Building an AI Council to Drive the 2025 Tech Revolution

Gartner recently shared that AI is the No. 1 technology that CEOs believe will significantly impact their industries within the next three years. However, as enterprise leaders have realized by now, turning AI’s promise into measurable outcomes requires more than technology -- it demands aligned strategies, governance, and scalable operating models.

AI councils have emerged as essential tools for enterprises to harness the full potential of this evolving technology, ensuring investments align with business goals and deliver tangible results.  

AI Councils: Essential for ROI  

AI initiatives can quickly become fragmented and ineffective without strategic coordination. In fact, Gartner revealed in its report that 49% of leaders note challenges scaling AI due to scattered approaches. This is where AI councils come into play. Acting as central hubs, these councils streamline efforts by unifying AI investments, helping enterprises move beyond experimental projects to scalable strategies that deliver measurable outcomes. For example, AI councils bridge insights across departments, from pre-sales to customer support, while establishing governance and literacy.  

At the heart of AI transformation are CIOs, making them uniquely positioned to guide their organizations through an AI council approach. No longer confined to the traditional IT role, today’s CIOs are stepping forward as leaders of business transformation and revenue growth. With comprehensive access to enterprise data and systems, CIOs can align current AI initiatives with business goals and position this technology as a competitive differentiator and growth enabler.   

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Establishing an AI Council  

To effectively establish an AI council, business leaders must consider these three elements:  

1. Identify stakeholders: Bring together leaders from cross-functional teams to ensure diverse perspectives and enterprise-wide alignment.  

2. Set objectives and KPIs: Define clear, measurable goals for AI initiatives to track progress and demonstrate value.  

3. Align strategies: Gartner emphasizes the importance of synchronizing AI strategies with IT and data and analytics plans to maximize synergy and streamline implementation.  

Strategic Questions Every AI Council Should Address  

A foundational aspect of an effective AI council is its ability to frame and address the right questions -- those that maximize the impact of AI initiatives across an organization. By doing so, the council provides clarity, alignment, and actionable insights to guide strategic decisions.  

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Questions serve as a unifying thread, connecting diverse roles, technologies, and objectives. They ensure that every AI-related initiative contributes to broader organizational goals. In my own experience with AI councils, these questions have been instrumental in guiding successful outcomes.  

For instance, my enterprise’s AI council was established with a clear purpose: to act as a cohesive force across various roles, connecting experiments, pilots, proofs of concept, and broader investments in AI. This focus has helped the council provide meaningful answers to questions such as:  

By addressing these questions, the AI council not only found impactful solutions but also surfaced additional questions that needed to be asked -- ensuring a continuous cycle of refinement and innovation.  

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Measuring AI Outcomes and Driving ROI  

Many organizations overestimate AI’s immediate potential, leading to challenges in scalability and implementation. For example, RAND recently shared that 80% of AI projects are failing. Insufficient training data, a focus on cutting-edge technology over user needs, inadequate infrastructure for deployment, and applying AI to problems beyond its current capabilities, are shared as common barriers to successful AI implementation. 

AI councils enable enterprises to avoid common AI integration pitfalls like technology overhype by helping leaders focus on the impact of AI on business-critical objectives rather than the appeal of the technology itself. A successful AI council will track technology metrics such as: time saved on revenue-critical tasks, improved customer engagement, and cost savings. Gartner also recommends developing KPIs tied directly to business priorities for clearer impact evaluation.  

The Future of AI Councils: A Strategic Imperative  

As CIOs and enterprise leaders take on the challenge of scaling AI, the importance of a well-structured AI council cannot be overstated. It’s a strategic imperative, not just a tactical tool. By focusing on measurable impact, ensuring alignment across roles, and embracing a continuous cycle of refinement, AI councils position organizations to thrive in an AI-driven future.