Why you shouldn't talk about AI: Your AI Strategy Playbook is Here!
Tech Enthusiasts, welcome back to this June 2025 Tech2Tech issue! ⭐
Is your quest for AI transformation starting to feel less like innovation and more like chasing a digital unicorn? 🦄
👉🏻 That's what AI adoption can feel like without the right strategy…One minute, everyone's buzzing about Gen AI changing the game, the next you're left wondering how to make it actually work for your business without draining your resources (or your sanity).
As AI expert Patricia Milheiro underlines in the AI at our Service article, “The most powerful question we can ask is not “What can AI do?” but “What do we want it to do for us?”.
⚡ If you've been nodding along, this month's Tech2Tech is your flight plan! Here's what you can expect for today’s issue:
6 main lessons of the Devoteam AI Strategy Playbook
1 go-to link to download the playbook
19 links to expert articles
🚅 Short on time?
Listen to this newsletter’s podcast episode or check the full content list at the end. 🎧
📕 Chapter 1: Unpacking Europe's Adoption Hurdles
The buzz around AI suggests a widespread technological embrace, yet the ground truth in European enterprises tells a more nuanced story. While individual GenAI tool adoption among employees is high, translating this enthusiasm into structured, impactful business transformation remains a significant challenge.
There seems to be a disconnect between perceived potential and actionable strategy, as many organisations are struggling to:
👉🏻 Overcome the initial phase
👉🏻 Identify concrete applications
👉🏻 Demonstrate measurable returns
This isn't just about software; it's about deeply embedding a new paradigm into existing operational frameworks.
⭐🔎 Highlights from the AI Strategy Playbook
Despite 60% of employees using GenAI, 29% of European firms haven't started AI adoption.
While trust in AI tools is decent (62%), integration with existing systems is often poor.
Many organisations also have limited AI monitoring capabilities (46% basic, 31% limited/none), and 32% lack formal AI compliance processes.
Key challenges include a lack of clear use cases (36%), difficulty measuring ROI, and a business-focused AI skills gap (32%). Foundational data management and application modernisation also pose hurdles.
📗 Chapter 2: Why Good Intentions Pave the Road to Failure
For every headline showing off AI success, there's a multitude of projects quietly failing behind the scenes: over 80% AI projects fail. The problem isn't usually the algorithms themselves, but rather the human and organisational factors surrounding their implementation.
It is up to the IT team to make sure the foundations are on such a level that the ROI can be accomplished from the business use cases. Gert Jan van Halem, Devoteam CTO
It’s a systemic issue, often rooted in flawed leadership, inadequate foundational preparation, or a misplaced focus, leading to technologically sophisticated but ultimately ineffective solutions. Understanding these common pitfalls is the first step towards building a resilient AI strategy.
⭐🔎 Highlights from the AI Strategy Playbook
The five most common problems include:
1️⃣Leadership failures (misaligned goals, unrealistic expectations, lack of commitment, cited by 84% of interviewees)
2️⃣ Poor data quality and availability
3️⃣ Underinvestment in infrastructure
4️⃣ Focusing on technology over solving business problems
5️⃣ Trying to solve problems with immature technology
Success requires clear goals, realistic expectations, a problem-focused approach, and data infrastructure.
📘 Chapter 3: Your 10-Point Playbook for AI Transformation Success
In the rush to integrate AI, many organisations fall into the "ready, fire, aim" trap, deploying tools without a coherent strategic vision. This approach inevitably leads to wasted resources and disillusionment.
A robust AI transformation isn't about chasing the latest shiny object; it requires a principle-driven methodology that aligns technological capabilities with core business objectives, builds internal capacity, and fosters a culture of responsible innovation.
This strategic framework ensures that AI becomes a true accelerator, not just another complex IT expenditure.
⭐🔎 Highlights from the AI Strategy Playbook
Key principles include:
Strategic Alignment, ensuring AI is a business-led initiative focused on clear value creation and a holistic approach.
Preparation and Execution involve investing in people and data quality, starting with small pilots, and choosing the right partners.
Responsible and Adaptive AI prioritises ethical considerations, encourages experimentation, and remembers the human element.
👉🏻 The core idea is a problem-first approach, where AI is a tool to solve business challenges, not the starting point.
📙 Chapter 4: Why Your People are the Ultimate Algorithm
The most critical variable in AI’s successful adoption is arguably human capital. The inherent anxieties surrounding AI can create significant internal resistance that no amount of advanced technology can overcome.
A truly intelligent AI strategy must be inherently human-centric, prioritising upskilling, fostering psychological safety, and building a culture where AI is seen as an enabler and collaborator, not a competitor.
⭐🔎 Highlights from the AI Strategy Playbook
Putting people first is crucial for AI success, as human factors like fear, lack of understanding, skills gaps, and ethical concerns can hinder adoption.
Devoteam's upskilling program has three pillars: foundational AI knowledge, practical skills development for customer projects, and nurturing advanced expertise.
Investing in people is strategic, attracting talent, boosting productivity, and positioning companies as leaders in the AI era. The principle is to empower the workforce to embrace AI confidently, as seen in the Ocado Retail case study where empowering employees with Gemini for Google Workspace led to unexpected benefits and widespread adoption.
📒 Chapter 5: Navigating the Moral Maze & Green Imperatives
As AI proliferates across industries, the imperative for ethical deployment and sustainable practices becomes non-negotiable. The power of generative AI, while transformative, brings inherent risks, from perpetuating biases to significant environmental footprints due to intensive computational demands.
Building trust and ensuring longevity requires governance, transparent accountability mechanisms, and a proactive stance on minimising the ecological impact. This isn't just about compliance; it's about embedding responsible AI into the very DNA of an organisation.
⭐🔎 Highlights from the AI Strategy Playbook
Generative AI presents ethical challenges related to transparency (lack of explainability), potential for bias amplification, and accountability gaps, necessitating fair and explainable AI systems.
Sustainability is a growing concern, as training large language models (LLMs) has a significant environmental impact due to high energy and resource consumption.
Addressing these issues requires a multi-pronged approach to ensure responsible and sustainable AI development, involving:
📝 Government regulation (e.g., EU AI Act)
⛔ Industry self-regulation (ethical guidelines)
📣Public awareness
Effective AI governance, encompassing processes and standards for safety, fairness, and human rights, is crucial, especially given the complexities of AI's learning capabilities and autonomous decision-making.
📔 Chapter 6: Charting Your Course: Partnering for AI Excellence with Devoteam
Embarking on an AI journey can feel like charting unknown waters, fraught with technical complexities and strategic uncertainties. This is where seasoned guidance becomes invaluable.
⭐🔎 Highlights from the AI Strategy Playbook
Our role? We act as a partner, providing the strategic foresight, technical expertise, and deep industry knowledge necessary to navigate the AI landscape, maximise ROI, and build future-proof capabilities.
Our strengths include strong partnerships with industry leaders like AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and ServiceNow, providing access to best-in-class AI solutions.
We offer tailored solutions aligned with unique business needs and focus on maximising ROI through strategic AI investments.
We recruit and train top experts, with 100% of staff currently undergoing GenAI training.
We simplify the AI journey across major cloud platforms with managed services for AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft, ensuring optimisation, security, scalability, and regulatory compliance
Feeling fired up to revolutionise your business with AI? This issue has only scratched the surface of the Devoteam AI Strategy Playbook 2025 Edition!
It’s packed with deeper insights, practical frameworks, and real-world examples to guide you every step of the way.
LIST OF CONTENT
Download the AI Strategy Playbook now
Devoteam Partners and services:
Expert views:
Gemini for Google Workspace Expands Language Support for Side Panel and Gems
Frugal AI and the challenges of responsible digital technology: Current status and best practices
Ethics of Generative AI: Balancing Innovation & Responsibility in Business
Cloud GreenOps: A Subtle Balance of Sustainability and Performance
🔴 Devoteam is an AI-driven tech consulting firm specialising in cloud platforms, cyber, data, and sustainability.
Tech native for almost 30 years, Devoteam guides businesses through sustainable digital transformation to deliver value.
With over 11,000 tech architects in more than 25 countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Devoteam is committed to using technology to serve people.
MD
1moInformação útil
ERM Subsidiaries Expert at Saudi Telecom Company
1moAla'a Al Darawsheh M.MIS, PMI-PMP, PMI-ACP,P3O,MCTS