Enterprise technology adoption typically follows an S curve, with organizations first undertaking frontier innovation, then experimenting, piloting, and scaling, as McKinsey explains in their latest Technology Trends Outlook. But innovation has never been easy, and staying ahead of the emerging technology frontier is an infinite race. It’s hard to take care of today’s problems when you’re focused on tomorrow. Consider AI or GenAI—you may not have in-house expertise, or if you do, their efforts are focused on existing programs. Maybe you just don’t have the time and space to figure out what types of problems emerging technologies can solve and what the best use cases are in your business.
To take advantage of AI and GenAI, innovation and experimentation are necessary first steps. It’s the only way to figure out what’s going to work for your company and to get buy-in before investing.
That’s why more companies are looking to external partners for help.
Technology Experimentation and the Art of the Possible
When IoT was first introduced, it was complicated, and companies didn’t know what it meant for their businesses. So, at Kopius, we started holding future state workshops to help our clients understand what it was all about, the types of problems it could solve, and to identify some specific use cases within their businesses. We quickly came to think of it as the art of the possible.
We’re seeing much the same thing with AI, and to meet the need, we’ve designed a full-fledged innovation and experimentation service offering we call JumpStart.
Our JumpStart process provides a roadmap for frontier innovation and experimentation. It entails:
- Research – Over the years we’ve learned how valuable it is to come to the table with a big picture understanding of your business, what the emerging trends are in your space, how early adopters in your industry are using it, and even if other industries are using it in ways that might be applicable.
- Dialog & Discovery – Once we’ve wrapped our heads around all that, we bring all the key stakeholders to the table to explain the technology and present the research, which then generates good discussions about the business problems you’re having and opportunities you could potentially take advantage of.
- Brainstorming & Whiteboarding – This is where the art of the possible comes to life. Using a design thinking approach, we brainstorm and whiteboard potential solutions to your most challenging problems and opportunities. Then, we prioritize them based on greatest need and impact. We also give you some space to think about what the best opportunity to move forward with is.
- Proof of Value – The last step of the process is to demonstrate proof of value. We bring together a multi-functional team to do some light, rapid prototyping that tangibly demonstrates the use case. Proof of value isn’t just about whether something can be done—it’s about whether it should be done. Does it solve your business problem? Is it financially and operationally viable? What will it take to pilot and scale?
While the proof of value typically marks the end of the JumpStart process, it doesn’t necessarily mark the end of our partnership. For many of our clients, it’s just the beginning. Kopius can also pull together the right resources to pilot the project and scale it across your organization.
JumpStart in Action – For a Leading Auto Manufacturer, JumpStart Brought Critical Information to Light
A leading auto manufacturer with a large warranty business wanted to use AI to make more informed decisions about what claims to automatically approve vs. look into more deeply. Before fully investing in the project, they needed to better understand if it was a practical solution and what implementing it would entail.
JumpStart was a perfect fit for their needs.
After some initial research, we brought key stakeholders to the table for in-depth discussions about the possibilities, the opportunities, and their business challenges. Then, we brainstormed and white boarded potential solutions. A big part of this was mapping out a detailed service blueprint that detailed every step of the warranty claim process.
Next, we tackled the proof of value, which brought critical information to light. While the AI solution was possible, they needed to address some upstream challenges before it could be implemented. Since claims were being submitted by so many different people through so many different systems, they would first need to build integrations and standardize the way data was coming in.
This gave the auto manufacturer the necessary insight to weigh the effort and expense vs. the long-term benefits of the undertaking and make an informed decision about moving forward.
The Value of a Fresh Perspective
When you are laser focused on solving today’s problems, it’s hard to break away and orient yourself to the larger world of advancing technology. That’s why an external technology partner like Kopius can be a real asset. We bring fresh perspectives, objectivity, and use cases from within your industry and outside of it to help you drive innovation, experiment, pilot, and scale.
Wherever you are on your AI innovation journey, we’d love to help you explore the art of the possible.
JumpStart Your Technology Project—and Stay on Track—with Kopius!
At Kopius, we harness the power of people, data and emerging technologies to build innovative solutions that help our customers navigate continual change and solve formidable challenges. To accelerate our customers’ success, we’ve designed a JumpStart program to prioritize digital transformation together.
