Technology Without Purpose Is Noise. What Purpose Means in Practice.
IN ONE MINUTE
A clear purpose is essential for AI, but purpose stated once at the start of a programme doesn't steer it for long. What steers it is what the organisation measures and rewards. AI accelerates whatever the current scorecard already favours. So before deploying AI in any function, leaders can ask three questions: what is this function measured and rewarded on today, is that still the right thing to optimise, and if AI makes the function much better at it, is that the direction we want? Purpose becomes real when the measures match it.
THE OBJECTIVE
I was on a keynote panel at the World Finance Forum recently, and one line I used has stayed with me: technology without purpose is noise; technology with purpose is value. This issue explores what "purpose" means in practice.
AN IDEA THAT SHARPENED MINE
A CFO who spoke at the same event later wrote a thoughtful piece that sharpened my thinking. His point, in short: strategy is what a company says on the days it thinks about strategy; measurement is what it responds to every week. When the two disagree, measurement usually wins, quietly.
That matches something I have seen in AI programmes. Everyone agrees on the purpose when it's said out loud: "serve customers better", "free people for higher-value work". Months later, the AI has often been pointed at whatever the existing scorecard rewards, without anyone deciding that on purpose.
AN EXAMPLE
Consider a customer support team (an illustrative case).
- Stated purpose: use AI to improve resolution quality and customer satisfaction.
- Current measure: average handle time, meaning how quickly calls are closed.
When AI arrives, it is naturally used to close calls even faster, because that is what the team is measured on. Handle time improves. Satisfaction may not. The AI did exactly what the scorecard asked.
The research supports the same point from another angle. BCG found only 14% of CEOs clearly define the P&L impact for all their AI initiatives. Without that link, the existing measures fill the gap.
THE FRAMEWORK: THREE QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU DEPLOY
| Question | What to look for |
|---|---|
| 1. What is this function measured and rewarded on today? | Not the job description. What is tracked, reported and tied to performance reviews |
| 2. Is that still the right thing to optimise? | Some measures are proxies that made sense years ago and were never revisited |
| 3. If AI makes the function much better at this, is that the direction we want? | If not, change the measure before deploying the tool |
The third question is the one that catches the gap before deployment, rather than months later when new habits are harder to change.
Questions leaders ask
How do you align AI with business strategy?
Start from the outcome you want, then check the function's measures and incentives reward that outcome before introducing AI. AI accelerates whatever the scorecard already favours. Ask three questions: what is it rewarded on today, is that still right, and is faster progress there the direction you want?
Why do AI programmes drift from their original purpose?
Because AI speeds up whatever the existing measures reward. A support team aiming for better quality but measured on handle time will use AI to close calls faster, and satisfaction may not improve. If the measures don't match the purpose, change the measures before deploying the tool.
What should an AI strategy include?
Clear business outcomes, a few priority areas, named owners, staged funding, and the measures and incentives that make the outcomes real. Without that last part, the existing scorecard quietly steers the programme. BCG found only 14% of CEOs clearly define the P&L impact of all their AI initiatives.
THE LAST WORD
Purpose isn't a sentence you say once. It's the scorecard you're willing to redesign to make that sentence true.
Before your next AI deployment, have you checked whether it will accelerate the right number, or simply the one you've always tracked?
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Until next week,
Artificial Ian
Tell your network: if a colleague is about to launch AI in their function, the three questions take ten minutes and could save months.
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Sources: Remarks from a keynote panel at the World Finance Forum (2026); BCG, "What Separates CEOs Who Scale AI From Those Who Don't?" (Jul 2026). Customer support case is illustrative.