Jennifer Craft

"The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered.” - Les Brown … we have to stop hoarding our knowledge and share it with others

If you had to rate your AI readiness (strategy, data, tech, people, governance) on a 1–5 scale, which area is your weakest link right now?

Tool sprawl is a readiness killer. Choose a small, integrated set of AI tools you actually use instead of chasing every new thing.

AI readiness is not about how excited your team is about AI. It’s about whether your data, infrastructure, and workflows can actually support real AI use cases.

AI risk is not just technical. It’s reputational, legal, and operational. AI readiness includes a cross‑functional risk view, not just IT controls.

Don’t underestimate training. Even simple generative AI tools can produce poor results if people don’t know how to give context or constraints.

@quietoperatorl Exactly! This is why I saw AI can be a great tool, but it must have human oversight!

This is correct and undersold. Most organizations treat AI risk like they treat cybersecurity: as an IT problem with an IT solution. Then they act surprised when the reputational damage comes from marketing, the legal exposure comes from HR, and the operational failure comes from a sales team that automated client communication without telling compliance. The professional who sent an AI-generated proposal to a client with fabricated case studies didn’t create a technical risk. They created a trust crisis that no IT control could have prevented. The manager who used AI to draft performance reviews and accidentally included language that implied bias didn’t trigger a model failure. They triggered a legal liability that will cost more to resolve than every AI subscription the company has ever purchased. The executive who announced an AI-powered product feature that doesn’t actually work the way the AI-generated marketing copy described it didn’t have an IT problem. They had a reputational problem that will take years to repair. AI risk lives in every department because AI usage lives in every department. The risk is wherever the human meets the tool without structure, without curation, and without the judgment to know when the output is confidently wrong. Cross-functional risk requires cross-functional literacy. Not everyone needs to understand how AI works. Everyone needs to understand how AI fails, and how those failures show up in their specific domain. That’s the training nobody is doing because it’s harder to build than a technical controls checklist.

That friend who “just decided” and actually did it? I hate how much I envy them while I’m still here planning in my head.

AI governance isn’t about stopping innovation. It’s about making sure the AI you deploy is safe, compliant, and aligned with your values.

Consider creating an internal “AI playbook” with approved tools, example prompts, policies, and best practices. That’s a tangible readiness asset.

If your analysts still spend most of their time cleaning spreadsheets, you’re not ready for serious AI. Fix data plumbing before model shopping.

AI‑ready leaders don’t just approve budgets; they personally use AI, share use cases, and set expectations that experimentation is part of the job.

If you can reply to this. You are either: - A Business owner - Startup - Builder - Freelancer - Writer - Content creator You are cool.

You may have the best idea, one that makes the most sense and cents, but if it’s not framed properly you are decreasing your visibility as well as your operational factor.

@brockpierson I return the cart. Sometimes I’ll even return other people’s carts. I hate not being able to use a parking space because some jack hole left a cart there. 😡

Are you the type of person who returns the shopping cart or leaves it in the parking lot?