Your First 90 Days: A Practical AI Implementation Plan

The objective is not an AI strategy for the next five years. It is one useful, governed experiment for the next 90 days. DAYS 1-14: GOVERN Write a one-page acceptable-use policy. Choose approved tools. Define sensitive-data rules. Require human review for consequential output. DAYS 15-45: PILOT Choose repetitive, low-downside work: routine drafts, summaries, meeting notes, internal outlines, information search or marketing drafts. Track the baseline. DAYS 46-75: EXTEND Move carefully toward an industry-specific workflow. Prefer AI capabilities already inside software you own before adding more tools. DAYS 76-90: MEASURE + DECIDE Compare before and after. Train the team. Decide what to scale, what to change and what to stop. The critical piece: If you cannot tell whether the pilot saved time, improved quality, reduced risk, increased capacity or contributed to revenue, you do not yet have an ROI story. You do not need an AI strategy for the next five years. You need one useful, governed experiment for the next 90 days. Start this quarter. Start small. Put the rules in writing. Pick one workflow. Measure the result. Keep human judgment where it belongs.