Move Beyond the Hype: Building a Business Case for AI

New artificial intelligence tools emerge daily, promising to boost productivity, reduce costs, and even transform company culture. But many HR professionals and business leaders find themselves stuck in the experimentation phase. How can HR move from “great idea” to real, sustainable implementation?  

The answer lies in building a solid business case — one that puts business value, not technology, at the center, said Jamie Champagne during a session at SHRM25 in San Diego. “Don’t just tell me the AI tool,” she said. “Tell me the goal.”

Here’s how she suggested HR leaders navigate AI adoption with confidence and clarity.

Start With Strategy

Too often, organizations fall into the trap of choosing a tool before defining the problem it’s meant to solve, Champagne said. Instead, begin by aligning AI initiatives with core business goals, such as improving employee satisfaction, increasing operational efficiency, or expanding into new markets. 

Before recommending any technology, HR professionals should document the current state of business operations, define the future vision, and articulate how AI can help bridge the gap. “Every business case starts with the same question: What are we trying to achieve?” Champagne said.

Champagne laid out questions to ask when considering a new tool:

• Current state — what’s happening today that blocks progress?

• Future state — what would success look like? 

• Recommended approach — how will AI help us get there?

Sell Ideas with Options, Not Ultimatums

One of the biggest mistakes in pitching an AI project is focusing on a single solution. Presenting one “perfect” idea often results in stakeholders facing a binary yes-or-no decision — one that usually ends with a “no,” Champagne said. Always bring multiple options, she advised, even if some of them are less attractive.

“You make your good idea look better by presenting three ugly alternatives,” she said. By offering comparative scenarios, you give stakeholders deeper context and show you’ve thought through trade-offs.

Every option you present — whether building in-house, buying off-the-shelf, partnering externally, or even doing nothing — should include a breakdown of:

• Cost — including time, money, and effort.

• Risk — including data security, user adoption, and process maturity.

• Impact — on people, productivity, and long-term strategy.

Even a “do nothing” strategy should be viewed as a legitimate option, as long as its consequences are considered, she said. Be sure to factor in whether inaction means your competitors will outpace you, inefficiencies will persist, or employee morale or customer satisfaction will decrease.

Your People Are the Wild Card — Account for Them

Don’t ignore the human element in any technology rollout. The biggest challenges and opportunities are often tied to your workforce, especially if employees don’t know the tools exist or are afraid to use them. 

“People are one of your biggest risks,” Champagne said. “If they’re scared to touch AI, that’s a problem. If they’re excited about it, that’s your edge.” 

In HR, where relationships, compliance, and employee engagement are paramount, it’s essential to consider how AI changes workflows and responsibilities. If AI frees up more of someone’s time, there should be strategies in place to account for how they can reinvest their time in ways that add value rather than more administrative work.

To mitigate resistance and increase success rates, include key stakeholders in early conversations. Pilot projects can also be effective, particularly when skeptics such as compliance or security teams are invited to test-drive the tools themselves. “When the security team said they couldn’t live without it after the pilot, we knew we had our case,” Champagne noted.

A Visual, Practical Framework for HR Leaders

For HR professionals unsure where to begin, Champagne offered a simple, spreadsheet-based mapping exercise:

1. In one column, list each of your department’s core functions (e.g., onboarding or benefits administration).

2. Next, identify the current technologies supporting each function.

3. Then, note each of the organization’s strategic goals (e.g., improve retention or reach new candidate pools).

4. Finally, connect each function and tech stack to those goals.

Where you find gaps, such as processes with no supporting technology or goals with no processes addressing them, there may be a case for AI intervention.

Some gaps suggest the need for a simple app. Others hint at more transformational change. “When you find a business goal with no existing process or technology to support it,” Champagne explained, “that’s where AI can become the opportunity.”

The Bottom Line: AI Needs to Support the Business

AI may seem complex, but the approach to evaluating it shouldn’t be, Champagne said. HR professionals are already skilled at assessing needs, justifying programs, and engaging stakeholders. The key is to apply those same business case principles to AI — with clarity, strategy, and a people-first mindset.

“Every email you write, every pitch you make is a mini business case,” Champagne said. “If you want to make AI real, start there.”