Artificial intelligence can do incredible things. Microsoft's Copilot can create driver decks in seconds while synthesizing the two driver decks you forgot to read. Notebook LM can create custom podcasts from books or full articles. AND ChatGPT… well, we all know ChatGPT.

But hype and promise often don't match each other, and AI is no exception. John Werner, an MIT Senior Fellow and Managing Director at Link Ventures, said“sometimes the promotional language doesn't match the results you see from a new IT advancement. Experts talk about a 'hype cycle' for new technologies that affects how they're perceived and used, when they're branded artificial intelligence isn't immune and going through its buzz cycle now.”

In the midst of all this, you realize you need AI (or at least a strategy for him), but how can you stand out from your competitors and realize your vision?

In this article, I'll show you how entrepreneurs and top executives are using partial AI experts to bring their strategies to life.

Related: How to effectively integrate AI into your organizational strategy

The problem: Companies don't know where to look for executive-level AI talent

We all know that good leadership is essential. A team without a strong leader is like a rowboat without a captain. Everyone can keep driving, but they lack direction, fit and motivation. In business, poor leadership leads to wasted time, money and opportunities.

I have noticed a similar problem with AI strategies. Instead of appointing a strong leader to manage, execute and cultivate AI success, companies often settle for the wrong talent or simply hold back. When this happens, it's common for claims of financial issues or simply not being the right person. When companies settle, they hire someone who falsely claims to be an expert in AI without checking to see if the individual has a background in computer science, deep learning, statistical modeling, or neural networks. More often than not, this results in stagnation and waste of resources. This can cause those you've hired into leadership positions to lose faith in your company and doubt your confidence in using AI.

In the context of AI, both hesitation and resolution are similar to algorithms without proper input data. No matter how impressive the presentation, strategy or press release may seem, the desired results are rarely achieved without the right data (just like strong leadership). The issue is not a lack of talent or that talent is too expensive or hard to find. The real problem is that companies are looking in the wrong places.

Related: The future of work: Solving problems through a flexible workforce

Solution: Fractional experts

There is a third strategy that bridges the gap between retention and resolution: partial AI experts. These executive-level freelancers can deliver the same results as top executives, but at a fraction of the cost. Rather than committing full-time to a single company, part-time experts typically work with two to five clients, devoting 10-30 hours per week to each.

The concept of faction is not new. the term “temporary executive“It is widely understood and is showing high growth. According to a Business Talent Group Report“The need for interim leadership grew 116 percent year-over-year at all levels across organizations, with demand for such help in the C-suite up 78 percent.” The difference between part-time and temporary roles is often just a matter of terminology.

Fragility is one aspect of the flexible workforce, and what is unique about today's part-timers is that they choose and plan to stay full-time part-time. Recent data makes this clear, as individuals choose full-time independence have doubled since 2020. Between the trial years 2023 and 2024, growth continued to the point that 27.7 million Americans choose to be independent today, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% higher in individuals choosing to be independent than the overall workforce not a farmer.

Part-time executives can do everything a full-time executive can. They can identify problem areas that are ideal for AI, create roadmaps, go-to-market and work plans to move from ideation to product-market fit. They can even build and manage large teams. The only thing partial experts can't do is technically only be hired by you. Often, this is not necessary.

Related: 3 Reasons Your Small Business Needs Flexible Talent

Start by finding a partial platform

Where there's flexible talent, there's a talent platform to help you find, onboard, manage, hire and grow your flexible workforce. There are 29 platforms focused on partial parts in the Human Cloud Industry Landscape. Toptal is a popular developer platform, while Tribe.AI specializes specifically in AI.

Platforms can also focus on specific regions. For example, Malta, the largest independent platform in Europe, adopts a country-by-country strategy where each nation offers a tailored customer experience. Other platforms like Flexer.AI specializes in Southeast Asian marketing talent, Talent Alpha specializes in IT talent in Poland, and Dojo Talent focuses on gaming talent in Turkey.

Think beyond AI

While AI is great, use cases can be industry or skill set specific. For example, instead of an AI expert, a supply chain expert on the talent platform focused on the supply chain NatQuestpaired with an AI expert at Arc may be the best. Or potentially, a part-time CFO on a finance-focused talent platform Paro pairing with an AI expert may be best.

Akhil Seth, USTs The Freelance Program Leader learned this when he combined several freelancers to build a website instead of trying to find a Unicorn talent who understood advanced math and a specific Python library. They found two freelancers. Someone understood advanced mathematics. The other understood the Python library and could teach the internal UST team how to develop with it. The result is that they completed the website in 3 weeks, saving $2 million in revenue.

Which experts can you bring together to take your first step towards realizing your potential in AI?

Related: A game plan for introducing flexible talents

Let your flexible talent strategy unlock growth and innovation

Once you've embraced flexible talent, you'll quickly learn that top talent is always just days away. You will realize that this is more than a “plug the hole” personnel solution. Flexible talent is a leadership strategy that drives growth and innovation throughout your company.

Take the next step by increasing your flexible workforce. Don't stop at collaborating with just one individual. Build a pool of 20 to 100 freelancers, then 1,000 freelancers, and watch your company go from bureaucratic and slow to agile and effective.