How to build an AI business strategy for successful implementation

Artificial intelligence helps businesses build smarter strategies by providing quick, real-time insights and predicting trends. Yet, choosing and implementing AI can be overwhelming for many business owners.

Leveraging the right AI tools from the many options on the market will give you a clear strategic path forward.

In this article, you’ll learn how to craft an AI business strategy that empowers your company to thrive in a competitive landscape.

What is an AI business strategy?

An AI business strategy is a plan to incorporate AI into your business to stay competitive and avoid disruption. It outlines how you’ll use AI technology to streamline company processes, enhance decision-making and drive business growth.

For example, a small online fashion retailer might develop a strategy to use AI analytics to predict popular styles for the upcoming season. By analyzing past sales data patterns and social media trends, AI tools help the store stock items that are more likely to sell well.

Here’s a framework for building an AI strategy in business:

With an AI business strategy, you’ll:

1. Align AI with your company’s overall goals

2. Use AI ethically and manage risks

3. Identify new opportunities where AI adds value

4. Develop a roadmap for AI tool investments

5. Plan team onboarding and integration

While having a solid business strategy is critical, integrating AI capabilities enhances your efforts by saving time and uncovering valuable insights. An AI strategy helps you prioritize needs and set clear goals for a roadmap that directs your investments where they matter most.

How an AI business strategy can benefit small businesses

Integrating AI into strategic planning unlocks key opportunities for efficiency and innovation for small businesses.

Businesses worldwide now use AI to gain a competitive edge. According to IBM, 76% of business leaders used generative AI to find insights and steer their business strategies in 2024 – that number keeps growing.

Here’s how AI in business strategy can benefit your company:

• Simplify market research with data analysis. AI collects and analyzes data from many sources in real time, revealing sales trends you can use to form a stronger strategy foundation.

• Set better goals with better predictions. AI helps you create more realistic objectives and milestones by spotting patterns in past performance and market conditions.

• Make data-driven decisions with scenario planning. Some AI tools can run “what if” simulations to model different strategic decisions, letting you explore different outcomes and fine-tune your approach.

• Improve processes with real-time performance tracking. AI can monitor your strategic metrics and alert you to issues early. By detecting problems faster, you can be agile and adjust your plan if needed.

• Allocate resources more effectively. AI analyzes which areas of your strategy are producing the best returns. That insight guides your resources where they’ll have the greatest impact, keeping your plan efficient and goal-focused.

To fully take advantage of artificial intelligence technology, understand the different types of AI tools available for small businesses – so you can implement those that will help your business thrive.

3 types of AI platforms that make sense for small business

Building AI models in-house is costly for small businesses, but affordable cloud-based solutions make AI more accessible. Many companies now offer pay-as-you-go AI tools, allowing business owners to leverage advanced AI without high costs or technical expertise.

Here are three types of AI that streamline small business processes:

1. Generative AI

Generative AI (GenAI) can create new content based on simple prompts, including text, images and videos. You can use the technology to:

• Brainstorm new strategies. Stuck on how to position a new product or service? Give the AI a quick rundown of your target audience, and it will suggest angles and messaging options.

• Create content fast. Need a product description or an email sequence? Prompt the AI with a few basics – like your brand’s positioning or key features – and it will fire back a polished draft.

• Maintain brand consistency. If you feed the AI some of your existing marketing materials or brand guidelines, it’ll imitate your style and make every piece of content feel like you wrote it.

Many business tools now include generative AI features. For example, you can craft personalized content using Pipedrive’s AI email writer:

Pipedrive’s AI features help you polish your marketing and sales copy without leaving your customer relationship management (CRM) system.

2. Conversational AI

Conversational AI uses natural language processing (NLP) to engage in real-time, human-sounding conversations. It can read and reply to text, understand voice communications and interpret the intent behind phrases.

You can use conversational intelligence to:

• Provide 24/7 customer support. Instead of having customers wait for office hours, let a smart chatbot handle common questions and pass on complex issues to human agents.

• Personalize your interactions. Access to past customer data allows conversational AI to greet returning visitors by name and recommend products based on previous orders.

• Get actionable advice. Use AI helpers to give your sales team real-time advice on the next best action.

Conversational AI chatbots are becoming far more valuable and common. For instance, Pipedrive integrates with REVE Chat, AI-powered live chat software that engages your customers and automates lead generation.

3. Predictive AI

Predictive AI analyzes existing data to spot valuable patterns and forecast customer behavior and market trends – helping you plan your next moves more accurately.

You can use predictive AI to:

• Forecast sales. AI tools analyze your sales pipeline and past deals, estimating the likelihood of each new lead converting. You can then streamline your supply chain and manage inventory for future sales.

• Identify growth opportunities. Predictive AI detects emerging customer behavior trends, allowing you to pivot strategies quickly – like adjusting your product lineup or rolling out a new marketing campaign.

• Prioritize leads. Instead of combing through every contact, predictive AI can score leads based on their likelihood to buy. Prioritizing leads enables you to focus on ready-to-convert sales prospects.

You can easily add predictive AI to your small business’s toolkit. For example, Pipedrive Pulse uses AI-driven lead scoring to rank leads so you know which ones to target.

The feature also provides AI-generated deal summaries for quick access to information that helps you close sales.

Another Pipedrive tool, AI Sales Assistant, predicts a deal’s win probability and offers personalized, data-backed recommendations to maximize your sales opportunities.

Using these AI-powered tools, you can easily spot patterns and confidently prioritize leads to close the best sales deals.

How to build your AI business strategy in 5 steps

With a structured approach, you can align AI with your business goals, choose the right tools and implement them to maximize impact.

Here’s how to set up your AI business strategy in five steps:

1. Evaluate business needs and capabilities

The first step is to clearly define your business needs. Consider the challenges your business currently faces and the areas where AI applications could yield significant results.

Pinpoint the specific areas where you need assistance:

• Are you struggling with customer service response times?

• Do you need better insights from your sales data?

• Do you want to enhance your marketing strategies with predictive analytics?

Once you have a clear idea of your needs, assess your human capital and technology infrastructure.

Here’s how to efficiently evaluate your business capabilities:

Take your time and consider your needs and capabilities thoroughly. Moving too fast can lead to adopting the wrong tools for the job.

2. Align AI with your business strategy

Once you’ve identified your needs, ensure your AI initiatives align with your overarching business strategy. AI should enhance your existing goals, drive efficiency and create value at your company.

Here’s how to align your AI approach with your broader business strategy:

• Map AI projects to business objectives. For each business goal, identify how AI can help. For example, to enhance customer satisfaction, explore AI-driven personalized marketing that improves customer interactions and response times.

• Set key performance indicators (KPIs). Choose KPIs that track AI’s impact on your business objectives to measure success. Depending on your sales goals, these metrics could include cost savings, customer retention rates or increased productivity.

• Prioritize high-impact AI use cases. Focus on use cases that offer the highest return on investment and align with your long-term strategy. Consider starting with projects that deliver quick wins while setting the stage for more advanced AI integrations.

• Review and adapt AI strategies regularly. Periodically review the impact AI is having on your strategic goals. Checking in will ensure your AI efforts meet your needs and help you adjust your approach for greater impact.

3. Consider ethics and risk mitigation

When assessing AI tools, be aware of any ethical issues and potential risks to your operation. Handle AI for your business needs carefully to ensure efficiency and prevent issues from cropping up.

Here are a few things to watch out for:

When you use AI responsibly, you enjoy the benefits of automation without risking customer trust or legal trouble. The key is to stay aware of how AI works, monitor its decisions and make sure they align with your business values.

4. Choose and prioritize AI tools for your business

After considering the ethical risks, create a roadmap for AI adoption. A clear, well-structured roadmap helps you invest in the right AI solutions for your business operations.

First, revisit the key business challenges you identified in the first step. Ask yourself:

• Where do we experience the most inefficiencies?

• What repetitive tasks take up too much time?

• Where can AI make the biggest impact on revenue or customer experience?

Next, research the AI tools that fit your needs and budget. Some options include:

When researching AI software for your small business, look for user-friendly options that require minimal setup and offer free trials or flexible pricing plans.

For each tool, consider:

• Cost vs. value. Will it save time, increase sales or reduce expenses (ideally all three)?

• Ease of integration. Can it work smoothly with your existing software (e.g., your AI CRM, website or email platform)?

• User adoption. Will your team be able to use it without extensive training?

Finally, build a roadmap that shows what you’ll invest in first. Start with the solutions that provide the fastest and highest return on investment (ROI).

5. Onboard your team and integrate AI tools

For AI to really improve your business, your team must be comfortable and confident using it. Your AI tools of choice should also integrate smoothly into existing workflows.

Some employees may be hesitant, so explain how AI enhances their roles by automating repetitive tasks, improving workflow efficiency and supporting – rather than replacing – decision-making.

Provide relevant structured training, including live demos, knowledge base guides or video tutorials. Start small by introducing one or two AI tools that integrate with your current systems, letting employees adjust before scaling up.

Once AI tools are in place, track their effectiveness and gather feedback from your employees:

• Are tasks reaching completion faster?

• Is AI improving accuracy and decision-making?

• Are employees finding the tools helpful or frustrating?

Regularly reviewing AI’s impact ensures it truly adds value. Be open to adjusting or replacing tools that aren’t meeting expectations.

5 AI business strategy pitfalls to avoid

AI can be a game-changer for businesses, and strategic planning ensures efficient use of tool resources. To ensure success, avoid these five common AI strategy pitfalls by applying recommended best practices:

1. Ignoring data management and quality

AI relies on data to function. If your business information is incomplete, biased or poorly structured, the technology can produce inaccurate or unreliable results.

How to avoid this pitfall:

• Ensure data is clean, well-organized and up-to-date before deploying AI

• Regularly audit AI models for accuracy and bias

• Use AI solutions that integrate with your existing databases

2. Overcomplicating AI implementation

Some business strategists try to introduce complex AI solutions all at once, leading to confusion and resistance from employees.

How to avoid this pitfall:

• Start small with easy-to-implement AI tools (e.g., chatbots or automated email marketing)

• Choose cloud-based AI solutions that have affordable setups

• Gradually expand AI capabilities based on what works best for your business

3. Underestimating AI costs

Many businesses assume AI will deliver instant savings but don’t account for expenses like subscriptions, training and data storage.

How to avoid this pitfall:

• Set a realistic AI budget that includes implementation, training and maintenance

• Choose AI tools with scalable pricing and free trial periods

• Ensure your team has (or can develop) the necessary skills to manage AI systems

4. Relying on AI without human oversight

AI automates tasks and improves decision-making, but it’s not perfect. Over-reliance on AI – especially in customer interactions, hiring or financial decisions – can lead to mistakes that hurt your business.

How to avoid this pitfall:

• Keep stakeholders involved in AI-driven decisions, especially in critical areas like recruitment

• Provide customers with an option to interact with human support when needed

• Check that your AI outputs and responses are accurate

5. Not changing your AI strategy

AI is evolving, and failing to adapt can leave your business behind. Some companies implement AI once and assume it will remain cutting-edge, but outdated AI models can lead to missed opportunities.

How to avoid this pitfall:

• Regularly review AI performance and update models as needed

• Stay informed about new AI advancements and best practices

• Replace outdated AI tools with better alternatives

A thoughtful, proactive approach to AI implementation grows your business potential while minimizing risks.

AI business strategy FAQs

Final thoughts

Integrating AI into your business strategy doesn’t have to be overwhelming. All you need to do is assess your business needs, choose the right AI tools and implement them thoughtfully.

One of the best ways to begin your digital transformation is with an AI-powered CRM that streamlines sales and decision-making.

Pipedrive offers AI-driven automation, smart sales forecasting and actionable insights to help small businesses optimize their strategies. Sign up for Pipedrive’s 14-day free trial today and see how AI can give your business a competitive edge.