Artificial intelligence is transforming businesses across industries, but many leaders hesitate to adopt AI, fearing complexity, cost, or cultural resistance. The good news? You don’t need a massive budget or a full IT overhaul to begin using AI in your workplace.
Starting small with low-risk AI pilots allows your team to experience the benefits of AI while building confidence and momentum toward broader adoption. Here are five small, practical ways to try AI at work this week:
- Use AI to transcribe and summarize meeting notes.
Instead of spending hours manually typing notes, let AI tools transcribe your meetings in real time and summarize the key points. Tools like Otter.ai and Microsoft Teams’ transcription features can generate accurate summaries, action items, and highlights, ensuring your team focuses on discussion rather than documentation. - Draft customer follow-up emails using AI writing tools.
Following up with customers is essential but time-consuming. AI writing assistants like GrammarlyGO or ChatGPT can help draft professional, personalized emails quickly, allowing your team to maintain timely communication without sacrificing quality. - Automate simple data entry tasks.
Manual data entry is not only tedious but also prone to human error. AI tools can extract structured data from invoices, forms, and emails, automatically populating your CRM or project management systems. This frees up your staff for higher-value activities while maintaining data accuracy. - Use AI chatbots to handle basic customer inquiries.
Customers often have common questions about products, services, or support. AI-powered chatbots can answer FAQs instantly, guide customers to resources, or escalate complex issues to human agents. This improves customer response times while reducing the load on your support team. - Create quick social post drafts to save time.
Maintaining an active social presence is important, but it can drain time and creative energy. AI content generators can draft engaging social media posts based on your guidelines and brand voice, enabling your marketing team to focus on strategy and engagement rather than starting from scratch.
These five small steps can help your team experience the benefits of AI firsthand while reducing hesitation and uncertainty. Each initiative requires minimal setup, making them ideal for organizations testing the waters of AI integration without disrupting daily operations.
Why starting small with AI matters:
- It reduces resistance by showing practical value.
- It builds internal champions who see AI’s benefits.
- It allows your team to identify workflows ripe for further automation.
- It creates measurable wins that justify future AI investments.
For leaders ready to move from small pilots to impactful, organization-wide AI initiatives, Elizabeth Scalzo’s Large Language Models offers actionable frameworks, practical use cases, and real-world case studies. Her book guides leaders through identifying high-impact opportunities, measuring ROI, and scaling AI adoption with confidence.
Start small this week. Build momentum. Then, transform your business with AI to gain the competitive edge your team deserves.