If you’re running a business, you’re not starting from scratch. You must contend with legacy systems, existing infrastructure, regulatory obligations, data protection responsibilities, the list goes on. You have staff whose trust and understanding are critical, and leaders who demand clear evidence of return on investment before allocating resources. Any meaningful conversation about AI must begin by recognising these constraints.

Many of us have already grasped the basics of AI, and are seeing benefits from AI assistants such as Microsoft Copilot. However, the true potential, and real challenge, lies in moving beyond these tools to embrace AI agents capable of acting autonomously, automating workflows, and transforming entire business processes. This leap is proving difficult for many organisations, largely because the gap between hype and reality is not a lack of skills, but a lack of practical methods for implementation.

Enter the AI Design Sprint®, a people-led, practical framework designed to help businesses explore where AI agents and automated workflows can make a genuine difference.  The approach, developed by 33A in Copenhagen, is now available to Prosperity 24/7’s clients, and was designed for exactly this situation.  It is grounded in design thinking and the same human-centred approach that is behind the Google Design Sprint.

This framework is not about helping your team get more from Microsoft Copilot but to explore AI agents and automated workflows which could transform your operations, with the rigour, governance and human involvement that this kind of change demands.

Crucially, this approach requires no technical expertise, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes and sectors. The AI Design Sprint® acknowledges the operational realities faced by organisations and offers a structured pathway towards AI adoption that is both strategic and pragmatic.

At its core is a simple principle: the people closest to the work are best placed to identify where AI can help.  They don’t need to become AI specialists. They need a framework that makes possibilities visible, a language that feels accessible, and a process that turns ideas into something actionable. Understanding these distinctions is vital, the journey to effective AI adoption is not about following trends or chasing hype; it’s about making technology work the way that people work.

The gap between AI hype and practical adoption is real but it isn’t a reason to stand still.  Organisations that succeed with AI will be the ones that start by asking the right questions, with the right people in the room, and move forward in a way that reflects their reality.

You don’t need to reinvent yourself to work effectively with AI. You need a method that respects your experience, your responsibilities, and your people. The technology will keep evolving. The pressure to act will continue. But you don’t have to navigate it alone. The bridge is there. You just need to step onto it.

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Inspired by social activism, this mindset helped Carmel set up and lead Magic Breakfast which now provides a healthy school breakfast to over 200,000 vulnerable children every day. As a City based technologist, without any education or food background, Carmel built a new model for change, to help people find their passion, purpose and plan. It starts with the heart.

Join us for breakfast at Prosperity’s headquarters from 08:30 on Wednesday 5 June 2024 to find out more about Carmel’s lessons learned from the many mistakes along the way.

Followed by Carmel’s keynote speech, the panel including Kate Wright of The Diversity Network and Paul Murphy from Jersey Business will discuss the need for an inclusive, connected and compelling approach to change, ensuring changes happens through a purposeful lens and for the better.

About Carmel McConnell MBE

Carmel’s MBA (Baynes, London) is in change leadership and broadband technology. She has worked at senior levels in BT, UBS and 20th Century Fox and ran a successful tech leadership development firm based in London, starting with a role as IT project manager in BT. She has lived and worked in the US, India and the UK and is a dual Irish/UK citizen.

Author, Change Activist, Make Big Things Happen Fast.

This title was published by the Financial Times showing how social activists are great role models for a new generation of global business leaders wanting to create profit with principles. The book became a best seller in its second edition in 2002. The 3rd edition published in 2022.

Charity Founder and CEO

While working as senior technology manager in UBS, Carmel found out about the problem of children arriving at school too hungry to learn. She began delivering breakfasts to a small group of schools and, seeing the big difference it made to child concentration and behaviour, Carmel re-mortgaged her home to take a sabbatical, leaving her City role to make sure our poorest children wouldn’t face educational disadvantage. She set up a new national charity, Magic Breakfast, and has raised over £70 million for school food deliveries.

After 20 years as founder & CEO, Carmel stepped back from Magic Breakfast in 2020 to support great socially focused leaders from Govt and business, finding solutions to the biggest climate and social justice issues.

Awards and Honours

Carmel was awarded an MBE by the then Prince Charles for her services to school food in 2016. She received an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University for improving access to education. She was named Barclays Woman of the Year in 2018 and was voted No 4 on the Radio 4 Women’s Hour list of 100 most powerful women in the UK in 2014

The Details

Venue:  Prosperity 24/7, Castle Quay
Date:  Wednesday 5th June 2024
Time:  08:30 to 10:30

The post Great Minds Series: Change Activism – An inclusive, connected and compelling approach to change appeared first on Prosperity 247.