The High Cost of AI Adoption

"150 AI researchers with enough funding behind them can create an OpenAI," said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Why it matters: Many organizations lack even a single AI researcher. While there is a talent gap in this field, you may not necessarily need to hire one.

• Instead, your entire team must possess AI literacy relevant to the organization's mission and their specific roles within that framework.

Behind the scenes: In the last AI company I co-founded, we developed an AI model from scratch, collaborating with researchers who had previously worked at IBM and Zillow.

• We found that the process is similar to trying to improve Google's search results. While it is technically possible to make improvements, the effort does not provide sufficient business value.

• The changes required to make it worthwhile are too extensive to be economically feasible.

• Therefore, it is better to adopt a pre-built solution from one of the major companies that is already investing billions in research and development.

Catch up quick: This leaves executives to focus on strategy and people first.

• Then, they adopt technology that most closely aligns with their goals.

• Thus, the focus is not on building AI but on adopting it as a strategic ally.

Zoom in: Google's parent company, Alphabet, has increased its capital expenditure (capex) budget for the year by $10 billion and now expects to spend $85 billion this year.

• Microsoft is following suit with $80 billion budget for AI spending in 2025.

• This highlights the high cost of AI adoption and underscores the need for strategic planning and staff training before making an investment.

Go deeper: For your copy of "The C-Suite Guide to AI Adoption," reach out to Todd Moses & Co.