Five questions to ask before your business buys an AI tool
AI tools are everywhere. Before you sign up for another subscription, these five questions will tell you whether it will actually pay off.
New AI tools launch every week, and almost all of them promise to save you hours. Some will. Many will become another unused subscription. Before you buy, ask these five questions.
1. What exact task will it replace or speed up?
“Use AI for marketing” is not a task. “Draft the first version of our weekly product captions” is. If you can’t name the task, you can’t measure whether the tool works.
2. How often does that task happen?
A tool that saves 30 minutes on something you do once a quarter is a nice-to-have. A tool that saves 10 minutes on something your team does 50 times a day changes your cost structure.
3. Where will your data go?
Customer lists, invoices, and financial statements are sensitive. Check where the vendor stores data, whether it’s used to train their models, and whether you can delete it.
4. Does it fit into the tools you already use?
The best AI tool is often the one that works inside your existing spreadsheet, WhatsApp, or ERP — not one that requires your team to copy and paste between windows.
5. Who on your team will own it?
Every tool needs an owner who sets it up, trains colleagues, and checks the output. Without one, adoption quietly fades.
Not sure how your answers stack up? An AI & Tech Advisory Briefing is a focused session designed to answer exactly these questions for your business.