Everyone celebrates when an AI system goes live - but that's when the real work begins. Here's what we wish we knew before maintaining our procurement platform in daily use.
Lesson 1: Users Want Reliability Over Brilliance
We learned the hard way:
- Consistent results matter more than occasional "perfect" answers
- Clear explanations for errors build more trust than high accuracy scores
- Speed and stability trump cutting-edge features
Lesson 2: The Power of Simplicity
Our biggest surprise:
• 80% of value came from just 3 core functions
• Advanced features caused most support issues
• Doing fewer things better beat doing many things averagely
Lesson 3: The Human Factor
Critical elements no one warned us about:
- Needed "bilingual" staff who understand both tech and purchasing
- Real-world testing exposed gaps no lab could find
- Continuous small tweaks outperformed occasional big updates
True Success Looks Different
We knew we'd made it when:
- The Accio sourcing platform became just "how we work" rather than "that AI thing"
- New hires learned it as part of standard training
- Team meetings stopped discussing "the AI" specifically
Your Turn:
For teams using AI tools: What maintenance lessons surprised you?
For those considering AI: What practical concerns do you have?
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