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Enterprises are investing more in AI than ever, attributing to a predicted $248 billion UK enterprise IT spend by 2028. But 80% of AI initiatives stall – stuck in endless POCs, disconnected from business strategy, and failing to deliver real value.
If you're like most CEOs and wondering why your AI investments aren’t moving the needle, ask yourself: Are your business and tech teams truly aligned? Are you focusing on impact, not just innovation? Are you solving real business problems – or just experimenting?
The difference between success and failure? A pragmatic approach to transformation that delivers quick wins, breaks down siloes, aligns business and technology teams and embedding a culture of change. Having worked with some of the world’s most complex enterprises over 25 years, I’ve seen what works – and what doesn’t.
"I welcome that injection of DNA, that capability, that support. Customers will generally want to work with Mesh-AI because they recognise that you're trying to help them long term and sustainably." Richard Wazacz, CEO, Travelex
The most effective transformations don’t start with a grand, multi-year plan. They start with measurable wins that build momentum. The most successful companies adopt an iterative approach to transformation, delivering value faster, avoiding wasted investment, and sustaining long-term success.
For example, we helped a global, highly regulated, multi billion £ financial services firm bring an AI solution from concept to production in just 14 weeks – a process that would have previously taken them 18 months. The shift wasn’t just about speed; it was about creating a repeatable model for scaling AI-driven solutions across the business.
Transformation at this pace requires a different mindset – one that aligns technical goals with overall business outcomes.
When business and IT aren’t aligned, AI initiatives fail and CEOs must learn to bridge this gap. We’ve seen organisations invest millions in tech, only to be held back by miscommunication, competing priorities, and a lack of shared goals.
The fix? Aligning business and technology strategies so that tech becomes an enabler, not a bottleneck or distraction.
At National Grid Electricity Transmission we helped break down these barriers. By aligning their business and IT teams around a shared vision for data transformation, we enabled:
The takeaway? Technology should not be a standalone function – it should be fully integrated into the business. Success requires leadership that fosters a shared language, regular communication mechanisms, and a well articulated (in plain English), unified vision of success.
How a leadership team approaches technology creates and enforces a culture. Without one, even the most well planned AI initiatives will fail.
Culture needs to be earned, maintained, fed and watered if it’s to mean anything, and ultimately leadership are the custodians.
At EDF, we worked with leadership to embed a data-driven culture across their Wholesale Market Services team. By modernising their data infrastructure and improving data literacy, we reduced energy trade validation time from 150 minutes to under 30 minutes, saving millions and enabling smarter decisions for their Net Zero goals.
“Historically accessing our data has been a long process… this data capability has made it much more accessible. And the data is now ready to use, which has meant that we've reduced the time that analysts have to spend accessing and transforming data and really freed up a lot of their time.” Cici Whitcomb, EDF
To successfully evolve culture in a highly regulated business and maintain focus on the importance of data and AI, plan for resistance, communicate benefits, and ensure unwavering visible top-down support.
To keep up with the rapid pace of technological change, it’s important to rely on deep technical expertise.
Technology is a specialised field and organisations are successful when they invest in their technical leaders. However building the right teams from scratch takes time businesses simply don’t have.
The alternative? Working with strategic, specialised partners to accelerate capability-building.
We’ve helped some of the most complex enterprises build data foundations, deliver early value and set them on the path to transform how they approach data. We partnered with National Grid Ventures to develop OceanBrain, an AI-powered tool that safeguards critical national infrastructure by predicting and mitigating risks to underwater cables, reducing outages and ensuring uninterrupted power supply.
“Mesh-AI’s expertise, their approach, their flexibility really shone through. They ramped up really quickly, with a team that would have taken us months, maybe even years to recruit. What we’ve built is absolutely transformational and unbelievably important to our way of life.” - Ben Gill, National Grid Ventures
You need a granular understanding of the business – something a data analytics function can provide you with– to know where to invest your resources in an effective way and deliver early value.
Success isn’t just about adopting the latest technology—it’s about ensuring the right expertise is in place to drive results.
If you want to make sure you are part of the 20% that see success with AI, organisations must act decisively, align their technology with their business strategy, and cultivate a supportive culture. At Mesh-AI, we work with enterprises to turn AI and data strategy into real business impact—quickly and at scale.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to transform, but when. If you’re ready to move beyond POCs and deliver measurable business value, let’s talk.
