Domain Expert Dropout Is Why Most AI Pilots Never Reach Production

The Common Question

Why do our AI pilots keep failing before they scale?

The Lesson in This Case

Domain experts who abandon AI pilots mid-process are the single biggest reason experiments fail to produce usable results. Organizations that keep those experts engaged – by giving them structured time, clear roles, and air cover from leadership – move from prototype to production faster and with far less rework. If your AI budget is bleeding on pilots that never scale, the bottleneck is almost certainly not the model; it's whether the people who know the work feel supported enough to stay in the room.

Originally reported by Harvard Business Review. Read the full story here.