Building an AI Strategy for Your Organization: Questions to Ask First

AI is no longer the future of work — it’s the present. And it’s not just ChatGPT. AI is quietly (and sometimes loudly) integrated into nearly every tech tool and platform we use in both our work and personal lives.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change, you're not alone. Leaders everywhere are asking the same questions:

• Who’s in charge of managing AI use in our organization?

• What tools are being used — and which ones should we support?

• How do we introduce AI without creating chaos or risk?

Maybe you’ve been asked to start building an AI strategy — or maybe you want to, but don’t know where to start.

Here’s the good news: You can ask ChatGPT to do it. 😉

However, before you do that, you need to understand your organization's readiness for AI. You don’t need to be an engineer or a technologist to create a thoughtful, responsible strategy for AI adoption. You just need to ask the right questions.

What is an AI strategy and why does it matter?

An AI strategy is your organization’s plan for how it will use artificial intelligence in a way that aligns with your goals, values, and operations. It’s not just about picking the right tools — it’s about how your team adopts AI, why you’re doing it, the problem it solves, and who is involved in the process:

• Why are we using AI?

• What problems are we solving?

• Who is involved in the decision-making process?

• How will we use AI safely, ethically, and effectively?

A good AI strategy includes:

• 🔁 Where AI can improve workflows, decision-making, or efficiency

• 📋 Clear policies for ethical and secure usage

• 🛠️ Training and enablement for employees

• 🤝 Accountability and leadership buy-in

• ❤️ A culture that supports experimentation and iteration

Who should be involved in building an AI strategy?

Everyone. But especially those closest to your people and your culture.

While IT or innovation teams often lead the technical side of AI, don’t overlook the vital role of HR, People & Culture teams, or employee experience leaders. Here's why:

• AI impacts people first. From recruiting and onboarding to communication and performance, AI will change how people work — and how they feel about it.

• HR owns culture. They can help ensure AI is adopted in a way that aligns with your values and doesn’t create fear or confusion.

• Policies and training often live in HR. They can lead enablement efforts and help draft fair, inclusive usage guidelines.

• The human lens matters. Just because something can be automated doesn’t mean it should be. HR can help evaluate what should be left to people.

Why HR should have a seat at the AI table

In the Globalization Partners 2025 AI at Work Report, 74% of U.S.-based HR leaders said they’re adopting AI more quickly than other departments.  

Why?

Because the HR workload is massive – they're the backbone of every organization. They manage evolving workforce models, intense competition for talent, the growing complexity of employee engagement and culture...and that just scratches the surface.

Employees are also farther ahead with AI; many of them already using AI tools in their everyday work. This means in order for companies to stay ahead, they need a holistic approach to how their whole organization can work with AI and understand the strategic value it brings to everyone.  

This presents a huge opportunity to HR teams who want a seat at the executive table: How can AI help HR and team leaders scale organizations while ensuring alignment with company goals?

HR isn’t just a stakeholder in this conversation — they’re a critical driver of success.  

Carmen Barboza, Chief Human Resources Officer at Crowell & Moring LLP said it best:

“AI is not here to take away jobs, it’s here to get jobs done.”

AI isn’t just an IT project. It’s a people project. And that means HR should have a seat at the table.  

How to build a successful AI strategy

Before you start building out your AI strategy (or asking ChatGPT to do it), find the answers to these questions:

1. 🤖 Tech Inventory: What’s Already in the Mix?

The first step is figuring out what and where AI is already part of your organization — officially and unofficially.

Questions to ask:

• Are AI tools already being used (officially or not)?

• Is there AI baked into your existing tech stack?

• Are employees using ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or other AI tools independently, without guidance?

• Do employees understand what AI can and can’t do — or is it all mystery and hype?

• Are any teams (like marketing or IT) already experimenting with AI on their own?

Why this matters: You might be surprised to find AI is already in use across your organization. Understanding the current landscape will help you make smarter decisions about what to expand, regulate, or retire.  

Note: to get honest feedback from your team you must first set the tone that you’re asking the questions from a place of curiosity and learning and not to reprimand people who are using AI today.  

2. 🤝 Leadership Alignment: Who’s on Board?

Before building any strategy, you need to make sure all leaders are on board and on the same page.

Questions to ask:

• Is there a leader (or task force) currently overseeing internal AI initiatives?

• What’s the exec team’s general stance on AI? Are they curious? Cautious? Confused?

• Are any leaders already using AI tools personally (e.g., for writing emails or analyzing data)?

• Has leadership committed any resources (budget, time, training) to AI exploration?

Why this matters: Without leadership buy-in, your strategy won’t go far. Understanding their sentiment can help you position your proposal effectively and build the case for investment.

3. ⚖️ Policy & Risk: Are Guardrails in Place?

AI may be exciting, but it’s also risky — especially when it comes to ethics, bias, and data privacy. You can’t afford to skip the policy piece.

Questions to ask:

• Does your organization have any formal guidelines around AI use?

• Have legal or compliance teams weighed in on any tools or practices currently in place?

• Do employees know what data is safe (or unsafe) to enter into AI platforms?

• Have you considered the potential bias, discrimination, or ethical risks associated with AI use?

• Is there a clear process to approve or reject new AI tools?

Why this matters: AI without boundaries can lead to serious compliance issues, reputational risk, or employee mistrust. Having guardrails in place ensures you build a strategy that's safe and scalable.

4. 🚨 Appetite for Change: Are You Ready to Experiment?

Even the best AI strategy will fall flat if your culture isn’t ready for it.

Questions to ask:

• Has your organization already gone through major changes in the past 6–12 months?

• Are employees energized and curious about new tools — or burnt out and change-averse?

• Is it psychologically safe for employees to test, fail, and learn from new tools?

• Are there examples of small pilot programs or agile initiatives that have worked recently?

• If you launched an AI pilot tomorrow, would you expect excitement or resistance?

Why this matters: AI adoption isn’t just a tech project — it’s a culture shift. Assessing your organization's capacity for change helps you determine how fast (or slow) to move.

Building your AI strategy in ChatGPT: try this prompt

Use this simple prompt in ChatGPT (or another AI tool) to help create a strategy outline tailored to your organization:

Prompt:
“I work at a [describe your company: size, industry, location]. We want to build an internal AI strategy that’s responsible and effective. Our goals are [insert goals: e.g., reducing admin work, supporting innovation, improving decision-making].

Can you help me outline a strategy by walking me through:

• What questions to ask internally

• How to assess our current tech and usage

• How to get leadership buy-in

• How to create policies and training

• The best way to start with a small pilot program?”

Pro tip: The more context you provide, the better the output will be — and you can always iterate from there. This is also where the answers to the questions above will come in handy when building out your AI strategy.

Start with awareness, then take action

You don’t need to be an AI expert to build an effective AI strategy. You just need to ask the right questions, listen carefully to the answers, and build your plan around what your organization really needs — not what everyone else is doing.

Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll be in a much stronger position to:

• 🎯 Identify priority use cases for AI in your organization

• 🤝 Advocate for leadership support and budget

• 📋 Create clear, safe policies for AI usage

• 🛠️ Design pilot programs that match your culture and appetite for change

Start by being curious, cautious, and collaborative.  Ask the right questions, understand your current landscape, engage the right people, and move at a pace your culture can handle.