Fixed-scope AI consulting sounds safe but delivers the opposite. RAND Corporation data shows over 80% of AI projects fail, and the Standish Group found agile approaches succeed at roughly 3x the rate of waterfall. Here is what mid-size companies should know.
Enterprise AI governance frameworks kill mid-size innovation through compliance theater that takes six months to approve any AI initiative. Here is how to build lightweight, NIST-aligned frameworks that accelerate safe AI adoption instead - starting with three core controls that prevent catastrophic failures while enabling teams to ship AI products weekly, not quarterly.
A RAG system that is 85% accurate but easy to use will beat one that is 95% accurate but frustrating, as MIT research on AI adoption confirms. Here is how to design AI systems that non-technical users actually adopt.
Stanford HAI reports 78% of organizations now use AI, yet most new AI consulting practices fail within a year. The winners position themselves as business problem solvers who happen to use AI, focusing on outcomes executives actually care about.
Most mid-size companies get better AI results with fractional executives at a fraction of full-time costs. With nearly 50% of executive transitions failing according to HBR research, companies under 500 employees should prove AI delivers value with strategic part-time leadership first.