Blog: What is your organisation’s level of AI maturity?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is described as one of the most transformative technologies for business. This quickly raises questions: Where do you start, and how can you know if your business is on the right track?

Many businesses find AI to be a large and demanding area of investment. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but the solution lies in breaking the AI journey down into manageable steps.

 

A model that makes AI easier to approach.

BDO has developed an AI maturity model based on recognised frameworks from Gartner – but adapted to Norwegian conditions. The model divides AI maturity into five levels, from curiosity to systematic use, and provides a clear roadmap for how businesses can evolve over time.

Each step in the model represents increased competence, a more strategic approach, and most importantly: greater value creation.

 

Where do Norwegian businesses stand today?

According to a recent survey conducted by BDO among business leaders in the retail sector, one in three report that their employees use AI tools in their work. Nevertheless, only one in five companies have established guidelines for their use.

In other words: many have started experimenting, but few have established structure and direction. Without clear frameworks and strategic anchoring, it is difficult to extract real value from artificial intelligence.

 

Not just for the big players

In one of our other surveys, over 80 percent of those who have adopted AI in the property sector said they are already experiencing value in the form of increased efficiency, improved data quality, and decision support. Nevertheless, only 14 percent of players have actually started using AI in practice.

There are still good opportunities to be early with an AI strategy, even if you haven’t started yet. And this doesn’t only apply to the largest companies:

Many smaller companies with manual processes and limited resources can gain significant benefits. Everything from contract review and risk analysis to project follow-up and financial administration can be streamlined – freeing up time for value-creating work.

 

AI is a maturity journey – start it now

Build competence

Identify use cases

Prepare, develop and implement

Organise and improve




Systematic work on the implementation, use, and further development of AI within the organisation














Operationalised selected use cases and created value through AI utilisation






Aware of opportunities, challenges and risks related to AI use, but has not operationalised use cases within the organisation






Experimenting with AI in the organisation, but with limited awareness of its opportunities, challenges and risks






Curious about AI and its potential, but has not yet started practical use





CREATING VALUE



How to take the next step

1. Build competence

Start by learning. Attend courses, test free tools (without entering sensitive information), and familiarise yourself with key concepts and opportunities.

2. Identify and prioritise use cases

It’s easy to make your AI strategy unnecessarily complex. Our advice is to start with the simplest approach. What can you begin using as early as tomorrow? Look for concrete, low-hanging fruit. This could include manual processes, repetitive tasks, or high-volume activities.

3. Prepare, develop and implement

Create small pilot projects with clearly defined objectives. Measure both value and learning. Then build on what works.

4. Organise and improve

Create a structure around the use of AI: share experiences, establish ownership, and make the technology part of everyday work. One tip is to host regular AI lunches where departments can exchange experiences, tips and tricks.

5. Continuously improve

Once AI is fully integrated, it is essential to further develop and refine the tools. Evaluate regularly and stay updated on new technologies and emerging opportunities.


Take the lead – don’t wait for the final answer.

Artificial intelligence is developing at lightning speed, and it will be impossible to have everything in place before getting started. The most important thing is to begin. Try, fail, learn, and continue building together. AI is not a finished solution, but a continuous process.

And as with any journey, it begins with a single step.