4 AI Frameworks That Help Solve Real Business Problems

illustration coder at computer

Over the past 18 months, I’ve had many conversations with business leaders – owners, management and employees – about their experiences with AI.

Through these discussions, I’ve come across a range of challenges that businesses face when trying to integrate AI into their operations.

In this post, we’ll cover:

  • Common challenges businesses face with AI
  • Frameworks to solve AI-related business problems
  • Steps to move forward with AI in your business

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but based on what I’ve learned from these conversations and from working with businesses, I’ve developed some frameworks that can help address these common problems.

These are by no means the only approach to solving these problems, but they’ve proven to be useful for those I’ve spoken with.

Common Challenges Businesses Face with AI

  • Unclear Path to AI Integration: Many businesses don’t know where they stand with AI or how to move forward in adopting it.
  • Data Privacy Concerns: There’s uncertainty around what data can be safely used with AI, raising fears of breaching privacy laws.
  • Struggling to Find Tasks for Automation: Once businesses begin using AI, they have difficulty figuring out which tasks are best suited for automation.
  • Ineffective Communication with AI: Even when businesses start using AI tools, like ChatGPT, many struggle to get the most useful responses because they’re not giving clear instructions.

These frameworks are designed to address these specific challenges.

Problem 1: Unclear Path to AI Integration

Many businesses aren’t sure where they stand with AI or how to take the next steps. Without a clear roadmap, they can’t make informed decisions about AI investments, which leads to slow or stalled progress.

Solution: The AI-Powered Maturity Model™

I developed the AI-Powered Maturity Model™ to help businesses assess their current level of AI adoption and plan their next steps. The model outlines five stages of AI integration, from basic exploration to full-scale implementation. By using this model, you can identify where your organisation is and what actions to take next. This gives you a clear path to becoming an AI-powered business.

Problem 2: Data Privacy Concerns

Once businesses know how to move forward with AI, they often hesitate because of concerns about data privacy. They worry about exposing sensitive information or accidentally breaching privacy legislation, which could lead to fines or reputational damage.

Solution: The AI-Powered Data Privacy Matrix

To help avoid problems with privacy laws and the exposure of sensitive data, I created the AI-Powered Data Privacy Matrix. This tool helps you determine which types of data can be safely used with AI systems, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. It gives you the confidence to use AI while protecting sensitive information and meeting legal obligations.

Problem 3: Struggling to Find Tasks for Automation

After resolving concerns around AI integration and privacy, the next hurdle is deciding which tasks are best suited for automation. Many businesses struggle to prioritise tasks that will deliver the most value, like increasing efficiency or reducing human error.

Solution: The COMPLETE™ Framework for Task Automation

I developed the COMPLETE™ Framework to guide businesses in identifying the tasks that are most appropriate for AI automation. COMPLETE™ stands for Complexity, Occurrence, Monetary Investment, Priority, Likability, Error Reduction, Time Savings, and Efficiency. By evaluating tasks against these factors, you can focus on areas where AI will deliver the greatest impact, helping you improve efficiency and reduce errors.

Problem 4: Ineffective Communication with AI

Even when businesses begin using AI tools like ChatGPT, many struggle to get useful results. Without clear instructions, AI systems often provide incomplete or irrelevant information, leading to frustration and wasted time.

Solution: The GOAL Framework for Effective AI Interaction

To help you get more accurate and relevant responses from AI tools, I created the GOAL Framework: Goal, Output, Additional Context, and Look at the Output. This framework guides you in crafting better prompts to generate useful answers from AI. By following this approach, you can save time and get more out of your AI tools.

How These Frameworks Help

These frameworks are not abstract – they’re designed to address real problems that businesses face when trying to integrate AI.

Each framework provides a practical, actionable solution, making AI easier to use and more effective for your organisation.

By applying these frameworks, we can navigate the complexities of AI integration more smoothly. They are designed to help you make informed decisions and overcome the common obstacles that businesses face with AI. This is important because it allows you to unlock the full potential of AI in your organisation.

If you’d like to learn more about how these frameworks can help your business, feel free to reach out. Together, we can explore how to apply these tools to your specific needs.

💡
Your AI Transformation Starts Here
Get The Free AI Toolkit for Strategic Breakthrough Zero Guesswork, Maximum Impact
💡 Your AI Transformation Starts Here:

Get The Free AI Toolkit for Strategic Breakthrough
Zero Guesswork, Maximum Impact

Get Instant Access
Written by Alastair McDermott

I help leadership teams adopt AI the right way: people first, numbers second. I move you beyond the hype, designing and deploying practical systems that automate busywork - the dull bits - so humans can focus on the high-value work only they can do.

The result is measurable capacity: cutting processing times by 92% and unlocking €55,000 per month in extra productivity.

More posts like this.

Bridging the Divide Between Human and AI
AI Strategy

Misleading AI Stories in 2025

Everyone’s worried about AI slop, AI hallucinations, and misinformation. But the slop and misinformation that actually moved markets and changed business decisions this year came from peer-reviewed journals, MIT and Harvard researchers, and books from major publishers with fact-checking teams. Consider: a

Bridging the Divide Between Human and AI
AI Strategy

Navigating the Chaos: How to Prepare for AI Disruption

AI is advancing faster than our institutions can respond. This gap is already causing chaos. Not just disruption, but systemic breakdown. It’s the pacing gap: one line on the graph is AI capability, rising exponentially. The other is how businesses, governments, and

Bridging the Divide Between Human and AI
AI Strategy

Why Talk About ROI First?

When I talk with clients about tech projects, I talk about Return On Investment (ROI) before I ever talk about the actual technology. I do this to solve a problem most engineers don’t even acknowledge: we love building the wrong thing really

Bridging the Divide Between Human and AI
AI Essentials

How to Use AI for Professional Writing

My Workflow for Using AI Without Losing Authority I use AI for a huge amount of my high-stakes professional writing now. Not because it’s smarter than me… ok, I mean, it is, but… But it handles the parts of writing I find

Bridging the Divide Between Human and AI
AI Strategy

Where is the ROI?

Where is the return on investment from AI? Why huge AI time savings don’t seem to impact the bottom line I keep seeing the same thing happen. People tell me they’re saving loads of time with AI, but when leadership looks at

Get regular updates on AI strategies that work.

You're almost there!

I turn AI tech & strategy into clear, actionable insights. You’ll discover how to leverage AI, how to integrate it strategically to get a competitive edge, automate tedious tasks, and improve business decision-making.

– Alastair.