CEO Perspective: Three key observations two years into our AI Journey

As I take a moment to reflect on the past two-plus years of our AI journey and consider the predictions I made for 2024, it’s clear that many of our initial hypotheses have come true and continue to hold. AI has not only been embraced across our industry and within our firm but has also become an integral part of many of our daily workstreams. However, this transformation does not occur in a vacuum; it’s driven by the strategic and technical rigor of our internal experts who can see the forest through the trees and apply AI to advance our deliverables, not merely for the purpose of using it.

Ultimately, AI’s true value emerges only when coupled with our peoples’ expertise —their intellectual curiosity, client-centric approach, problem-solving abilities, and strategic vision. Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, I anticipate the pace of change will continue unabated. This change will continue to better equip us to support our clients in making strategic, confident decisions.

My Observations:

1. AI Holds Immense Potential, but Maintaining Curiosity Is Key
Our team’s deep understanding and intellectual curiosity has been a significant differentiator in applying AI. I urge our teams—and our clients—to maintain this curiosity. It’s through questioning, learning, and continually sharpening our skillsets that we unlock AI’s full potential. AI isn’t perfect, and without a deep understanding of the issue that can help guide AI, it will often lead you astray.

2. Building AI in Manageable Phases Yields Greater Impact
Integrating AI into a company or delivery model is akin to constructing a house: it requires a solid foundation, followed by a methodical, brick-by-brick approach. By breaking AI implementation into smaller, manageable components, we’ve been able to focus our expertise in specialized areas, making the process more controlled and impactful. This approach has enabled us to successfully build our own AI capabilities and guide our clients in doing the same.

3. AI Will Become Ubiquitous in Everything We Do
AI will become fully integrated into everything we do – it’s already present without many even noticing. We’ll continue to see specific solutions being offered like an app or a plugins store, and custom developed solutions to create meaningful differentiation.

As a company, we have always been on a journey to continually improve and enhance our work. AI is offering a new toolbox that enables us to deliver more effective client results. By layering our human expertise on top of AI, we continue to rigorously test and refine our approaches to maximize client impact.

We actively apply our learnings and experiences to the benefit of our internal teams and our clients. This journey is just beginning, and we remain committed to guiding our clients’ AI journeys and identifying opportunities to integrate AI into their day-to-day operations.

Please reach out to learn more about our AI strategy at Putnam and explore some of the tools we’re developing, such as InizioNavigator.ai.