How to Spot the Right AI Use Case

THE HOW TO GUIDE
How to Spot the Right AI Use Case (and Avoid the Wrong Ones)

Artificial Intelligence is no longer optional—it’s essential. But the difference between AI success and failure in 2025 doesn’t come down to budget or ambition. It comes down to use case selection.

AI that’s solving the wrong problem, or the right one in the wrong way, wastes time, money, and trust. So how do you separate the promising from the pointless?

Here’s what to look for.

PART 1
1. Anchor Every AI Use Case to a Business Objective

The first and most important filter: Does this solve a meaningful problem? AI is not a strategy. It’s a tool. Your use case should support a clear business goal, like improving customer satisfaction, reducing costs, increasing speed to market, or driving revenue.

Key question:

If we solved this with AI, what would be different in the business?

Look for pain points that are:

 • Frequent – they happen often enough to matter

 • Measurable – you can track improvement

 • Costly or slow – fixing them drives value fast

Avoid: vague ambitions like “we want to explore AI” or use cases that are disconnected from business KPIs.

STEP 2
2. Check for Data Availability and Readiness

AI systems are only as good as the data they learn from. The most common blockers? Missing, messy, or siloed data.

Before committing to a use case, confirm:

 • You have access to the right type of data (structured, unstructured, real-time, etc.)

 • There’s enough of it to train and validate a model

 • It’s clean, compliant, and accessible

AI is not magic—it can’t solve poor data hygiene. In fact, it will amplify it.

WAIT THERES MORE!!

STEP 3.LOOK FOR REPETITIVE, PATTERN-DRIVEN TASKS
STEP 4.CONSIDER INTEGRATION, NOT JUST INNOVATION
STEP 5. SMART SMALL, MEASURE FAST
WHAT TO AVOID
RECAP: THE AI USE CASE CHECKLIST
FINAL WORD

To read the rest of the guide including the sections above click here.

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Matt Jonns

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ABOUT MATT

Matt is the Founder and CEO of Founder + Lightning, a product and AI innovation studio helping businesses build, scale, and future-proof their digital products.

With a decade of experience in venture building, product development, and investment, Matt has worked with startups and enterprises alike to create high-performing digital platforms. Today, Founder + Lightning specialises in AI-powered product development, AI agent & copilot design, and corporate venture building, enabling businesses to leverage AI for smarter customer interactions, automation, and growth.

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