Five Questions to Ask Before Launching Your Next AI Pilot
FedTech, Thursday, September 24th, 2026
Federal IT leaders should define the specific problem, metrics and production plan before starting an AI pilot.
The article lays out five questions federal IT leaders should answer before launching an AI pilot, to avoid it becoming just a technology demo.
These include clearly defining the business problem being solved, setting measurable success metrics, ensuring data quality, designing workflows that realistically integrate with existing systems, and planning for the path to production from the outset.
The core point is that a pilot must target something specific rather than merely showcase capability, since real value comes from cost reduction, productivity or accuracy gains, not demonstrations.