AI business case
What is AI business case?
The structured argument for one AI investment: the use case, the expected return, the cost, the risks and who owns delivery. It exists to get a yes or no from leadership before money is spent. A weak business case is the usual reason a promising pilot never gets funded past the demo.
Why it matters
A business case is where an AI idea faces the same test as any other spending request, and enthusiasm alone rarely passes it. That test is useful precisely because AI attracts excitement that outruns evidence. Forcing someone to defend a number turns “this could be huge” into a claim you can check later against what actually happened. The exercise also drags the dull blockers into daylight early: the integration nobody scoped, the data that is not ready, the team with no spare hours to run the thing once it launches. A weak case is not always a bad idea. More often it is a good idea nobody has thought through past the demo.
In practice
A manager pitches an AI tool as an obvious win. Building the case reveals that half the saving depends on a system integration the IT roadmap will not reach for a year. The idea is not dead, but its timing and payback change completely once that dependency is on the page. That single fact is worth more than the polished demo that preceded it.
