Scaling AI Value: The Case for a Center of Excellence

On this episode of the Gen AI Breakthrough podcast, Kyle Robichaud and Jay Ruffin discuss the challenges organizations face in realizing value from their AI investments and explore why a lack of proper structure, rather than technology limitations, hinders success. They highlight the importance of establishing a center of excellence (COE) to provide the operating models, governance and prioritization needed to convert AI experimentation into measurable business value.

Welcome to The Hackett Group’s “Gen AI Breakthrough” podcast, where top experts give actionable artificial intelligence (AI) insights, expert advice and strategies to achieve breakthrough business performance. Hello, everyone. In this episode, Kyle Robichaud, principal of Technology Transformation, and Jay Ruffin, associate principal of Technology Transformation, unpack what it takes to build a successful center of excellence (COE) for AI within an organization.

They begin by addressing why many organizations are struggling to realize meaningful returns from their AI investments despite several years of enterprise AI adoption. While companies have rapidly expanded experimentation and access to AI tools, many haven’t established the operating models needed to turn those efforts into measurable value. AI itself is not failing; rather, organizations are failing to build the structure necessary to capture AI’s benefits.

The greatest risk is spending quickly on the wrong things without the structure to manage them. As AI adoption continues to expand and budgets, risks, and regulatory requirements increase, organizations need a strategy for determining which initiatives deserve investment and ensuring that those investments deliver measurable results. A COE can help control spending, eliminate redundant efforts, prioritize high-value opportunities, manage risk and create the organizational capabilities needed to scale AI successfully

Time stamps:

1:16 – Why organizations are struggling to realize AI value.

5:02 – Organizational problems, not technology, are limiting success.

8:58 – How an AI COE creates business value.

12:50 – Defining value before investing in AI.

16:04 – A COE creates structure that enables AI success.

17:20 – Strategy and governance matter more than speed.

18:40 – Closing thoughts.