The Room of Roles
Installment #2 in my experiment to give an overview of AI for employees of non-technical businesses in a 90-minute talk. I am borrowing from what I have learned in my decades of experience with decision-makers and employees, from my research, the ANA, and HBR. So far, I am sticking with the metaphor of the “House of AI”, which will have about 9 “rooms”, each a major element for success. My goal is not to overwhelm with details, but to leave people at every level of experience with something they can easily explain to others and apply in their work.
Also, pacing matters. I need to be sure I answer, in roughly 10-minute intervals, “Why does this matter to my organization?” As in my B2B pitch workshops on soft skills and business etiquette, the goal is not to educate about AI. Rather, it is to provide teams with an overview of a simple framework for delivering clarity, accountability, and ultimately success in a business project that involves AI.
Chapter 2: Roles
Right next to your personal “Front Door” to the House of AI is the room of “Roles”. Imagine the table of badges as you walk into a conference or a benefit, but instead of name tags, all the top-line roles in an AI project are there. Not every role is needed for every project, but the point of this room is all about building in mindfulness, clarifying purpose, and ensuring accountability.
This room is also crucial for starting the basic foundational conversations. What is the goal of the project? Who do we have on the team? What expertise is missing? What is the vendor’s role? In the fast-moving world of AI, a discussion about roles can be incredibly helpful. Beyond the obvious benefit of knowing who's responsible for what, roles also help spot gaps where no one is yet the owner, or where there might be an overlap.
Roles are also useful when team members join at different stages. They give new people a clear picture of who is doing what, and what all needs to be done. This clarity also communicates expertise and accountability to those outside your immediate AI team, to management and clients.
Some roles are purely internal, like “brand guardian” or "listener in chief", to ensure clients feel truly heard. Also consider "The Librarian," key to organizing, driving, and communicating all project documentation.
What other roles might you want to make sure are covered? Consider these:
Executive Sponsor: The person who can clear roadblocks and schedules, incentivize essential team members, and communicate the project's priority.
Business Owner: Defining the business goal of the project, what success looks like, and how it will be measured. Champion for the project within the larger management team.
CTO/IT: Essential for architecture, accounting for technical debt and capabilities, and knowing the relevant vendors and foundational models, or what engineers are needed.
Data Lead: the name says it all.
Ethicist: Builds out the project’s ethical compass as a foundation and process for decision-making, assuring safety, alignment, and the longevity of the deliverables.
Researcher/Writer: Handles documentation, note-taking, organization, and communicating alerts for technical changes or governance updates
Project Lead: Maps the process, leads workshops, establishes and coordinates phases, briefs consultants and vendors, and reports to the team and management.
Engineering Lead: Focuses on development, API, fine-tuning processes, ensuring transparency and observability, and managing model documentation.
Marketing: Represents Customer Experience and Brand Strategy.
Governance/Legal: Critical for insights on the legal and regulatory landscape.
CFO: Oversees the project’s fidelity to the bottom line.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list. Some individuals might wear multiple hats, and some roles could be shared, as long as one person ultimately owns the accountability. Think of the "Roles" room in the House of AI where you can grab a nametag, connect with others about their work and yours, and build the confidence to ask questions.
Why do roles genuinely matter for your business? A few key reasons:
Roles confer focus, credibility and accountability. Whether your project is for internal or external clients, these are important qualities to safeguard. They also help individuals build their resilience, helping the team, as a whole, navigate challenges and changes more effectively. They also give team members who might not normally speak up, permission to do just that when it involves their area of responsibility or they see something that needs to be addressed.
Ultimately, in the real world of an AI project, roles are vital for fostering staff and vendor participation, reducing ambiguity, and increasing accountability.