Why AI Demands a New Approach to BI

When we started Redefining Business Intelligence (RBI) over a year ago, our focus was on generating Playbooks – comprehensive guides that outline precisely how to leverage AI for actionable insight and executable next steps. 

Since then, I've come to a realization that challenges this approach. Playbooks finally pull actionable insights out of large datasets, both public and private. These insights point you in the right direction, but they can’t take you there. For that, you need something more.

A Playbook says to the executive, “Here’s the insight you’ve been looking for, and here’s what you should do with it.” But that’s just giving more homework to an executive who is already very busy.

This approach misunderstands both the nature of AI and the needs of the businesses we're trying to help. What these leaders need isn't more things to do – they need new perspectives on what's possible.

AI implementation needs to be driven by subject matter experts, but even these experts require fresh perspectives to effectively leverage these tools. And then they need help taking the next steps. The solution isn't just prescriptive information but rather enabling frameworks that open new ways of thinking and more power to get the work done.

From Playbooks to Cookbooks

One approach we're exploring is augmenting our comprehensive Playbooks with what I call "prompt cookbooks" – collections of ready-to-use prompts that business leaders can simply copy and paste to extract specific insights from their Playbooks. 

Rather than requiring our clients to master AI systems, we're providing them with keys to unlock specific capabilities and take full advantage of the information we’ve already provided in the Playbooks.

This cookbook approach transforms the implementation experience from "learn this new system" to "ask these specific questions and get immediate value." 

It's the difference between teaching someone to fish and giving them a fish – except in this case, we're teaching them how to order exactly the fish they want, prepared precisely how they like it.

Of course, even the best cookbook is limited by the information it can access. That's why we're experimenting with giving these systems internet access alongside our proprietary data, creating AI companions with both specific organizational context and broader market awareness.

No one else currently has anything that comes close to our offering.

The Critical Thinking Challenge

At its core, effective AI implementation is a critical thinking process. It requires research, questioning assumptions, exploring what we know and don't know, and considering ideas we haven't previously entertained. 

This exploration process is what creates transformative results – not following prescribed steps.

Before businesses can effectively leverage AI, they need to experience it in ways they haven't been thinking about. They need a paradigm shift in how they approach problems – not just new tools to apply to old thinking.

Many business leaders believe AI's primary value lies in streamlining processes and workflows. But the reality is more nuanced: if your processes aren't already streamlined, AI won't untangle your organizational spaghetti. 

Process optimization has been possible for decades without AI – if you haven't done it yet, AI isn't your solution.

The true power of AI emerges when you combine two critical elements: quality data and insightful questions.

First, you need good data sources. AI can't create insights from nothing – it needs information to work with. But many businesses that claim they want AI solutions haven't invested in creating the data foundation necessary for meaningful results.

Second, you need to ask questions that go beyond what traditional analytics can answer. If you can sort it in an Excel database, you don't need AI for that question. AI excels at helping you explore questions that won't display neatly in a productivity dashboard – questions about patterns, relationships, and possibilities that conventional analysis might miss.

The Path Forward

Instead of approaching AI as another system to implement, business leaders should view it as a catalyst for asking better questions. It's not about having AI organize your data – it's about using AI to explore your data in ways that reveal insights you wouldn't otherwise discover.

This shift from implementation to exploration, from prescribed Playbooks to guided discovery, represents the true potential of AI in business. It's not about doing the same things more efficiently – it's about doing entirely new things that weren't previously possible.

At RBI, we're helping businesses move beyond Playbooks to discover the unique questions that AI can help them answer. By focusing on quality data, insightful questions, and guided exploration rather than prescribed processes, we're creating AI implementations that deliver genuine business transformation rather than just technological implementation.

Call us today to find out what we can do together for your business.