After Nine Months Helping Organisations Adopt AI, Here's What I've Learned
- Jun 1
- 4 min read
When I founded Talisman AI, I expected the conversations to be about technology.
However, I can honestly say that they rarely are.
Over the past nine months, I've had the privilege of working with organisations of different sizes, across different sectors, all trying to answer broadly the same question:
"What role should AI play in our future?"
The organisations have been different; the people have definitely been different, and of course, the challenges have been different.
Yet the themes that emerge are remarkably consistent.
As I reflect on those conversations, workshops, assessments and projects, a number of observations stand out.
Most Organisations Don't Have an AI Problem
They Have an Adoption Problem
The assumption is often that the biggest barrier to AI is understanding the technology.
In my experience, that is rarely the case.
Most leaders have already heard about AI. Most teams have experimented with it. Many organisations already have AI tools available to them.
So the challenge is not awareness.
The challenge is actually translating curiosity into practical, sustainable adoption.
The gap between knowing about AI and using it effectively remains significant.
The Most Valuable Conversations Rarely Start With AI
The most productive discussions I've had haven't started with questions about models, platforms or prompts.
They've started with questions such as:
"Why does this process take so long?"
"Why are our people spending time on this?"
"Why is this information so difficult to find?"
"Why does this workflow depend on one individual?"
Those are operational questions.
AI may become part of the answer, but the real conversation is usually about effectiveness, efficiency and organisational capability.
The technology is rarely the starting point - that's taken me quite by surprise!
There Is Far More Experimentation Than Leaders Realise
In many organisations, AI adoption is already happening.
However, it's not through formal programmes, strategy, or governance. It's happening through individuals.
People are finding their own tools, creating their own workflows and solving their own problems.
Some of this experimentation is valuable; genuinely so. However, some of it introduces risk.
Almost all of it highlights the same thing:
The appetite to improve the way work gets done is often stronger than leaders realise.
People Matter More Than Technology when it comes to AI adoption
This may be the least surprising observation, but it remains one of the most important.
Organisations often focus heavily on selecting the right tools.
Far less attention is given to helping people develop confidence, judgement and practical capability.
Successful adoption is not determined by software alone.
It is determined by whether people trust the approach, understand the purpose and feel capable of applying it in their own context.
Nowadays, technology can be deployed quickly, but capability takes longer to develop. In my own experience, capability is also what lasts.
The Organisations Making Progress Are Taking a Structured Approach
The organisations seeing the greatest benefit from AI are rarely the ones moving fastest - they are usually the ones moving most deliberately. Almost to a tee, they understand where they are today, and they identify where AI can create genuine value.
Having worked with over 30 companies over the last 9 months (yep - we've been busy!), We also know that the successful ones invest in building capability. They also establish governance and learn, adapt, and expand.
Progress tends to come through a series of considered steps rather than dramatic leaps.
AI Is Becoming an Operational Question
A year ago, many AI discussions were centred around experimentation. In recent months, I have increasingly seen organisations asking different questions.
How do we scale this?
How do we govern it?
How do we integrate it?
How do we ensure consistency?
How do we avoid creating new complexity?
These are not technology questions...they are operational questions.
As AI becomes embedded into organisations, the conversation naturally shifts from tools to operating models.
The Future Belongs to Organisations That Build Capability
Every organisation I speak to wants efficiency, and most want innovation. The majority want a competitive advantage.
The organisations most likely to realise those ambitions are not necessarily those with the biggest budgets or the newest tools.
They are the organisations that build capability around four pivot points:
Capability to understand where AI creates value.
Capability to adopt it responsibly.
Capability to integrate it into how work is done.
Capability to adapt as the technology continues to evolve.
That capability becomes a strategic asset in its own right.
Why We Created AI Wayfinder™
These observations ultimately shaped the evolution of Talisman.
What became clear over time was that organisations did not need more noise.
They needed structure.
They needed a practical pathway that helped them understand where they are, what matters most, and what their next step should be.
That thinking became the foundation of our AI Wayfinder™ approach.
A structured pathway designed to help organisations explore opportunities, enable capability and embed AI with confidence.
Not because every organisation's journey is the same - they aren't at all - but because every organisation benefits from having a clear sense of direction and a defined outcome.
The last nine months have reinforced something I have long believed.
Successful AI adoption is not primarily about technology.
It is about people, capability, judgement and leadership.
Those principles will continue to guide everything we do at Talisman as we expand our AI Wayfinder solutions built on detailed client insight.
Not sure where your organisation sits on its AI journey?
Complete the free AI Wayfinder™ Readiness Assessment and receive a personalised report highlighting your current level of AI maturity, opportunities, risks and recommended next steps.
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