How do we get an AI pilot into production?

Why do AI pilots stall?#

Because nobody wrote down what "done" looks like. A pilot with no number to hit can't pass, so it can't end. It just keeps running.

Here's what stalls a pilot:

• No owner. IT ran it, but the team whose work it changes never signed up.
• No number. "It looks good" isn't a result anyone approves a budget on.
• Demo data. It worked on a clean sample. Your real systems and documents are messier.
• No access. The AI can answer a question, but it can't reset the password or change the order, because nobody connected it to the system that does.

The plan asks the rest, from when security sees it to what it costs for five thousand people instead of fifty.

Every one of those gets fixed in the scope. Write the owner, the number, the data and the access into the plan, and the pilot has somewhere to go.

Before you call anyone#

Before another AI vendor gets a meeting, the job and the number go into Clectiv AI. Then Clectiv AI runs the process: a bid to each of the providers that fit, a real competition, and you choose at the end. Call one first and you get a new demo, a new pilot, and the same stall six months from now.

Start a project

Which job should go first?#

One job that's done often, measured already, and safe to get wrong once. Pick it for how easy it is to prove, over how impressive it sounds. Run your candidates past these tests with Clectiv AI, and the plan names the one to prove first.

After-hours customer calls are often a good start. Nobody answers them today, so anything the AI handles is a gain, and a miss costs little.

Less is more. One job in production beats five in pilot. Once the first one's live and measured, the second one gets approved on the strength of it.

PolyAI, Kore.ai, boost.ai, Yellow.ai, Capacity and SoundHound AI all sell AI agents, also called conversational AI, for customer and internal work.

These are some of our AI providers that do it, and Clectiv AI runs the process for you: start a project.

We know this road. Clectiv AI runs the process that worked for other buyers, so you start where they finished. The plan goes straight to these providers, for the best pricing, terms and contract we can get on each.

What should a proposal commit to?#

A result, by a date, measured your way. If a provider won't commit to a number, you're buying another pilot.

• The target. A number and a date, like "password resets handled without a person, at the share we agree, by the end of the quarter." "Improve efficiency" isn't a target.
• How it's measured, on your data, and who reports it.
• The date it's in production, not the date the pilot starts.
• The integrations it needs to do the job, and who builds them.

Clectiv AI's plan asks the rest, from the rules on your data to what happens if it misses. One hint: tie the price to the result where it fits, per resolved ticket instead of per seat for a tool nobody uses.

Common questions#

How does Clectiv AI get this done?#

Start with Clectiv AI. Tell it what the pilot was and where it stalled. It scopes the project with you and writes your plan: what you handle today, what the AI should take, the rules, and what it costs.

Then the Clectiv team takes your plan to the AI providers that fit, all at once, through our partner network of 620+ providers. They bid for your business and compete with each other, the team pushes on terms, and you choose the one you like.

Companies like yours already climbed this. Clectiv AI runs the process we ran with them, so you start where they ended up. That's how you get the best pricing, terms and contract we can get from the providers that fit.

It's free to you, and it's days, not months. Everything we cover in AI is on the AI page.

If the bigger problem is what AI already costs you, read how to get AI spend under control.