Build Your AI Strategy Roadmap | Info-Tech Research Group

Embracing AI is a matter of “when,” not “if," but building an AI strategy in this ever-shifting technological landscape can be a daunting process. Missing the mark risks hobbling your organization's ability to select and optimize the right AI use cases while mitigating their risks. This comprehensive blueprint will help you expedite your AI strategy process to allow you to deliver the quick wins that will propel your organization forward.

The sheer number of AI vendors and use cases can be overwhelming, raising the risk of buying or building products that ultimately have a negative impact on organizational outcomes. We've surveyed the market to find those most likely to benefit your organization, and by quickly establishing underlying AI strategic principles, CIOs can focus exclusively on use cases that will support organizational priorities.

1. Know what you want to achieve.

To be effective, your AI strategy must be in seamless alignment with your overall organizational strategy. Your organization must first be completely clear about its forward-looking goals and objectives before turning to AI to help achieve them.

2. See through the hype.

Your organization’s AI needs are unique. CIOs must see past the trends and hype around solutions like ChatGPT to focus investment on AI that will drive and support business outcomes, not what’s popular in the moment.

3. Don’t be afraid to prioritize early wins.

Long-term thinking is essential when building an AI strategy, but that needn’t mean forgoing short-term benefits. Identify and prioritize use cases that deliver immediate operational benefits while also laying the groundwork for broader transformation.

Use this step-by-step blueprint to build a tailored AI strategy aligned with organizational goals

Our research offers multiphase guidance, templates, and tools to methodically design a rock-solid foundation for your organization’s AI approach. Use this comprehensive blueprint to build an AI strategy that embraces AI in a way that maximizes its value to your organization while effectively managing its risks.

Establish the scope of your AI strategy to develop a vision statement, strategic principles, and organization-aligned goals.
Assess AI maturity and identify use cases to draw up a candidate AI vendor list and identify challenges and risks for individual use cases.
Detail and prioritize AI use cases and align them with organizational goals and capabilities.
Develop your AI roadmap, prepare your communication approach, and present your strategy to senior management and stakeholders.

Build Your AI Strategy Roadmap Research & Tools

1. Build Your AI Strategy Roadmap Deck — A step-by-step framework that empowers you to build your AI strategy roadmap.

Use this deck to start in the right place, focus on the right initiatives, and build an AI strategy roadmap that delivers clear value while supporting and accelerating organizational and IT strategy.

Understand the challenges and opportunities of AI and how they relate to your organization.
Leverage Info-Tech’s thought model and methodology to build your roadmap.
Encounter actionable insights to ensure your efforts have the right focus.

2. AI Use Case Selection Tool – A comprehensive repository that will help you discover use cases that will generate the most value for your organization.

Use this simple Excel tool to start your review of how AI can be used to create operational efficiencies, support service excellence, improve risk management, and drive innovation.

Review examples from multiple case groups according to preset goal, function, and value stream categories.
Generate a longlist of suggested use cases, along with their estimated value and implementation complexity.
Reevaluate your use case selections on a regular basis as your operational needs evolve.

3. AI Initiatives Prioritization and Roadmap Planning Tool — A detailed tool that will help you assess and shortlist your proposed AI initiatives.

Use this document to determine which AI initiatives are most aligned with your value stream and should be included in your roadmap.

Determine cost and benefits rubrics unique to your organization.
Describe your initiatives and determine whether to include them in your roadmap.
Establish provisional start and end dates for implementation and assign owners for each initiative.

4. AI Maturity Assessment Tool — An easy-to-use tool that will help focus your efforts to get your AI initiatives up to speed.

Use this framework to analyze the current state of the gaps between your current and target states and systematically develop a plan to address them.

Assign maturity scores to each of five AI dimensions, such as governance, infrastructure, and people.
Generate scores for current and target states for each AI dimension in a clear report.
Use the results as a starting point for initiatives supporting maturity growth toward your target state.

5. VP AI Job Description Template – A high-level overview that will help you find the right AI lead.

Use this template to clearly set out what your organization is looking for in the candidate who will oversee your AI strategy and transformation.

Customize this template to fit your organization’s unique traits.
Draw up a job description that reflects your AI strategy and how it relates to overall organizational goals.
Clearly set out the job description, responsibilities, and position requirements.

6. AI Strategy and Roadmap Presentation Template – A PowerPoint template that summarizes your proposed roadmap.

Use this ready-made presentation document to communicate your organization’s AI challenge and your plan to build a strategy to meet it.

Customize any and all aspects of this template to fit your specific requirements.
Deliver a high-level overview of your AI strategy roadmap and next steps.
Present deeper insights into prioritized AI initiatives, use cases, maturity, and any other outcomes of the work your team has done so far.

Member Testimonials

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.

9.4/10

Overall Impact

$70,689

Average $ Saved

31

Average Days Saved

Client

Experience

Impact

$ Saved

Days Saved

Testimonial

Courageous Business Culture Inc

Guided Implementation

9/10

$1,800

6

The best is the range of your experience.

Covius Services, LLC

Guided Implementation

10/10

$34,000

20

Best - Altaz's presentation and the information shared was excellent. Worst - Certain Covius attendees had not read a word of the previously sha... Read More

City of Wetaskiwin

Guided Implementation

10/10

$40,000

20

Pittsburgh Pirates

Workshop

9/10

$13,600

10

Areez had a well laid out plan and moved quickly through the process, but covered the topics well.

BK GROUP PLC

Guided Implementation

10/10

$40,800

90

Encore Electric

Workshop

8/10

$13,600

10

Areez was an excellent facilitator and Encore was left with a clear action plan to try out Generative AI on 5 important use cases.

Wise Foods Inc

Workshop

10/10

$1.36M

50

Best: Very good comments of the workshop. Worst: Nothing really.

Garfield County IT

Guided Implementation

10/10

$2,584

5

Bill's presentation was informative and provided suggestions for moving forward with our AI strategy.

UniSuper

Guided Implementation

7/10

$9,000

5

Greenstone Financial Services Pty Ltd.

Guided Implementation

9/10

$9,000

5

Good support from Juliana who was the Analyst. Gave us good insights on AI strategy, policies, industry insights on governance and operating model.... Read More

Rack Room Shoes

Workshop

10/10

$34,000

20

Good: Getting Rack Room associates from across the business in one room to align and learn about AI. Bad: Not having AI policies and AI usage guid... Read More

UNITING AGEWELL LIMITED

Guided Implementation

9/10

$90,000

20

I highly appreciated Julianna's expertise in all aspects of AI. Our AI strategy puts us in strong position to advance our AI strategy. No negative ... Read More

Blue Cross of Idaho Health Service, Inc.

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

60

ERCO Worldwide LP

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

120

Excellent initial conversation on AI preparedness and project execution

County of Inyo

Guided Implementation

9/10

$68,000

1

Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union

Guided Implementation

9/10

$13,600

9

Chemeketa Community College

Guided Implementation

7/10

$1,496

2

Provided the break through needed as to why following the tools and guidance of other Info Tech tools on this subject to hadn't worked within the ... Read More

MDU Services LTD

Guided Implementation

10/10

$18,499

20

Workers Federal Credit Union

Guided Implementation

7/10

N/A

N/A

Since this was just the first meeting with Martin, it is too premature to put value based on the first call. I think Martin will bring a lot to the... Read More

Kentucky Housing Corporation

Workshop

10/10

$34,000

35

The workshop could easily be configured for 5 days. This would allow for further consumption of the material and process. Overall, the workshop is ... Read More

Goodwill of Colorado

Guided Implementation

10/10

$68,000

100

IDP EDUCATION LIMITED

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

N/A

Great conversation

British Columbia Lottery Corporation

Workshop

8/10

$100K

10

Enjoyed the connecting of AI practicioners in one spot to talk about current state and the future. I felt a little too much time was spent review... Read More

British Columbia Assessment

Workshop

10/10

$100K

80

Both Areez and Jeff were fantastic to work with on this project. Their knowledge and experience was invaluable. Areez is an exceptional facilitato... Read More

Altarum Institute

Guided Implementation

10/10

$13,600

5

Altaz is very knowledgeable and helpful.

PowerNet Limited

Guided Implementation

9/10

$34,000

32

Julianna was fantastic to work with, The Info-Tech material was very easy to work through. No bad parts. I believe the process could have gone fa... Read More

Al Nahdi Medical

Guided Implementation

10/10

$15,640

5

Douglas County, Colorado

Guided Implementation

10/10

$34,000

60

knowledge of SME was outstanding and the ability to use proven roadmap

Dentons Canada Services LP

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

10

Altaz takes a very pragmatic approach and offers very grounded advice. Tremendous value packed into a one hour call!

Focused Education Resources

Guided Implementation

10/10

$9,000

2

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Workshop: Build Your AI Strategy Roadmap

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Establish the Scope of Your AI Strategy

The Purpose

Confirm the boundaries and limitations of your AI strategy.

Key Benefits Achieved

Develop your readiness to act based on validated goals and principles.

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Understand your business goals and value drivers.

1.2

Elicit business aligned AI goals.

Business-aligned AI goals

1.3

Develop a vision for the AI-enabled organization.

AI vision statement

1.4

Develop strategic guiding principles for your strategy.

Strategic AI principles

Module 2: Identify AI Use Cases and Assess AI Maturity

The Purpose

Identify business aligned AI use cases and evaluate the current state of AI maturity to implement them.

Key Benefits Achieved

A well-informed set of AI use cases with strong links to strategy and culture.

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Identify AI use cases that resonate with your strategic business goals and capabilities.

Candidate AI business use case list

2.2

Understand AI maturity dimensions and evaluate current state of AI capabilities.

AI current-state maturity assessment results

2.3

Identify your strategic AI investment path.

Investment path decision

Module 3: Detail and Prioritize AI Use Cases

The Purpose

Establish priorities for the next steps.

Key Benefits Achieved

Promotion of high-value ideas with believable ability to execute.

Activities

Outputs

3.1

Build one-pagers for AI use cases.

Detailed one-pagers for AI use cases

3.2

Align AI use cases to your business initiatives, capabilities, and AI goals.

An alignment chart of AI goals, business capabilities, and AI use cases

3.3

Prioritize AI use cases based on feasibility and value.

Prioritized list of AI use cases

Module 4: Develop Your AI Roadmap

The Purpose

Visualize high-priority use cases in a realistic timeline.

Key Benefits Achieved

Leadership alignment on priority and timing.

Activities

Outputs

4.1

Develop the AI initiative roadmap.

AI roadmap (Gantt chart format)

4.2

Determine next steps and communication approach.

AI strategy one-pager

4.3

Finalize your AI strategy presentation.

Preliminary AI strategy presentation

Develop your AI strategy to maximize return and mitigate risks with your AI investments.

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

You get

Build Your AI Strategy Roadmap – Phases 1-4
AI Use Case Selection Tool
AI Initiatives Prioritization and Roadmap Planning Tool
AI Maturity Assessment Tool
VP AI Job Description Template
AI Strategy and Roadmap Presentation Template

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 11 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Session 1: Establish Scope of Your AI Strategy

Call 1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges.
Call 2: Define AI vision statement.
Call 3: Identify business-aligned AI goals.
Call 4: Establish strategic principles.

Guided Implementation 2: Session 2: Identify AI Use Cases and Assess Current AI Maturity

Call 1: Assess the organization’s current-state capabilities for managing AI and your strategic investment path.
Call 2: Identify candidate AI use cases.

Guided Implementation 3: Session 3: Detail and Prioritize AI Use Cases

Call 1: Assess the value and feasibility of the business AI initiatives.
Call 2: Prioritize the business AI initiatives.

Guided Implementation 4: Session 4: Develop Your AI Strategy Roadmap

Call 1: Build an AI strategy roadmap.
Call 2: Build a communication plan.
Call 3: Build an executive AI strategy roadmap deck.

Authors

Bill Wong

Cem Sezen

Search Code: 103736
Last Revised: August 28, 2025

TAGS:

AI transformation, AI business transformation, generative AI strategy, business AI strategy, optimizing AI investments, aligning AI strategy, integrating AI strategy, strategic AI initiatives, AI use case selection, AI maturity

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