25 Kellogg Insight then develop a partnership with someone who can act as a technology strategist. “That partnership combines the functional level of ‘here’s what we need’ with a technical level of ‘here’s what can be done,’” says Hammond. With both perspectives accounted for, leaders have the ability to build out the specifications for what it is they want, which Hammond calls the “core product definition.” This means characterizing their goals at the level of the business and defining core products at the level of, for instance, knowing they will need to predict machine downtime on the factory floor, qualify customers before they spend time trying to sell to them, or recognize faulty products as they come off the line. Only once these definitions are in place should the team broaden to incorporate expertise in AI development, UI/UX, data science, and software devel - opment. “The product definition comes before anyone starts thinking about real implementation,” says Hammond. This approach has some helpful built-in guardrails, he explains. “You never go for just the shiny thing. You always track what is valuable to the business. And you’re always aligned with what’s doable from the point of view of the data that you have and the data you can develop.” What leaders should not do, however, is delegate decisions about tech - nology to a single person whose performance is evaluated on technol - ogy adoption rather than the firm’s performance. “Because then what they’ll do is they’ll look for places to use the technology,” Hammond says, “as opposed to really focusing on solving the pressing problems of the moment, and pushing the company forward.” Based on insights from Kris Hammond