Part 1 · Know Your AI Readiness
Mindset · Trying AI on New Problems
Handing work to AI helps only on the problems you already point AI at. A colleague drops a messy contract into a chatbot, and the risky clauses are flagged in a minute. That used to be an afternoon's work. You never thought to try it there.
Initiative is a habit, not a skill
This dimension measures whether you reach for AI on your own. Someone who is AI Aware uses AI when a task is handed to them, on work they have done a hundred times. Someone who is AI Ready tries AI on a problem they have never used it for, on their own initiative, at least once a month.
| AI Aware | AI Ready |
|---|---|
| Uses AI when asked | Reaches for AI unprompted |
| Familiar tasks only | Tries new problems |
| Waits to be told | At least once a month |
Two words carry the bar: new and monthly. New, because reaching for AI on familiar work only makes you a little faster; reaching for it on an unfamiliar problem is where you find a capability you did not have before. Monthly, because the habit needs regular practice to survive. People who experiment on a steady cadence keep finding uses the cautious never stumble on, and those small wins compound.
Someone we worked with had used AI only to polish emails. One month she tried something new: turning six months of scattered customer complaints into a ranked list of themes. The result was analysis she would not have attempted at all. Verify what it returns, of course: on unfamiliar ground you cannot judge quality at a glance. But the new problem is where the value sits.
Key Takeaway
The bar on this dimension sits on two words, new and monthly.
Check your understanding
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Four people describe how they experiment with AI. Which one is AI Ready for initiative?
- "I use AI every day, for the same two tasks I have always used it for."
- "About once a month I will point AI at something new I have not tried it on, just to see, nobody tells me to."
- "I tried AI on a new task once, last year, when my manager asked me to."
- "I wait for the company to roll out approved AI use cases, then I follow those."
Show the answer
"About once a month I will point AI at something new I have not tried it on, just to see, nobody tells me to."
You want to build initiative but worry your experiments will mostly fail or waste time. What is the most AI-Ready way to think about it?
- Only experiment when you are confident AI will succeed, to avoid wasting effort.
- Accept that most small experiments will be only mildly useful, a few will flop, and occasionally one changes how you work. The wins only come if you keep trying.
- Run as many experiments as physically possible every single day.
- Leave experimentation to specialists and stick to your proven methods.
Show the answer
Accept that most small experiments will be only mildly useful, a few will flop, and occasionally one changes how you work. The wins only come if you keep trying.
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