1. Eureka! - This is where the enterprise discovers the magic of AI and the various things it can do. At this point, most organizations have crossed this stage.
2. Euphoria - This is the stage where the magic of AI becomes the silver bullet. It was at this stage of deployment that Ford fired its engineers last year. In this stage, enterprises believe that AI will optimally replace human talent and start working towards that.
3. Awakening - At this point, AI slop starts to impact operations. India's legal system is currently at this stage. The courts are warning legal firms and lawyers against manufactured citings. Enterprises begin to realise that the silver bullet may be more silver coated than silver composed. Ford is now rehiring engineers, possibly at this stage of evolution. This stage leads to a deep phase of introspection and iteration as mistakes become stepping stones and RL (reinforcement learning) moves from the machine to the enterprise (pun intended).
4. Enlightenment - At this stage, an enterprise has put in place an AI Fair Use policy. It knows where and how to harness the magic of AI, has decent guardrails and governance in place, and has discovered the magic mix of human talent and AI. Some consulting firms now bill the client for human and AI talent separately.
If you are an enterprise somewhere on this journey, here are quick things to get right at each stage.
1. Eureka - Discovery. Find the right tools. Choose based on the provider, bcs models are transient, but providers bring the ethos. Models will be succeeded or retired, possibly faster than now. Understand the strength of each provider. Don't just go by the most shiny toy in the room. Test your own use cases against multiple models from each provider so that you get a sense of 'fit for purpose'.
2. Euphoria - Contrary to popular opinion, euphoria is a necessary stage for enterprise-wide AI adoption. People need to try out and believe in the magic of AI if it has to be truly accepted as a way of life. Allow people to experiment and find their own Gods. At this point, it is wise to have a bottom-up approach and let the field users tell us what is working for them (And, do not fire anyone at this stage)
3. Awakening - This is where the real test begins. Have early warning systems in place so that the warnings appear before operations are actually disrupted. Listen to the naysayers (they are always there) and the Luddites. They always can pinpoint the blind spots that enthusiastic AI adopters cannot see. Monitor. Get Warning. Act on each one.
4. Enlightenment - Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. This is a moving target. Guardrails will need to be tightened with each government regulation or model change. Ensure there is a monitoring team whose job is to ensure we don't go back to Awakening.





