Commercial & strategy
AI innovation fund: Selected from many, then external factors cut it short
Many applied to an AI innovation fund run by a large technology partner. We were selected. Then external factors cut it short.
Context
A large technology partner opened an AI innovation fund to joint ventures that could demonstrate clear commercial and user value. Many applied through a rigorous selection process. To secure a place, we needed a case that satisfied both our organisation and the technology partner, each with different decision-making structures, risk appetites, and expectations of what success would look like.
Challenge
The application required a future vision, validated use cases, and a credible delivery plan, all co-owned across two organisations that moved at different speeds. The case had to be ambitious enough to stand out through a rigorous process while staying grounded enough for both sides to back.
Approach
I was one of three people leading the pitch, alongside stakeholders from the business and product. I produced all the artefacts, the future vision, user personas, use cases, and kept product and the business aligned throughout. One early tension was the north star vision: the head of product was concerned the technology partner would treat it as a delivery commitment. I made the case for including it. We needed to show a vision beyond today that they could buy into. I got approval by being careful how it was framed to both sides, explicitly positioning it as a north star, not a roadmap. We were selected and the initiative began. It was later stopped due to external factors outside the team's control.
Outcome
We were selected from many applicants and the work moved into delivery. Although external factors ended the initiative early, the thinking carried forward. The frameworks, use cases, and evaluation approaches shaped how we approached AI opportunities in subsequent workstreams.
Reflection
The evidence was real but the ask was to project it further than I was used to. Stretching what you know into what could be is a different skill to solving what's in front of you.
Selected working artefacts from the project. Blurred intentionally to protect business context, shown to demonstrate the depth and shape of the work, not as polished deliverables.