Short answer. Before any AI vendor demo, your leadership team should agree on the work to be improved, what it is worth, the constraint you will not break, and the person who owns the result. Without those answers, you are judging the demo, not the outcome.
The ten questions
1. Which specific job or process will this change?
2. What is that change worth to us in a year, roughly?
3. What will we stop doing or refuse to fund to pay for it?
4. Who on our org chart owns the result?
5. What constraint will we not break: safety, quality, customer data, contracts, or labor rules?
6. What does success look like at 30, 90, and 180 days?
7. What data does it need, and who inside our company controls that data?
8. Who keeps it running after the vendor leaves?
9. How will we know to stop if it is not working?
10. Would we fund this if the vendor were not in the room?
How to use the answers
Send the answers to vendors before the demo and ask them to show only the parts that address them. Demos get shorter and comparisons get honest. If a vendor cannot speak to your number or your constraint, that is the answer.
The common trap
A great demo creates momentum without a decision. The pilot starts, nobody owns it, and the renewal shows up before the result does. Locking the owner first is the cheapest protection.
Why listen to me
Career work has focused on commercial leadership, enterprise sales, and sitting with executives while they funded and staffed technical work. For a decade I co-founded and helped grow an applied AI firm to over 100 employees. Before that I led business development for a 250-person technology consultancy and was top-ranked in sales at two Fortune 1000 companies. Clients have spanned SMEs through the Fortune 500.
Common questions
Should IT or the business run AI vendor selection?
The business owner of the result should lead, with IT setting the technical and security constraints.
Is a free pilot worth taking?
Only if the use, the number, and the owner are already set. Otherwise a free pilot often costs more in time than it saves.
How many vendors should we compare?
Few. Two or three that can speak directly to your written answers are usually enough.
Can someone outside the company help?
Yes. A fractional innovation officer can run the questions with leadership and sit in the demos as the buyer side.
Keep reading
- What Does a Fractional Innovation Officer Do?
- Fractional Sales Officer or VP of Sales?
- How to Scope an AI Initiative Before You Hire or Buy
- Yes. Number. Owner.
Write me with the company name, what you need, and the constraint. I answer in writing first.
Christopher Dole, Founder, Dole Consul LLC. Columbus, Ohio. linkedin.com/in/cdole.