It's Never Just An IT Issue.

As IT Vendors, Service Providers, or Domain Specialists, we are all naturally drawn to, and comfortable discussing, our domains of expertise. This behaviour is often exacerbated by clients who engage us via narrowly defined requirements, typically aligned to a specific IT solution or capability. 

However, after spending my entire working career in and around IT, I can confidently say "it is never just an IT issue". 

Properly solving the vast majority of business problems requires a thorough review and understanding of the People, Processes, Systems, and Data domains across the client business and how they are contributing to the problem and how they will benefit from the solution. Approaching any opportunity or prospect purely through the lens of technology is guaranteed to compromise the ultimate success of the project and benefit derived by the client.

As we enter the era of AI, this has never been more true. As with other IT trends over the years, I can see a lot of time and money will be wasted on 'AI pilots' aimed at proving the technology against poorly defined business problems or objectives. That's not to say that AI won't be impactful or beneficial (I'm sure it will), however all assessments should start with defining the business problem to be solved, including the People, Processes, Systems, and or Data contributions to the problem and benefits to be derived.