3 Objectives and use cases

To decide what use cases there maybe for Gen AI it is important to determine your objectives and think about what success looks like for your organisation.

If, for example, your objective is to enhance productivity, what metrics will you use to decide if GenAI makes your organisation more productive. But be mindful of the unintended consequences − productivity may rise, but staff morale may drop, so it is important to have a holistic perspective on technology adoption.

Once you understand your objectives, map GenAI capabilities to specific business objectives and identify clear use cases for GenAI. For example, the London Stock Exchange System wanted to improved productivity and provide more consistent answers to customer queries so it is using AI to support its customer service team to answer questions more quickly and more consistently (World Economic Forum, 2025).

In the eighth course, Preparing for tomorrow: horizon scanning and AI literacy, we discuss the Gartner Hype Cycle and although there is a lot of discussion around GenAI, the World Economic Forum (2025) report that AI adoption is still in its early stages, and many organisations are only starting to explore AI or have single use cases. We are still in the experimentation phase and while the technology is developing rapidly and offers significant potential, organisations should avoid feeling pressured to adopt GenAI tools to quickly. Rushing into implementation without proper research, planning and consideration of the risks can lead to unintended consequences – whether legal, ethical or operational.

Instead, organisations should take a measured approach: explore and experiment but prioritise understanding how GenAI fits within their specific context. Careful planning and informed decision-making are essential to ensure that the technology delivers value and aligns with organisational goals. Be aware of some of the potential negative impacts that might flag that AI is not an appropriate solution such, as the loss of expertise, reducing human interaction or becoming over dependent on technology.

If GenAI is an appropriate solution to address the problem you have identified, then consider whether you buy an off-the-shelf solution, build a GenAI application in-house or outsource, or partner with a technology company to develop a bespoke solution. It is important to speak to vendors and do research and due diligence.

As part of the process you will need stakeholder engagement and you should bring together all parts of the organisation – operations, IT, HR, etc. to consider and plan the implementation of GenAI. You might form a working group to support the process of considering how the tool will align with your strategy and existing policies, and you may want to consider involving users of your service or including the public voice in your decisions.

In the fourth course, Use cases for Generative AI, we will consider how to include the public voice in AI decision-making. You could explore working with other organisations to share knowledge, resources and buying power.