How to Create an AI Council

Adopting AI can seem like a Herculean task, often leading to analysis paralysis—opting to do nothing because the task seems entirely too daunting.

However, it doesn’t need to be like this.

By implementing a few essential steps, any organization, regardless of size, can figure out their approach to AI.

Create an AI Council

Your first step should be to create an AI Council, complete with an AI Charter, which outlines the purpose for the AI Council as well as the broader goals for the organization. (More on the AI Charter below.)

Call it what you will—a committee, a council, or a task force—the terminology doesn’t matter as much as the purpose: to communicate, create, assess, and oversee all your organization’s AI initiatives.

The AI Council creates the AI policy, and the AI policy dictates your approach to use cases and pilot projects.

Keep the Council Small

When forming an AI Council, start with a small group.

Ideally, three to six people should constitute the initial team.This size is manageable and allows for efficient decision-making and collaboration. It allows you to move fast, and, perhaps more importantly, fail fast.

Too many people mean too many opinions, which can hinder consensus.

Diversity and Cross-functionality

A successful AI Council should be composed of members from various disciplines within the organization.

It’s often helpful to include representatives from marketing, sales, IT, legal, compliance, and other relevant departments that have a stake in what you’re doing.

A diverse and cross-functional team ensures varied perspectives and expertise, fostering a comprehensive, collaborative approach to AI policy and strategy development.

Also note that AI responsibilities shouldn’t be confined to IT or technology departments alone. The data shows that broader departmental involvement yields more useful results

Craft an AI Charter

The AI Council must have a clear, well-defined purpose, clear long-term goals, and measurable objectives that are aligned with the organization’s overall business strategy.

The proper place to outline all of this is in your AI Charter.

The AI Charter should state why the AI Council exists (it’s purpose), what its objectives are, and how it aligns with the organization’s overall business strategy.

Develop an AI Council Purpose Statement

Here are three AI Council purpose statement examples. These statements will appear in your AI Charter.

• Purpose Statement 1: The purpose of the AI Council is to leverage artificial intelligence to boost operational efficiency, enhance productivity, and drive revenue growth. The AI Council will integrate AI into business processes to optimize resources, improve decision-making, and ensure competitive advantage while maintaining ethical standards and compliance.
• Purpose Statement 2: The AI Council’s mission is to utilize AI to improve business performance by increasing efficiency, productivity, and profitability. The AI Council will oversee AI integration across the organization, ensuring it aligns with strategic goals and adheres to ethical and regulatory guidelines.
• Purpose Statement 3: The AI Council aims to harness AI technologies to streamline operations, enhance productivity, and maximize profitability. The AI Council will guide AI implementation to ensure it supports business objectives, drives innovation, and upholds ethical practices and compliance.

Articulate Long-Term AI Goals

The Charter should also articulate the organization’s long-term goals for AI—what the business seeks to achieve with AI in terms of productivity, innovation, customer experience, or operational efficiency.

Here’s an example:

• The organization aims to use AI to increase operational efficiency, enhance decision-making through data-driven insights, and drive customer engagement, all while ensuring transparency and minimizing bias in AI applications.

Create Clear Objectives for the AI Council

Once you’ve locked in your purpose statement and long-term goals, the next step is to create clear objectives for the AI Council.

At a minimum, here is what you should think about.

The objectives of the AI Council are as follows:

• To Identify AI Opportunities:
  • Conduct regular assessments to identify potential areas where AI can add value.
  • Prioritize AI projects based on their potential impact and feasibility.
• To Set Strategic Direction:
  • Develop and maintain a roadmap for AI initiatives aligned with the organization’s business strategy.
  • Define short-term and long-term goals for AI implementation.
• To Establish Governance and Ethical Standards:
  • Create policies to ensure ethical AI use and compliance with legal requirements.
  • Monitor and address any ethical concerns or biases in AI applications.
• To Oversee Implementation and Integration:
  • Guide AI project development and deployment, ensuring effective integration into existing systems.
  • Provide support and resources to AI project teams.
• To Measure and Report Performance:
  • Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate AI project success.
  • Regularly review and report on AI initiative progress to senior management and stakeholders.
• To Promote Continuous Learning and Innovation:
  • Encourage continuous AI learning and skill development across the organization.
  • Foster a culture of innovation by supporting experimental AI projects and pilot programs.

Begin, then iterate

Implementing an AI Council and creating an AI Charter are two of the most important steps you can take in developing solid AI Governance.

By starting with a small, diverse, and cross-functional team, you can foster collaboration and innovation while maintaining your focus on key objectives.

Remember, the journey to AI adoption is iterative—begin with an AI Council, craft your AI Charter, then write your AI Policy.

Iterate and revise along the way.