AI Is Not Digital Transformation: Why Waiting Is No Longer an Option (and Where Your Quick Wins Are)
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In every conversation with clients - mainly SMEs in Flanders - we see the same pattern. They feel that AI could mean something for their business, maybe even spark a revolution in how they deliver products or services. They see markets and customer needs shifting at lightning speed. They know they have to act, because their competitors aren’t standing still either.
But how do you get started? How do you work with AI in a practical way? Does it require massive budgets and long projects? Or should you wait a bit longer? How do you integrate AI successfully?
Start small. But start now.
I’m convinced every SME has at least three simple AI quick wins within reach - no big budgets required:
1. Automate repetitive work.
Think: generating quotes, summarizing reports, processing incoming emails.
2. Unlock internal knowledge.
An internal AI assistant that knows all your HR policies, technical sheets, and procedures -and answers employees instantly.
3. Let your first AI agents handle small but time-consuming tasks.
Early agents can already operate autonomously in narrow tasks. A drafting agent creates the first version, a validation agent checks it. These exist today, and they work.
Start small. Build experience. Experiment. You’ll learn how the tech behaves, where the pitfalls are, and where real investment is needed. Every step you take now is one your competitors will have to catch up on later.
The big blocker: Your data is a mess
Ironically, SMEs sit on mountains of data, but can’t access it. Quotes, customer questions, product info… all scattered across dusty Excel files, polluted ERP systems, and CRM fields full of duplicates.
As long as your data is fragmented and dirty, AI is powerless. It needs context.
Don’t begin with some giant IT overhaul. Start with a pragmatic cleanup. Build a simple, central place where data comes together, gets cleaned, and becomes usable.
Standing still is moving backwards
Every time a promising technology emerges — and attracts attention and investment — the same pattern returns:
- The technology improves
- Costs drop sharply
- Usage explodes
- The rules of the game change
We saw this with electricity, the internet, smartphones, and cloud. AI is next.
The question is no longer “Should we do something with this?” but “How are we going to tackle it?”
If you wait, you fall behind — especially at today’s adoption speed.
Technology isn’t the problem
The productivity promise isn’t fully realized yet. In fact, many companies barely see economic return from their AI initiatives. Where does it go wrong? The technology is available, insanely capable, and affordable.
What’s missing is critical thinking and guts.
- Guts to break open processes.
- Guts to challenge habits, responsibilities, and workflows.
- Guts to admit a big chunk of current work could be done better, faster, and more consistently.
Many businesses cling to how things “have always been done.”
But AI applied to bad processes still produces bad processes. We often choose the easy path: using AI to optimize simple tasks, while avoiding the complex use cases - even though that’s where the real value is.
This is not a technology problem. It’s mainly a people problem.
AI is not digital transformation
Classic digitization is about replacing old tools with new ones: A becomes B. A typewriter becomes Word. A taxi becomes Uber. We used to do something one way, and now we do it another. Our brain understands that.
AI adoption is more complex.
It’s closer to the arrival of the iPhone. It didn’t just replace the mobile phone; it reshaped how we bank, navigate, shop, communicate, and work. Large Language Models do the same. They don’t replace a single tool, they change how we think and operate.
To succeed with AI, companies must dare to rethink things radically:
- What can we eliminate?
- What can be automated without losing quality?
- What new services can we offer that were impossible yesterday?
It’s not about replacing. It’s about reinventing.
Conclusion
The technology is ready. The tools exist. The use cases are everywhere.
The only real question is: Do you dare to challenge your processes before your competitors do?
Think beyond the obvious. Surround yourself with experts.
As always: business must meet technology.
