AI Isn’t a Side Project. It’s a Strategic Decision.

Christoph Burkhardt
Jun 11
2 min read

By Christoph Burkhardt

AI Strategy Advisor | Founder, AI Impact Institute

When AI shows up on a project list as a “test initiative,” “innovation experiment,” or “R&D sandbox,” there’s already a problem.

Because the minute we treat AI like a side project, it becomes one. It loses momentum. It lacks ownership. It drifts. And eventually, it dies quietly.

And that’s a shame. Not because the idea was bad—but because the setup made real success impossible from the start.

The mindset shift: From tech trial to business tool

If AI is expected to drive business value, it needs to live where business decisions are made. Not in a separate team. Not off to the side. Right at the core of strategy.

That means:

AI initiatives are linked to real KPIs.
Business leaders—not just technical teams—own the outcome.
There’s clarity about how success is defined, measured, and scaled.

Here’s the difference it makes

When AI is embedded in core strategy:

It becomes part of daily decision-making, not just experimentation.
Learning loops form naturally because people are invested in the outcome.
Resources are allocated with long-term impact in mind, not short-term novelty.

And perhaps most importantly:

It becomes clear whether the project is delivering value—or not.

That kind of clarity is what makes scale possible.

Let’s stop calling AI an “experiment”

Yes, we need room to explore. But when exploration happens inside strategic priorities—not outside them—it builds capability and credibility at the same time.

So the question isn’t, “How do we run a few pilots?”

It’s: “What part of our business is ready for transformation—and how can AI support that shift?”