, and adoption. And I saw all three play out. Vice President, Marketing:
The insight that came out of the churn analysis—spot-on. I mean, those segments were invisible in our legacy reports. That wasn’t just prediction. That was insight we could act on.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO):
Let’s not pretend it was all smooth. There were two weeks where we hit a wall—bad training data, some miscommunication. But they handled it well. No blame-shifting. They owned the clean-up and built a workflow so we wouldn’t repeat it.
Head of Human Resources:
Can I add something? From a culture point of view, this was probably our most well-integrated vendor experience to date. The consultants weren’t arrogant. They knew tech, but they also respected internal expertise. That matters more than people think.
Chief Strategy Office (CSO):
Good to hear. But here’s my question: was this sustainable? Or did we just rent brilliance?
Head of Data Science:
Fair point. They were clear that part of their artificial intelligence strategy consulting deliverable was capability transfer. And they followed through. Our junior analysts are now running supervised retraining loops—something they couldn’t do three months ago.
Chief Operations Office (COO):
Also, I’ll add—there’s a confidence shift on the floor. People are using the tools without being told to. You can’t fake that.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO):
Revenue wins aside, I’m more impressed by the behavioural change. Our weekly ops meetings are more data-literate. The dashboards are getting cited in decisions, not just displayed. Vice President, Marketing:
Same here. My team now starts campaign planning with model outputs, not afterthoughts. That reversal is a signal.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO):
What we got from this wasn’t just smarter analytics. It was a smarter process. And yes, we can maintain it. The scaffolding’s in place.
Chief Strategy Office (CSO):
So—if I summarise—tech worked, people adapted, consultants delivered. Am I overstating?
Head of Human Resources:
Not overstating. But I’d add one thing: the reason it worked is that their artificial intelligence strategy consulting was embedded, not abstract. They weren’t selling transformation—they were building traction.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO):
That distinction matters. Too many firms sell futures. This one worked in the present.
Chief Operations Officer (COO):
I’ve already recommended them to another division. I don’t do that lightly.
Chief Strategy Office (CSO):
Agreed. Let’s formalise the playbook they helped us create. It’s not just about this win—it’s about what comes next.
Chief Strategy Office (CSO):
Alright. Then we treat this as phase one—complete. Let’s reconvene next quarter to review scale-up feasibility.
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO): Good. Then credit where it’s due: that’s what effective artificial intelligence strategy consulting should look like.