Dr. Erkan Hassan

Monthly Writings

Evaluations and reviews of the latest in the field.

How to Build an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence

After reading this article, you will be able to list the benefits of having an AI Center of Excellence and how to go about developing it.

SUMMARY:

  • Artificial intelligence is a powerful and permanent aspect of healthcare.

  • Most organizations (healthcare systems and businesses) have an inconsistent approach to AI.

  • An AI Center of Excellence helps focus expertise and resources, aiding in the alignment with strategic goals for consistent deployments.

COMMON PAIN POINTS

  • 25% of organizations do not have a formal process for their AI systems

  • 80% of organizations lack an AI strategic roadmap

  • Organizations without an AI Center of Excellence:

    • Delayed project launches

    • 30% have higher technology costs

    • 40% have coinciding AI projects

REVIEW

  • The goals of an AI Center of Excellence are to:

    • Oversight & governance

    • Accelerate AI adoption

    • Develop and manage AI strategy across business functions of the organization

  • The main responsibilities of the AI Center of Excellence are:

    • Create the AI vision, strategy and roadmap

    • Provide governance and oversight

    • AI Architecture for platform and infrastructure

    • Scale AI across the organization

    • Foster AI talent and capabilities

    • Communicate and educate stakeholders

       

Organizational Design Models

  • Centralized – Single team manages all AI projects

  • Hybrid – Core Center of Excellence with satellite units

  • Integration with business units – Bridge Center of Excellence and business units

Building Optimal AI Center of Excellence

  • Assess organizational AI maturity

    • Audit state of AI capabilities

  • Executive Sponsor & Buy-In

    • Cross Functional Interdisciplinary Team

    • Data scientists

    • Machine Learning Engineers

    • AI Strategists

    • Project Managers

    • SME’s

  • Develop AI Strategic Roadmap

    • 3 year timeline horizon

    • Establish timeline

    • AI adoption to business strategy

    • Market trends

  • Institute Policies & Procedures

    • Considerations for AI lifecycle

    • Lifecycle includes: idea, data collection, model development, testing, monitoring, maintenance.

  • Build reusable capabilities

  • Cultivate internal talent

  • Measure ROI and Impact

    • Metrics tied to KPIs

    • Revenue

    • Cost

    • Continuous evaluation

    • Ability to pivot as needed

Savvy Approaches

  • An AI Center of Excellence aids organizations to:

    • Decrease redundant efforts across departments

    • Increase AI adoption through standardized practices

    • Optimize the AI investment

    • Ensure consistent governance

  • The Center of Excellence can help with organizational excellence

    • Centralized AI expertise and best practices

    • Track ROI

    • Knowledge share among teams

  • The AI Center of Excellence provides a competitive advantage

    • Expedite AI deployment

    • Rapid scaling

CONCLUSIONS:

  • An AI Center of Excellence leverages an organization’s expertise to achieve a competitive advantage, enterprise-wide.

  • The Center of Excellence provides strategic alignment, governance and capabilities to drive AI adoption and impact in an organized fashion.

  • The AI Center of Excellence will rapidly move from a “nice to have” to a “must-have” component for healthcare organizations.

An AI Center of Excellence will become the standard moving forward.

Several key elements must be addressed to optimize the Center of Excellence function and outcomes.

The key elements above will help program have the best CHANCE of success.

Do not leave this to chance, - let’s have a brief chat to discuss your unique situation

Erkan Hassan