“Should we be using ChatGPT, Copilot, or something else?”
That’s one of the most common AI questions business owners bring to us right now. It makes sense. New tools show up every week, a few employees are probably already experimenting, and nobody wants to fall behind.
But choosing a tool usually isn’t the best place to start.
Before a business decides which AI platform to use, it helps to know what it actually wants AI to do, what it already owns, and whether its data and security are ready. That’s the idea behind an AI readiness assessment. It’s a step back before the step forward.
Key Takeaways
- The right AI tool depends on what your people actually need help with, so start with the business need, not the product.
- You may already own more AI than you think, especially if your business runs on Microsoft 365.
- Being ready for AI is as much about people and policy as it is about technology.
Why “Which Tool?” Is the Wrong First Question
We understand the urge to jump straight to a product. AI tools are easy to sign up for, and almost all of them look impressive in a demo.
The challenge is that every business uses AI a little differently.
Your office manager may want help summarizing meeting notes. Your sales team may want help writing follow-up emails. Your accounting team may want a faster way to find answers buried in a stack of documents.
Those are three different needs. They don’t all call for the same tool, and some of them may not need a new tool at all.
When we start these conversations with a client, we spend more time talking about their day-to-day work than about software. Where are people losing time? Which tasks get repeated every week? What information do employees have trouble finding? Those answers usually lead to a short list of practical uses, and that list is what should drive the technology decision.
What an AI Readiness Assessment Covers
Every business is different, but most of these reviews come down to a handful of questions.
- What do you want AI to help with? This is the business side of the conversation: which tasks, departments, and goals could benefit from AI.
- What are you already paying for? AI is showing up inside software businesses already use. Before adding another subscription, it’s worth knowing what’s included in your current licenses and whether it does the job.
- Is your information organized? AI tools are only as helpful as the information they can reach. If files are scattered, outdated, or shared with more people than they should be, AI can surface the wrong information to the wrong person.
- Are your security controls where they need to be? Once AI is connected to company data, it matters even more who can log in to what and how those accounts are protected.
- Who’s going to manage it? Someone needs to own AI decisions after the rollout, not just during it.
None of these questions are complicated on their own. Answering them before you buy something keeps the decision grounded in your business instead of the latest product announcement.
Most Businesses Are Still Getting There
If you feel like your business isn’t quite ready for AI, you’re in good company.
According to Cisco’s 2025 AI Readiness Index, which surveyed more than 8,000 AI leaders across 30 markets, only about 13% of organizations are what Cisco calls Pacesetters, the most AI-ready companies in the study. In other words, most businesses are adopting AI faster than they’re preparing for it.
That doesn’t mean you should wait. It means the businesses getting the most out of AI tend to be the ones that did a little planning first, and an AI readiness assessment is one of the simplest ways to do that.
You May Already Own More AI Than You Think
A lot of our clients run their businesses on Microsoft 365, and Microsoft has been building Copilot features into the apps people use every day, like Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams.
Depending on your licensing, some of those features may already be available to your team. Others may require an add-on.
That’s why it’s worth taking inventory before spending money on another platform. What AI features do you already have? How do they work with the systems you use now? What would it cost to turn on more? Sometimes the smartest AI investment is simply getting more out of the tools you’re already paying for.
Readiness Is About People, Too
Technology is only one part of being ready.
In our experience, most businesses already have employees using AI in some way, whether leadership knows about it or not. That isn’t necessarily a problem. It just means a few questions need answers sooner rather than later:
- Do we have an AI policy?
- Do we know which tools people are already using?
- Is there a process for approving new ones?
- Have employees been shown how to use AI safely?
Employees also need to know what good use looks like. AI can write a solid first draft of an email or a report, but someone still needs to read it before it goes to a customer. Setting those expectations early keeps small mistakes from turning into embarrassing ones.
If you don’t have guidelines in place yet, that’s often where we start. Our AI governance and policy work is built to help with exactly that.
What Happens After the Assessment
The goal isn’t a thick report that sits in a drawer. It’s a plan your team can actually use.
That plan usually includes:
- a short list of AI uses to start with
- which tools fit those uses, including ones you may already own
- any security or licensing changes that should happen first
- a simple approach for rolling AI out to employees
Starting small is perfectly fine. A business that gets one or two AI uses working well, with the right guardrails, is in a much better position than one that turned everything on at once and hoped for the best.
We’ll Help You Figure Out What Fits
At ATCOM, we aren’t trying to pick a winner in the AI race. We want to help you make a decision that makes sense for your business.
Whether you’re wondering if Copilot is worth it, trying to figure out which tools your team is already using, or simply not sure where to begin, we’ll help you sort through it and build a plan around the way your people actually work.
Contact ATCOM today to schedule an AI readiness conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AI readiness only a concern for large companies?
No. Small and mid-size businesses often have the most to gain from a little planning, because they usually don’t have a full-time person dedicated to evaluating new technology. A few focused conversations can save a lot of trial and error.
Should we wait until we have everything figured out before using AI?
Not necessarily. Many businesses start with one or two low-risk uses, like summarizing meeting notes or drafting internal documents, while they work out policies and security in the background. The key is knowing what you’re starting with and why.
What does a business need in place before using AI?
At a minimum, it helps to have a clear idea of how you want to use AI, basic protections like multi-factor authentication on company accounts, and simple guidelines for what information employees shouldn’t share with AI tools.
