Challenge

AI use cases can move from enthusiasm to implementation quickly, yet the most important questions are often left until late in the process. Boards and executives need a fast, practical way to test whether a proposed use case is sufficiently understood before investment, risk or operational reliance increases.

Approach

Drawing on emerging AI governance and implementation work in aged care, this 10-minute Spotlight will apply six questions to an illustrative use case:

• WHY – what outcome are we trying to improve?
• WHAT – what work, process or decision is changing?
• WHO – who uses the AI, who is affected and who remains accountable?
• HOW – is AI the best solution, or would process redesign or conventional automation work better?
• WHEN – what should be piloted first and what evidence is required before scaling?
• WHAT IF – what happens when the AI is wrong, unavailable, biased, compromised or misused?

The session will show how these questions expose weaknesses in an apparently attractive use case before significant investment or risk is committed. Particular emphasis will be placed on WHAT IF, because failure testing is not simply a governance exercise; it is also a test of whether the organisation genuinely understands the business case, workflow and consequences.

What Delegates Will Learn and Apply

• Test use cases quickly: Apply six questions before approving or scaling an AI-enabled process.
• Clarify accountability: Identify who uses the technology, who is affected and what must remain a human decision.
• Use failure as a strategy test: Challenge whether the business case still holds when the technology is wrong or unavailable.
• Take away a practical tool: Use a one-page six-question checklist in Board, executive, digital and innovation discussions.

The aim is to make AI governance practical, proportionate and enabling – supporting worthwhile innovation while challenging poorly defined or insufficiently controlled use cases.