VentureBeat/Midjourney

Businesses know they can’t ignore AI, but when it comes to building with it, the real question isn’t, What can AI do — it’s, What can it do reliably? And more importantly: Where do you start?

This article introduces a framework to help businesses prioritize AI opportunities. Inspired by project management frameworks like the RICE scoring model for prioritization, it balances business value, time-to-market, scalability and risk to help you pick your first AI project.

Where AI is succeeding today

AI isn’t writing novels or running businesses just yet, but where it succeeds is still valuable. It augments human effort, not replaces it. 

In coding, AI tools improve task completion speed by 55% and boost code quality by 82%. Across industries, AI automates repetitive tasks — emails, reports, data analysis—freeing people to focus on higher-value work.

This impact doesn’t come easy. All AI problems are data problems. Many businesses struggle to get AI working reliably because their data is stuck in silos, poorly integrated or simply not AI-ready. Making data accessible and usable takes effort, which is why it’s critical to start small.

Generative AI works best as a collaborator, not a replacement. Whether it’s drafting emails,...