CM-301d · Module 1

The Purpose of the Pilot

3 min read

The technical question — does AI work? — was answered before you proposed the initiative. Vendors have case studies. Industry analysts have benchmarks. The proof of concept you ran six months ago has results. What the pilot answers is a completely different question: does this AI work for these people, in this workflow, in this organizational culture, under these conditions? And the audience for that answer is not the technical team. It is the organization. Let me be clear: the pilot's primary output is not data. It is conviction. Conviction in the executive sponsor that the initiative will deliver. Conviction in the middle managers who will have to manage the transition. Conviction in the individual contributors who will change their daily work. Design for conviction.

Do This

  • Design the pilot to answer the organizational question: does this work for us, in our context, for our people
  • Choose pilot participants and workflows that are representative of the broader rollout population — not the most favorable subset
  • Define the conviction threshold before the pilot starts — what specific outcome would produce conviction in your specific sponsor and organization

Avoid This

  • Design the pilot to demonstrate AI capability in controlled conditions that do not reflect production reality
  • Choose pilot participants who are already enthusiastic adopters — they are not representative of the adoption challenge you will face in the rollout
  • Run the pilot without defining what success looks like — "it went pretty well" is not a conviction-producing outcome