How to select super users

There’s no such thing as an objectively good super user. A good group of super users is one that is representative of the user population and can sufficiently influence them to adopt your solution.

Factors to consider when selecting super users

There are lots of factors to consider when you’re deciding on how many super users you need and who those super users should be. Here’s a list of some of the factors you should be considering when selecting super users.

Attitudes

It might be tempting to recruit super users who are very enthusiastic about the prospect of your AI solution. They can play an important role, but your super users need to represent the full gamut of attitudes in your user population, from adversarial to advocacy and everything in-between.

You also want a blend of pessimism and optimism. Your pessimistic super users will bring a critical eye to everything, while an optimist will see the opportunities AI brings and champion them.

Availability

Being a super user takes up time, so you’ll need someone who has the capacity to support you. If your super user has work to do that is all-consuming, they’ll struggle to commit and that will hold your adoption project back.

Communication styles

Not everyone likes to be talked to in the same way. Some want the facts, blunt and fancy-free, while others want comprehensive information, with the full story behind the change. You should consider communication styles of the user population and if your super users represent it fairly.

Diversity and distribution of users

Larger user populations are often heterogeneous: users will have a variety of roles, they’ll work at various sites and potentially operate in more than one region. It’s important to understand the composition of your user population and make sure your group of super users represents this.

Domain knowledge

You’ll need to make sure there’s enough knowledge of the domain your AI covers (e.g., marketing knowledge for a recommender solution). Not everyone in your super user group has to be an expert but you need to make sure that, between all of your super users, there’s sufficient domain knowledge to design an effective AI solution.

Experience

Experience is a really important part of what your group of super users can bring. Experienced team members have seen projects fail and succeed, which can help inform how you approach adoption. But don’t be tempted to only recruit super users with lots of experience. Your super users need to represent all levels of experience, meaning you’ll ideally want at least one super user who’s relatively new to the organization, too.

Number of users

How many super users you need will depend on the size of your user population. If your user population is very small (five or fewer), it’s much more practical to treat the whole group like super users.

Popularity

How influential your super user can be will depend to an extent on how respected and well-liked they are within their team and organization. While the popularity of super users should not take priority over other factors like domain knowledge, it’s something you should consider.

Regions

If your user population is spread across multiple countries, this introduces a complexity that you’ll need to manage, like differences in language, culture, time zone and the practical challenge of delivering training in multiple regions.

Roles

If your user base consists of people from various occupations, you must ensure that this is reflected in your super user group.

Sites

If your user population operates across multiple sites in your organization, you’ll have to consider how this could impact adoption. You may consider how your super users can influence your wider user population across various sites and help deliver training.

How to work with super users

Recruiting the right super users is only part of the equation. It’s important to know how to work with them so that both the project and your super users get the most out of their involvement. In this final section, I’ll share some practical guidance on how to collaborate effectively with super users.

Get to know your super users

Before jumping into action with your super users, it’s important to understand them. That means understanding their role in the organization, their attitudes towards change, the dynamics of their team and what role they can play in the AI adoption project.

This is where functional leads can be really helpful. They’ll likely have a more intimate understanding of team members. If possible, try and get some one-to-one time with your super users and build a relationship with them before getting started.

Make it their moment

Playing a role in a critical moment of transformation is a real opportunity. Working with executives and technical teams to shape how your organization uses AI is something most people would be proud to have on their resumé.

Make them your trusted advisor

Super users can help shape the whole project.  Because they’re situated in your end user team, they know better than anyone how the project will be received. Make sure you consult with them regularly on every aspect of your project.

Communicate regularly

Developing an AI solution can take a long time. That means the initial hype you might drive at the beginning of your AI project might have ebbed away by the time you’re ready to go live. Make sure super users are the ones in the know, with regular updates to maintain their excitement.

Be clear about how AI will affect them

Most workers believe AI will be transformative to their organization, but how game-changing it will be depends on the solution. Often AI solutions will deliver incremental benefits, like a 2% increase in margin. To any business leader, this is huge. But it might not feel like a big deal to your super user if it doesn’t directly impact their role.

Collect a mixture of structured and unstructured feedback

Structured feedback on your AI solution is critical because it’s easy to categorize and act on. There is a drawback though: it’s often collected via surveys. This can feel impersonal, when a change as significant as AI can feel very personal.

Try to use a mix of surveys and meetings with your super users to collect feedback. This will help you to maintain and strengthen your relationships with super users, while collecting actionable feedback.

Building the case for AI adoption

Like most of your colleagues, executives will have lots of questions and concerns that need to be addressed before they’re all in. The good news is that once you’ve got them onboard, getting the rest of the business bought-in becomes easier. But business executives are very busy with business.

Their time is valuable so, before you approach them asking for budget or buy-in, it’s important to prepare a compelling business case for AI adoption. Here are three tips to help you build the case for AI adoption:

1. Understand your business’ goals

Before approaching executives and budget decision-makers, you should have a solid understanding of your business’ goals and priorities. People generally think AI is quite cool. Sometimes, this perception can be positive when it comes to buy-in. But it does come with a drawback when dealing with executives.

They’re sometimes suspicious of our motivations when we want budget or buy-in for AI, worrying we’re looking for a cool new toy. Coming to the table with a demonstrable understanding of your business’ strategy and a clear vision of how your AI project will help your business deliver its goals can make a big difference in how executives perceive your request.

2. Identify pain points

Identify specific pain points or challenges within the organization that AI can address. These could range from operational inefficiencies to customer service improvements. By framing AI as a solution to these problems, it becomes easier to make a compelling case for its adoption.

It’s really important to identify pain points that are particular to the executive you’re pitching to. As an executive, they may have a vested interest in seeing the business succeed. But you’ll find getting buy-in much easier when they can see how AI could address their personal pain points.

3. Provide ROI projections

Executives are often inundated with requests for support. So when it comes to getting support, you’re not going to be the only person asking for budget and buy-in. You have to find a way to make sure your request can stand out among competing pitches.

This is why return on investment (ROI) projections are so important. ROI projections give executives an objective idea of how valuable your project can be. But often with AI adoption, the promise of ROI lies so far in the future that executives are hesitant to give their support. This is why it can be beneficial to partner with an AI company with proven solutions that can deliver results in weeks, not years.

Communicating the vision and benefits of AI

AI is still surrounded by myth and mystery. AI is a specialist area, so it’s not surprising that many people know very little about it. And what people do know about AI is often informed by newspaper headlines and fiction. While this generates a lot of interest in AI, it means there’s a lot of education to be done on what AI is, how it actually works and the kind of benefits it can deliver to most businesses.

Communicating the vision and benefits of AI is more than myth-busting, though. To get your business onboard with AI adoption, you have to tell a compelling story to the right stakeholders. Here are five tips to help you:

1. Educate stakeholders

As I mentioned earlier, most people know very little about AI. That’s why it’s so important to help key stakeholders and decision-makers in your business understand AI. Sharing accessible content with stakeholders is a great way to help educate them on AI. When sharing information, it’s important to focus on content that’s accessible and relevant to your stakeholders.

So rather than sharing content from technical resources, send your colleagues content from people like them. For instance, if you’re sharing AI content with a supply chain leader, try and find articles, podcasts or videos by supply chain leaders, who can talk about the benefit they’ve got from AI, in a way your people like them can understand. If you’re looking for helpful videos about AI that you can share, check out these videos from Peak’s AI summit AltitudeX. 

As interest in AI increases, you might want to provide more interactive forms of content. For instance hosting  lunch and learn sessions, where you can explain AI but also take questions from your audience. This way you can find out what their knowledge gaps, but also identify and address any concerns they might have.

2. Tell a great story

Having a compelling business case is important, but how you present that business case is just as important. A dizzying deck of slides, containing facts and figures is unlikely to do the trick. Humans are story-driven. It’s how we relate to the world. In fact, neuroscience research has shown that when we listen to stories our brain fires in the same pattern as the person telling the story (a process called ‘neural coupling’).

But relevance matters too. The story you tell should demonstrate your understanding of the business and its strategic priorities. Your story begins with where your business is at the moment and ends with your vision for where AI could take your business. Another way you can use storytelling is showcasing how other companies, preferably in the same industry, have successfully leveraged AI to achieve their objectives.

3. Set realistic expectations

When you’re trying to convince someone to support AI adoption, it can be tempting to set sky high expectations about the benefits they’ll get from AI and how quickly those benefits will be realized. But this can be counterproductive.

Research from Gartner shows that technology innovations often follow what they call a ‘hype cycle’, where enthusiasm about technology tends to follow a distinct curve. Initially, there’s a lot of excitement about a new technology as it and its benefits are hyped up. Interest and belief in the technology starts to fall though as implementations of a technology fail to deliver on inflated expectations.

While this analysis is meant to give a high-level view about technology hype cycles on a global scale, the same thing happens at a more local level, in our own businesses. If we set unrealistic expectations about what and when AI will deliver for our business, we set the standards too high, meaning that anything less will be seen as failure. The result can be a loss of faith in AI, which can harm your business in the long-term.

4. Speak to the right people, in the right way

Perhaps the most important part of storytelling and communicating the benefits of AI is understanding your audience. It’s not just about communicating with anybody, you have to identify and communicate with the people most important in your AI adoption journey. A great way to do this is through stakeholder mapping.

Stakeholder mapping is a tool often used by project leaders to identify and analyze individuals, groups, or organizations that have an interest or influence in a project, organization, or issue. It helps you understand stakeholders’ expectations, concerns, and relationships, enabling effective engagement and management of their interests. One particularly useful stakeholder mapping tool is the Mendelow’s Matrix.

The Mendelow’s Matrix  categorizes stakeholders based on their level of interest and influence. It helps prioritize engagement efforts by identifying key stakeholders, understanding their influence, and tailoring strategies to manage relationships effectively, minimizing risks and maximizing support for organizational goals. Miro offers an excellent template to get you started, which you can find here.

5. Run pilots and proof of concepts

Consider starting with pilots or proof of concepts to demonstrate the technology’s value without significant upfront investments. Pilots and proofs of concept give you the chance to showcase AI’s potential without needing huge upfront investments. Successfully executing these pilot initiatives builds credibility and trust with executives, making it easier to ask for support for larger AI projects in the future. 

At Peak, we believe it’s generally better to start small on your AI journey. Rather than trying to transform your whole business in one programme, start with a single use case as a single project. 

Once one use case has been implemented and is delivering value, you’ll find it much easier in the future to ask for support and budget. This is what we call the ‘modular’ approach to AI adoption. You can learn about the modular approach and much more by downloading our ebook, the Ultimate Guide to AI Adoption.

Securing the budget for AI adoption

To deliver an AI adoption project in your business, you’ll need to secure some budget. Asking for money is awkward in pretty much any context. Luckily, overcoming that awkwardness in business can be a little easier. Here are four tips to help you get the budget you need:   

1. Present a cost-benefit analysis

When you’re looking to secure budget for AI adoption, it’s crucial to speak the language of executives, which often revolves around profitability. This is why presenting a detailed cost-benefit analysis is so important. This analysis should cover various aspects, including the initial investment required, ongoing operational costs, and the anticipated returns over time. 

By painting a comprehensive picture of the financial implications, you’re able to demonstrate the tangible value proposition of AI adoption. Additionally, it’s beneficial to align the analysis with strategic objectives, illustrating how AI can contribute to long-term growth, efficiency gains, and competitive advantage. Ultimately, the goal is to instill confidence in decision-makers by showcasing the clear and measurable benefits of AI adoption.

2. Align with each executive’s financial goals

In a business, each executive will typically have financial goals that they’re specifically accountable for delivering. When you’re making the case for AI adoption to executives, it’s important to understand their financial goals. By understanding each executive’s financial goals, you can demonstrate how AI can help them deliver them.

Ensure that AI investments align with the organization’s overall financial strategy. Highlight how AI can contribute to revenue growth or cost reduction, making it an attractive proposition for budget allocation.

3. Funding sources

When considering funding options for AI adoption, it’s best to have a number of potential funding sources. These may include capital budgets, operational budgets, or dedicated technology or innovation budgets. 

Each funding source will have its own nuances, so it’s crucial to tailor your approach accordingly. Assess the organization’s financial structure and available resources to determine the most suitable funding avenue. 

By diversifying funding sources and aligning them with the specific needs and objectives of AI projects, you increase the likelihood of securing the budget you need to support successful AI adoption.

4. Leverage denomination bias

When it comes to spending money, people are less likely to support one request for a large sum of money over multiple request for smaller amounts — even if the total is the same. This is what psychologists call ‘denomination bias’.

Executives are more likely to sign off smaller amounts of money because it feels less risky than a large sum. If you approach an executive where you’ve used a small amount of money to deliver great value, they’ll likely be more receptive to your request.

This is another area where the modular approach to AI adoption we mentioned earlier comes into play, where you start small with a single use case and continue adopting AI solutions until your whole business has adopted AI.

Ask the experts

Securing budget and buy-in for AI adoption can be tricky. It’s hard to estimate the costs and even more difficult to predict how much value AI can add to your company. We’re Peak. We provide AI applications for supply chain management, merchandising and pricing that have been proven to provide commercial benefit in weeks, not years.

If you want help with your AI adoption ambitions, reach out to us. If you want to learn more about AI adoption, you can download our ebook, the Ultimate Guide to AI Adoption or read real life case studies who we’ve worked with to deliver game-changing results from AI.