Generative AI has taken the world by storm. In less than 18 months, we've gone from experimenting with chatbots to reimagining entire industries. From law firms and universities to ecommerce brands and global manufacturers, AI is being applied to enhance experiences, optimise operations, and unlock entirely new business models.
But as the technology races ahead, one problem is becoming increasingly clear:
Businesses don’t know which tools to choose—and the cost of choosing wrong is high.
As of 2024, there are over 2,000 generative AI tools available, spanning a wide array of applications including text, image, video, audio, and code generation. While this explosion of innovation is exciting, it’s also overwhelming. Many organisations find themselves paralysed by choice or lured into picking flashy solutions that aren’t built for their specific needs.
And once the wrong choice is made, undoing it isn’t easy.
The Paralysis of Choice
With the thousands of AI tools on the market and models like OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama 3, and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 which all offer impressive (but subtly different) capabilities, it’s no wonder business leaders feel overwhelmed.
You don’t just need to pick a tool. You need to decide:
- Proprietary vs. open source?
- Cloud-hosted or self-hosted?
- Fast to deploy or deeply customisable?
- Compliance-ready or best-in-class UX?
And then there’s the data. What happens once you’ve integrated your systems, trained your team, fine-tuned the model—and realise it’s not fit for purpose?
The Risk No One Talks About: Vendor Lock-in
In traditional IT, you could test and iterate with little consequence. But generative AI is different.
Once you’ve committed to a tool or platform—feeding it your data, building workflows, training your team—you’re locked in. Switching means starting again. And for most organisations, that’s not an option. The time, cost and complexity of migration is too high.
So they stay. Even if the tool doesn’t deliver value. Even if it can’t scale. Even if it was never designed for their use case in the first place.
This is the silent risk of today’s AI gold rush: being stuck with the wrong solution because you moved too quickly or without the right guidance.
We’ve Seen It Happen
At Calls9, we work with forward-thinking organisations across sectors—from leading law firms and global networks to local consultancies, and innovation-led brands in sports, higher education and many more.
They all had the same problem: they wanted to use AI to create a strategic advantage. But they didn’t want to burn time or money on the wrong path.
That’s why we built AI Fast Lane, a structured programme to help organisations go from uncertainty to implementation, safely and quickly.
Introducing AI Fast Lane: A Better Way to Adopt AI
AI Fast Lane is designed to help you identify where AI can deliver real impact across your organisation. It enables you to build a clear, actionable GenAI strategy and playbook, and supports you in rapidly deploying secure, reliable AI solutions tailored to your needs. Most importantly, it helps you avoid costly mistakes that come from moving too fast—or in the wrong direction.
The programme is delivered in two parts:
Part 1: Define the right problems to solve
We begin by understanding your organisation—from strategic goals to operational pain points. Through one-to-one interviews with your key stakeholders, we identify:
- Where AI could transform your client experience
- Where AI could enhance the employee experience
- Where AI could open the door to new business models
From here, we map these insights to practical use cases and prioritise them based on feasibility and strategic value. We then develop your GenAI Strategy & Playbook, ensuring AI implementation is aligned to your wider objectives—not just a tech experiment.
You’ll walk away from Part 1 with:
- A clear picture of where you are and where you want to be
- A prioritised list of GenAI opportunities
- A strategic plan to move forward
Part 2: Build, test, and scale
Once the strategy is defined, we move into action. Part 2 is all about delivery.
- We design, build and deploy your AI use cases:whether that’s a chatbot, workflow automation, or an internal knowledge assistant. We’re completely technology, model and tool agnostic, meaning we focus solely on what works best for you. From evaluating options to integrating the right mix of tools, we help you choose and implement the most effective solution for your needs.
- We test and improve:gathering feedback and refining the experience continuously.
- We train and upskill your workforce: so adoption doesn’t stall, and teams feel confident using AI responsibly.
AI Fast Lane is flexible, there’s no obligation to move into Part 2. If you simply need clarity, confidence, and a roadmap to guide your own team or suppliers, Part 1 can stand alone as a powerful outcome.
Built for Leaders Who Want More Than Hype
AI Fast Lane is for leaders who understand that adopting AI is not just a checkbox exercise—it’s a strategic shift. It’s designed for those under pressure to move fast, but smartly. For teams who’ve trialled tools but seen little return. For those who care deeply about security, accuracy, and impact. And for those who know that GenAI is central to the future of their organisation, but aren’t sure where to begin.
This isn’t about chasing the latest trend. It’s about applying AI with intent—so it drives real outcomes: operational efficiency, brand differentiation, customer loyalty, and long-term resilience.
Why Waiting is the Biggest Risk of All
AI isn’t slowing down. Every month, new GenAI-native competitors are entering your market—faster, leaner, and often with lower overheads. According to Capgemini, 40% of organisations say GenAI is already forcing them to rethink their business model.
In this environment, waiting to see what happens is no longer a safe strategy. It’s a missed opportunity.
When you start your AI journey with the right structure, support, and strategy, you put your business in a position to:
- Move with confidence—not guesswork
- Choose the right tools from day one
- Build trust in AI across teams
- Deliver measurable value, quickly and sustainably
