The last major IT revolution—cloud computing—promised us everything: lower costs, faster delivery, and innovation at scale. In many ways, it delivered. But for others, it brought unexpected complexity, spiraling budgets, and hasty retreats to hybrid or on-prem solutions. We’re now facing the same inflection point—only this time, it’s AI on the table.

AI is everywhere. Executive boards are asking, vendors are calling, and competitors are claiming early wins. The pressure to "do something with AI" is real. But just as “cloud-first” became “cloud regret” for some, “AI-first” may quickly become “AI regret” if we don’t lead with intention. Main Street Technical Services provides AI enablement support to help businesses with this transition. Keep reading for more on our methodology.

Don’t Chase the Trend—Lead with Strategy

AI can drive real business outcomes—but only if you take a smarter approach to AI strategy. That means grounding your roadmap in measurable use cases, preparing your data, and creating the right infrastructure for long-term value.

Too many organizations are jumping into AI with no clear vision for what success looks like—or how to get there. Ask yourself:

• What problem are we solving?

• Is AI the best tool for the job?

• Do we have the data maturity to support this?

• How will we measure ROI?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of deploying AI “because everyone else is doing it.” But as we saw with the cloud, a lack of strategic clarity can lead to wasted spend, stalled adoption, and skepticism from both leadership and end users.

A Smarter Approach to AI Starts Here

At Main Street Technical Services, we believe successful AI adoption doesn’t begin with technology—it starts with thoughtful planning and alignment. A smarter approach to AI includes:

Start Small, Think Big

Run focused AI pilot projects that can validate use cases before investing at scale:

• Invest in Data Readiness: Your models are only as good as your data. Clean, governed, and well-structured data is the foundation.

• Understand the Economics: AI isn’t plug-and-play. It requires compute, talent, and a clear cost model.

• Bridge the Skills Gap: Combine domain knowledge with data science. Train your teams and foster collaboration across disciplines.

• Establish Governance Early: Data privacy, bias, and explainability are not just IT issues—they’re enterprise risks.

Avoiding Another Cloud Hangover

Cloud technology didn’t fail us—our expectations did. We treated it like a silver bullet instead of a long-term transformation. The same applies to AI. Without the right leadership, governance, and strategy, AI initiatives will underdeliver and overcost.

This is your chance to lead with purpose. A smarter approach to AI isn’t about moving faster—it’s about moving forward with clarity, accountability, and alignment to business outcomes.

Your AI Enablement Strategy Support Team is Here

At Main Street Technical Services, we’ve spent over 25 years helping enterprise leaders navigate digital transformation across infrastructure, data, and applications. Our AI Enablement services are built to help you do the same: from training and architecture to integration, optimization, and beyond.

Don’t follow the hype. Build the roadmap.

Talk to our team about building a smarter approach to AI.