No idea for an AI use case? That is perfectly fine.
What if you want to use AI but do not have an idea for a specific use case yet? See how a field sales representative turned 10 minutes and a real challenge from his daily work into two concrete use cases.
Sometimes, finding a meaningful AI use case does not start with an idea. It starts with a blank page.
That was the situation for a field sales representative working for a supplier of active heat recovery systems. He wanted to find out whether and how AI could support him in his work. But when he opened the Use Case Pilot, he did not know what to enter.
He did not have a ready-made use case. He did not even have a vague idea.
So the Use Case Pilot started somewhere else.
Story journey
- 110 minutes, but no idea yet
- 2The first use case: Identify relevant construction projects earlier
- 3And that immediately led to a second use case
10 minutes, but no idea yet
You do not need to bring a use case. Sometimes, it is enough to start with your daily work and the things that keep you busy.
Challenge / starting point
Find meaningful opportunities for using AI in your own work, even if you do not have a specific idea yet.
Experience with the Use Case Pilot
The Use Case Pilot started with a simple question:
How much time do you have today?”
The answer: 10 minutes.
Instead of asking for an AI idea, the conversation moved to something much more familiar: his daily work.
What do you do? What topics are you dealing with? Where are the problems or things that do not work as well as they should today?
That led the sales representative to describe a very specific challenge:
His company does not reliably find out when new relevant construction projects are launched in Germany. For the sales team, it would be particularly valuable to know at an early stage whether active heat recovery is planned or included in the tender for a project.
Suddenly, a challenge from his daily work had become a concrete starting point for AI.
Result
The user did not need to know what AI can technically do, nor did he have to come up with an AI use case himself. All he had to do was describe what he does and what challenges he faces in his daily work.
The first use case: Identify relevant construction projects earlier
An everyday sales challenge turns into a concrete use case.
Challenge / starting point
Identify new and ongoing construction projects as early as possible and filter out those where active heat recovery could be relevant.
Experience with the Use Case Pilot
The challenge led to the first use case:
Tender websites and relevant industry portals could be regularly searched for new and ongoing construction projects.
The information found could be structured and analyzed to identify projects where active heat recovery is specified, included in the tender, or likely to be relevant based on the available project information.
Instead of repeatedly searching different sources manually, the sales team could be alerted to potentially relevant projects.
Result
The sales representative gets earlier visibility into relevant construction projects and can focus his time on the opportunities that are actually worth investigating further.
And that immediately led to a second use case
One good starting point can reveal further opportunities that were not visible before.
Challenge / starting point
Turn an identified construction project into a well-prepared sales opportunity.
Experience with the Use Case Pilot
Finding a relevant construction project does not have to be the end of the process.
The information already gathered immediately suggested a second use case:
For an interesting project, the companies involved and potential contacts could be researched. Additional available information could then be used to pre-qualify the potential lead.
The sales representative would not only learn that an interesting construction project exists. He would also have a much better basis for deciding whether and how to pursue the opportunity.
Result
General market monitoring can turn into a concrete, pre-qualified sales opportunity.
You do not need an AI idea to get started
The most important part of this story is not just the two use cases that emerged.
At the beginning, the user had no idea at all where AI could help him in his work.
He did not need to know what AI is technically capable of either. Instead, he started with something he knows very well: his own work, his challenges, and the things that do not work as well as they could today.
In less than 10 minutes, two concrete opportunities had emerged.
So having no idea is also a perfectly good starting point.
Tell the Use Case Pilot what you do, what is on your mind, and how much time you have. Together, you can discover where it is worth taking a closer look.
Discover your own AI use cases
Start with the Use Case Finder and develop concrete use cases for your own work context.
Open Use Case Finder