“AI investments must resonate in the boardroom. If you can’t confidently tie them to revenue growth, cost savings, or competitive advantage, you’re not driving strategy—you’re funding an experiment.”
– Justin Robbins, Founder & Principal Analyst at Metric Sherpa
Understanding AI for Enterprise Leaders
Advancements in artificial intelligence, including generative AI, have ushered in a new way of working, transforming nearly every role, function, and industry. From task automation to decision-making, AI’s potential seems limitless; and yet, we’re only beginning to explore its full impact.
Across industries—banking and financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and beyond—organizations are embracing AI to enhance efficiency, optimize operations, and improve service quality. By automating repetitive tasks, AI allows human workers to focus on areas where their expertise is essential. A 2024 Gartner study identified up to 40 different use cases per industry, highlighting the immense business value AI adoption can bring.
However, while AI’s capabilities continue to expand, not all solutions live up to the hype.
Many companies promise transformation but fail to deliver tangible value. For enterprise leaders, the challenge is not just adopting AI; it’s knowing which solutions will drive meaningful business outcomes.
This brief guide is designed to help enterprise leaders navigate the complexities of AI evaluation and adoption. You’ll find insights on identifying high-impact use cases, evaluating ROI, and prioritizing initiatives that align with your business goals. We’ll also walk through key considerations for assessing AI vendors, helping you separate real value from hype and ensuring your investment leads to tangible, measurable outcomes.
Why Now?
Generative AI adoption spiked in 2024, the year organizations, according to a McKinsey Global Survey, “truly began using —and deriving business value from—this new technology.” The number of respondents who reported regularly using generative AI at their organizations doubled compared to the firm’s 2023 study.
As technology vendors race to develop and release the latest AI tools, enterprises are in a parallel race to adopt the right solutions, balancing speed with strategic decision-making to maintain a competitive edge. Those who fail to integrate AI effectively risk falling behind, while those who make informed choices stand to unlock significant business value. It’s become evident that AI is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a necessity for efficiency, innovation, and growth.
“Change management is essential for AI deployment in customer service, whether for short-term initiatives or long-term strategies. It ensures that both customers and employees are adequately prepared for a smooth transition. By addressing potential resistance and providing training, organizations can enhance user acceptance and satisfaction.”
– Colleen Beers, CX Global Executive
What AI Can Do for You: Types of AI Applications
AI is transforming enterprises by addressing key business priorities, from customer experience to workforce engagement and beyond. Below is a breakdown of AI applications and how they deliver value through specific use cases.
🔑 Key Takeaways
How to make the most out of your AI solutions
🔑 AI Should Align with Business Goals
AI adoption must align with your organization’s core business objectives, such as improving customer satisfaction, reducing operational costs, or boosting employee engagement. AI initiatives should directly support these goals to maximize impact.
🔑 Prioritize High-Impact Use Cases
Identify high-impact use cases that will drive ROI. As AI continues to evolve, enterprises should evaluate solutions based on their ability to solve specific challenges and deliver measurable results. Prioritize use cases with clear value to your business.
🔑 Focus on Tangible Business Outcomes
Look for AI applications that promise tangible business outcomes. Avoid vendors that offer vague solutions that don’t address specific uses cases or can’t present proven results. Evaluate solutions based on their ROI potential and proven ability to tackle challenges.
🔑 Ongoing Training and Change Management Are Essential
Successful AI adoption can be a significant pain point for some organizations. To overcome this, employees must be trained to use AI tools effectively, and businesses need a strategy to ensure smooth integration. When your workforce feels confident in adopting AI, you unlock the potential for sustainable, long-term success.
Outlining an AI strategy requires careful evaluation and strategic planning. With a vast range of AI applications available on the market, enterprise leaders must determine which use cases to prioritize and how to select the right vendor for their organization. This section provides a structured approach to assessing AI opportunities, ensuring investments align with business goals, and avoiding common pitfalls.
Choosing the right AI use cases starts with a simple way to evaluate them. The AI Use Case Prioritization Matrix helps you categorize opportunities and determine where to start.
How To Assess Which Use Cases to Prioritize
When categorizing use cases, focus on:
Ease of Implementation: How difficult is it to roll out? Does it require major changes, or can it be integrated smoothly?
Business Value: What kind of impact will it have? Will it drive revenue, boost efficiency, or enhance customer experience in a meaningful way?
Here’s how to read the matrix:
High Business Value, Hard to Implement: Complex but strategic AI initiatives that require significant resources and time to deploy. However, when successfully implemented, they can drive transformational, long-term impact for your organization.
High Business Value, Easy to Implement: These are ideal use cases—high-impact solutions that can be deployed with minimal effort, delivering quick and meaningful business value.
Low Business Value, Easy to Implement: These low-hanging fruit AI use cases are simple to implement but provide only moderate value. While they may not be game changers for your business, they can still offer improvements with minimal investment.
Low Business Value, Hard to Implement: These high-effort, low-reward use cases consume resources without delivered meaningful ROI and should therefore be avoided.
“AI success isn’t just about speed—it’s about alignment. The real impact comes when every stakeholder, from IT to operations to the C-suite, is driving toward shared business outcomes. Without cross-functional coordination, even the best AI won’t move the needle where it matters.”
– Justin Robbins, Founder & Principal Analyst at Metric Sherpa
How To Evaluate and Select an AI Vendor
Understanding Security
As enterprises accelerate their adoption of generative AI, security risks must be a top priority. Many organizations unknowingly expose themselves to data breaches, regulatory violations, and AI-driven biases by using unvetted AI tools. A structured security approach ensures that AI adoption enhances business operations without compromising sensitive data or customer trust.
Organizations must prioritize privacy-first AI solutions with enterprise-grade security, clear data ownership policies, and regulatory compliance. Contracts should include data processing agreements, content moderation policies, and transparency on AI decision-making to prevent unauthorized access, misuse, or unintended biases.
Beyond vendor selection, enterprises should actively govern AI usage by implementing strict access controls, employee training, and real-time risk mitigation strategies. Security frameworks should include bias detection, AI red teaming, and continuous monitoring to safeguard against vulnerabilities. By embedding security into AI adoption from the start, businesses can unlock AI’s full potential while maintaining compliance, trust, and ethical responsibility.
Conclusion
As enterprises integrate AI into their operations, the key to success lies in strategic decision-making and execution. Leaders should prioritize the right use cases, partner with vendors who align with their vision, and ensure robust security, compliance, and scalability. AI’s potential is vast, but it’s important for organizations to move beyond the hype and focus relentlessly on measurable outcomes.
Download the full Guide
Trusted by leading enterprises:
Request a Free Demo
Natalie Roth VP, Corporate Marketing
Natalie Roth brings over 15 years of experience in brand and product marketing for SaaS solutions. Before joining Centrical, she was Senior Product Marketing Manager at Frontline Education, where she led go-to-market strategies for enterprise K-12 solutions and played a key role in integrating and positioning products following multiple acquisitions.
Previously, Natalie served as Director of Marketing at Accelify Solutions, where she drove marketing strategy, new product launches, and customer communications. She played a pivotal role in business growth, expanding market presence, and deepening client engagement, contributing to the company’s success and eventual acquisition by Frontline Education.
Natalie holds a BA in Creative Writing and Digital Media from New York University, graduating magna cum laude.
Linat Mart
VP, Product Management
Linat Polak Mart has more than 15 years of expertise in managing product strategy and operations in high-volume organizations.Previously, she held the role of Head of Product Experience and Communications for LivePerson, a leading Conversational AI platform, where she played crucial part in delivering significant product innovation and customer growth. Prior to her time at LivePerson, she held multiple senior product roles at NICE, a leading enterprise customer experience (CX) software provider, including Director of Product Portfolio and Director of Product Management.
Linat holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Computer Science from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya). She graduated magna cum laude from both institutions.
“CX leaders should stop isolating contact centers from other departments. Customer experience is increasingly cross-functional. In 2025, integrating CX insights across the organization will be critical to delivering seamless and cohesive experiences.”
Tompkins comes to Centrical with more than 25 years of experience in software and hardware sales. Prior to joining his role as Chief Revenue Officer at Centrical, he was CEO at Workspot. He held the position of Chief Revenue Officer at IGEL as well as senior sales leadership positions with Red Hat, Hewlett Packard (now Hewlett Packard Enterprise), and Citrix.
Tompkins holds an MBA in Business Administration and Management from the University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and served in the US Navy as a Nuclear Propulsion Technician.
“To start, give customers a choice: digital or live support. And if they go digital first and can’t get what they want, make it super-easy for them to connect to a live agent.”
“Knowledge Management: It is not exactly underrated but it will be bigger than what it is in 2025. Vendors are likely to boost R&D investment in knowledge management for contact centers in 2025.”
“Human-centered AI, where AI is used not just to automate and drop money to the bottom line, but used to service up insights to support team members and delight customers. I see generative AI with conversational context and tonal analysis as pretty critical here.”
“The future? Goodness, there’s so much, but I really believe 2025 is the year of community. We’re not just taking tickets anymore—folks we’re drawing people in, getting proactive, and co-creating with customers. Community will become a normal service channel, with customer service workers facilitating and adding value.”
“The myth that technology/AI is a quickly implemented CX superpower. Companies will realize that we can’t harness a lot of these gains without quality data that is clean and well-organized.”
“By 2025 the buzzword omnichannel may be on its’ last leg. Customers want their issues resolved quickly and accurately and they would prefer not to need to contact us in multiple channels that we can see at one time.”
“For 2025, the main trend I’m watching is ‘AI agents’—bots powered by AI that are becoming more autonomous. Unlike basic responses, these AI agents can handle end-to-end customer interactions, reducing the need for human intervention. Expect significant developments from vendors.”
“Stop talking about AI. It’s like talking about the internet being a thing. It’s here. The better focus is start thinking about how AI enhances the lives of your team. So stop talking about AI and start doing something about it.”
“AI and CX will drive hyper-personalization, using consumer data to segment customers, deliver key messages, and provide fast, accurate responses. Technologies like chatbots and predictive analytics will close the gap between brands and consumers.”
“The blending of CX and EX will accelerate. The days of reducing friction for customers at the expense of employees are over. Indeed, because AI-enabled customer experiences often require AI usage by customer-facing employees, leaders will have to ensure a frictionless work experience to drive AI adoption and deliver value.”
One myth that will be debunked in 2025?: “Customers are on the edge of their seat waiting to hear what you have to say. We need to learn about what’s important to customers by asking more questions.”
Doron is a seasoned R&D professional with a a deep expertise in SaaS and enterprise software. He leads product development at Centrical. Prior to joining the company, he was Director of R&D at Tipalti, where he was part of the team that designed and developed the Tiplati product and the infrastructure it uses. Prior to that he was Director of R&D Sensor Management, which joined from Orsus, which was acquired by Nice Systems. Prior to that he held various R&D positions at Orsus. Doron holds a B.Sc in Computer Science from the Tel Aviv Yafo Academic College and a MBA degree from the University of Tel Aviv.
Gal Rimon
Founder and CEO
Gal founded Centrical (previously GamEffective) in 2013, with the vision of helping companies empower their employees’ performance, making them the center of business success.Prior to that he was CEO of Gilon-Synergy Business Insight, a national leader in Business Intelligence. In 2010, Gilon-Synergy was acquired by Ness Technologies (NASDAQ:NSTC) and Gal went on to serve as Senior VP at Ness, and was member of its executive management.
Prior to that he was VP customer relations and operations at Deloitte Consulting. He also worked at EDS and Bashan. He holds a MBA degree in Marketing and Information Technologies from the Tel Aviv University.
Daphne Saragosti
Chief Customer Officer
Daphne has over 15 years of experience in Customer Relations and Retention in both B2B and B2C environments. Her area of expertise is leading customer success, consulting and global professional services teams within public and private sector companies. She is focused on leading teams to grow the partnership with our clients.
Prior to Centrical, Daphne worked software and service companies in the online marketing and gaming industry.
Daphne holds MA in Statistics – Specialization in Operations Research and a MBA degree, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Ella Davidson
VP Global HR
Ella Davidson is responsible for managing Centrical’s employee relations worldwide, including organizational development, talent management, benefits and recruitment. Ella has more than 18 years of human resources management experience. Prior to joining Centrical she was vice president of human resources at myThings and OpTier – leading SW companies, and consulted numerous entrepreneurs and startups in the Israeli hi-tech industry and Israel and in the US.Ella holds a B.A in Psychology from the Hebrew University and MSc in Organizational Behavior from Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.
Ariel Herman
VP Research and Development
Ariel has over 16 years’ experience in a wide variety of R&D leadership roles. He is highly experienced at building R&D teams from the ground up, driving high levels of accountability and ownership and setting up automation infrastructures. For the past 10 years Ariel has managed both in-house and offshore development teams at companies ranging from startups to enterprise organizations.
Prior to joining Centrical, Ariel served as VP of R&D at Worthy.com where his team dramatically improved product stability, quality and execution. Before that, he was VP R&D at Applicaster where he led infrastructure changes from project to product. Ariel has also held various R&D positions at Retalix (later acquired by NCR).
Ariel holds B.sc in Computer science & Math, and MBA degree in Information Technologies, both from Bar Ilan University
Ronen Botzer
CFO
Ronen is a Finance and Business Development executive with 20+ years of leadership experience in startups and global companies across all aspects of management. He has direct experience with companies in the areas of software, services and capital equipment, including fund raising as well as M&As across different continents. Ronen is a CPA and holds an LLM degree from Bar Ilan university and B.A in business administration from the College of Business Management.
See a Preview
Employee Performance Experience Bundle
Get access to these Employee Performance Experience assets: ePX Definitive Guide, Cheat Sheet, and Engagement Index. All delivered to your Inbox.
Onboarding One-Pager
Transform Onboarding with the AI Copilot Built for Frontline Teams
Quality Management One-Pager
Find out how you can deliver better customer experiences in this one-pager
Performance Management One-Pager
Learn what’s possible with Centrical’s Performance Management Platform
Coaching One-Pager
Learn how you can leverage Centrical’s Coaching capabilities to scale frontline manager impact.
Watch Contact Center Demo
See how Centrical Boosts Contact Center Agents’ Performance
Watch Sales Demo
See how Centrical Boosts Sales Performance
Voice of Employee One-Pager
Learn how you can keep your frontline emotionally connected, motivated, and productive, wherever they work.
Gamification One-Pager
Learn all about Gamification and how you can benefit from it to proactively engage your frontline, from anywhere.
Engage and motivate your frontline teams
Improve performance with an AI-powered digital coach
Deliver world class CX with dynamic, actionable quality evaluations
Boost performance with personalized, actionable goals
Nurture employee success with the power of AI
Listen and respond to your frontline, continuously
Drive productivity with performance-driven learning that sticks
Drive agent efficiency, deliver client results
Keep tech teams motivated and proficient on products and services while exceeding targets
Maintain compliance while building customer happiness and loyalty
Enlighten energy teams to boost engagement
Engage, develop, and retain your agents while driving better CX
Improve the employee experience for your reservations and service desk agents
Natalie Roth
Linat Mart
Doron Neumann
Gal Rimon
Daphne Saragosti
Ella Davidson
Ariel Herman
Ronen Botzer