Every week, a new AI tool (or 10) waltzes into the spotlight with big promises and a shiny interface. Headlines blast warnings about automation-driven job losses, and businesses being left behind. 

At Via, we believe AI isn't here to replace people; it’s here to require better strategic thinking from them. 

Rather than outsourcing all our decision-making to machines, let’s leverage AI’s strengths and build smarter systems that amplify human value. Leaders, be curious about AI and have a play, understand its strengths and downsides, so you can make an informed choice on where it fits best.

If your team (or you!) are spending more time trialling new tools than making meaningful progress, it might be time to step back, slow down, and think strategically. Before plugging in yet another app or signing up for the latest AI productivity hack, ask yourself: Is this helping us make better decisions, or is it just adding noise?

This article will walk you through a simple, strategic three-step process to assess whether an AI tool actually suits your business, and how to think clearly and intentionally about AI in your Digital Transformation journey. 

Understand What Problem You're Actually Trying to Solve

Before bringing in any tech, get brutally honest about the real problem you’re trying to solve. It’s tempting to reach for an AI tool because it looks like progress, but if you’re unclear on the pain point, you’re just adding noise. Is your team constantly chasing updates because project visibility is poor? Are delivery timelines slipping because workflows are clunky? Or maybe it’s the soul-crushing manual admin that’s eating hours of everyone’s day?

Whatever the workflow is, name it, and involve your team in this investigative exercise. Unless you get crystal clear on the constraints, you won’t know whether AI is the right tool to do the job, or just a flashy band-aid. 

Actionable Step:

Run a diagnostic on your core processes. Use a tool like our Systems Scorecard to pinpoint where the business lacks visibility, scalability or alignment. You can’t fix what you haven’t clearly identified. 

Evaluate Whether AI Is Actually the Right Tool for the Job

Let’s get one thing straight: just because AI can do something, doesn’t mean it should. AI is phenomenal at repetitive tasks, crunching data, summarising, and spotting patterns at scale. When it comes to nuance, empathy, context, or good old-fashioned gut instinct? It’s still the learner, not the master.

One of the biggest mistakes we see businesses make is trying to automate complexity before they understand it. 

Before you plug in AI, ask yourself: Is this task structured, predictable and repeatable? If the answer is yes, great. That’s AI’s happy place. Does the task require discernment, deep collaboration or cultural understanding? That’s where your humans are best left to shine.

Actionable Step:

‍Make a list of the top 3–5 pain points in your workflow. Then analyse each one with a simple question: Data-heavy or human-heavy? If it’s data-heavy (think spreadsheets, forms, checklists), AI might be a good fit. If it’s human-heavy (think decision-making, coaching, conflict resolution), let your people own it, and use systems to support them instead.

Align the Tool With Your Existing Systems and People

Where do most AI tools go to die? The implementation graveyard. 

They sounded brilliant in the demo. You got excited. Maybe even set up a trial account or purchased the subscription… six months later, it’s gathering digital dust because no one’s using it, or worse, no one knows who’s meant to be using it.

New tools rarely fail because they’re bad. They fail because they don’t fit. 

Strategic alignment isn’t optional here. For any tool, especially AI, to stick, it needs to be welcomed like a new team member: clearly introduced, given a role, supported with training, and aligned with the goals of the business. Otherwise, it risks becoming one more tool your team has to work around, not with.

Actionable Step:

Before onboarding any AI tool, grab a whiteboard (or a Miro board, if you're feeling fancy) and map out how it would fit into your current workflow. Who owns it? What process does it improve? What does “success” look like in 90 days? Treat AI like you would a new team member, not a magic fix. If you can’t easily answer those questions, slow down and take the time to unpack: it’s better to delay than deploy blindly. 

AI won't save your business. What will is your ability to think clearly, design deliberately and act strategically. 

No matter how tempting, don’t get distracted by every new shiny AI tool promising efficiency. Instead, craft a strong “system for your systems” and choose the right tools to fit into it, leaving the wrong ones on the cutting room floor.

AI is changing the world of business, but not in the way you might be reading about in the news’ dire predictions. 

Want a shortcut to seeing where your systems stand? Take our Systems Scorecard and get a personalised roadmap to level up your operations and make a few steps further towards greater success!