Driving sustainable AI success for partners with the AI flywheel

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become a cornerstone for enterprises that aim to boost productivity and improve performance. While leaders recognize its potential to add trillions in value to the global economy, many still struggle with translating this promise into a measurable return on investment (ROI). Helping customers move beyond isolated experiments to a strategy that delivers tangible value is imperative and a great way for partners to add value.

Although pilot projects offer valuable learning experiences, they often fail to generate measurable outcomes for further investment and scale. That is why organizations can benefit from the strategic guidance of the channel.

Partners can help clients navigate the complex AI landscape by introducing a proven framework – the AI Flywheel. It’s a strategic blueprint that helps organizations build self-sustaining, ROI-driven AI initiatives where each success fuels the next.

Understanding the AI flywheel

The concept of the flywheel is rooted in compounding returns. Imagine an AI initiative where each successful project not only delivers clear ROI but also builds a stronger foundation of platforms and supporting infrastructure.

It creates essential systems and tools, from software to hardware, that enable effective operations. Every rotation of this flywheel is a step forward that makes new initiatives easier to run, less costly, and capable of yielding more tangible gains.

For channel partners, understanding the framework is key to empowering their clients. Partners can act as the architects of this flywheel, helping clients identify and implement initial projects that deliver clear, demonstrable ROI. By doing so, they establish the crucial first “rotation” to build confidence and momentum. It often involves assisting with the technology section, integration, and initial deployment to guarantee that the early successes are robust and repeatable.

Moving beyond pilot purgatory

A common pitfall in AI is prioritizing projects based only on ease of implementation. While small-scale pilots can help teams learn new tools or test ideas, they rarely generate a significant business impact to justify broader investment. For instance, deploying GenAI to improve internal meeting notes might be helpful, but it is unlikely to move the needle on financial or operational metrics in a meaningful way.

Instead, success hinges on making calculated choices from the outset. This is where channel partners can shine by guiding clients from isolated AI experiments to a full strategy that delivers measurable value and secures investment.

Partners are uniquely positioned to help clients identify high-impact AI opportunities – strategic areas where AI solutions can generate quantifiable returns. Partners dive deep into the client’s business processes to pinpoint areas with the greatest potential for improvement. For example, streamlining a supply chain with AI can uncover millions in savings by increasing efficiency and reducing risks. For sales teams, AI can boost productivity by providing better insights and tailored recommendations. It ultimately leads to higher revenue as well as customer engagement.

Building scalable AI foundations

Although selecting a relevant project is important, it’s the execution phase that demands robust governance and the right infrastructure to truly scale. An AI strategy that grows is one that is consistent. Governance frameworks ensure that AI deployment aligns with overarching business goals, adheres to ethical standards, and complies with regulatory requirements. These structures help organizations replicate success across different departments and initiatives, rather than starting from scratch with every new project.

Creating a solid technological foundation is equally important. Reusable platforms, scalable cloud infrastructure, and integrated tools allow teams to execute projects with reduced time and cost. AI can be resource-intensive, but with a well-designed infrastructure in place, investments become shared assets.

Enterprises then benefit from faster, cheaper services, security solutions, and integration expertise. The bottom line is they can design, implement, and manage complex AI investments. By offering these services, partners become indispensable allies in building resilient and future-proof AI capabilities.

Creating an AI ROI machine

The ultimate goal of an enterprise AI strategy is to create an ROI machine so that the effort required to initiate new projects decreases over time while the gains grow. The process begins with a focus on use cases that provide quick wins and set the stage for future opportunities. It also requires connecting AI projects through shared data infrastructure, standardized processes, and reusable models.

Regular evaluation of progress and equipping teams with the right skills and tools are essential for adapting as the strategy evolves. The approach should be simple, scalable, and always aligned with long-term business objectives. Channel partners play a pivotal role in empowering clients to establish this self-sustaining cycle of AI success.

By guiding clients through the flywheel process, partners foster long-term relationships and create recurring revenue streams for themselves. They provide ongoing support, optimization, and strategic guidance to ensure AI initiatives still deliver value and adapt to evolving business needs.

With the right strategy in place and with partners acting as trusted advisors, the potential for productivity and transformation is boundless.