In my last blog post I addressed how to prepare your team for a unique experience and have them primed and ready for brainstorming.

Now I want to cover what actually happens INSIDE the brainstorming session itself. What activities should be included? How do you keep the energy up throughout the session?

Here’s a detailed brainstorming framework and agenda you can follow to generate real results. It works whether you have 90 minutes or a full day; whether you are tackling product innovation, process improvement, strategic planning, or problem solving; and whether you have 4 people on the team or 12 (try not to do more than that). Feel free to pick and choose what you like and adjust to fit your team and desired depth.

Pre-Session Checklist

• Room Setup: Seating arranged to encourage collaboration (avoid traditional conference setups), background music playing softly, be free to move around. Being offsite is best!
• Materials: Whiteboards, sticky notes, markers, small and large paper pads, dot stickers for voting, projector/screen.
• Helpers: Enlist volunteers to capture ideas, manage breakout groups, and tally votes. Ensure they know their roles ahead of time.
• Technology: If you’re using digital tools, screen sharing, or virtual whiteboards, test everything before the team arrives.
• Breaks: Make sure you plan for breaks. People need mental and physical break periods.
• Food: Have snacks and beverages ready. If you have a session over 3 hours, plan lunch and/or supper.

1. Welcome the Team (5-20 minutes)

As people arrive, keep things light to set the tone. Try to keep a casual conversation going, laughs are ideal! This isn’t another meeting, it’s a space for creative thinking.

If anyone participated in personal disruptions ahead of the meeting, (with no pressure) see if they’ll share. As the facilitator, have your own ready to share and also explain the room disruptions you’ve set up.

2. Mental Warmups (5-20 minutes)

The personal disruptions mentioned in my other post are meant to break people out of their mental ruts. This period of warm up is meant to achieve the same thing.

Many facilitators do this with ice breakers. I personally don’t like them and have had better luck with other approaches. Consider sharing some optical illusions or brain teasers that stretch their minds rather than putting them on the spot with forced socialization.

That said, ice breakers that get people up and building something together can work too, if you have one you like. Things like small teams building the tallest tower out of toothpicks and mini-marshmallows is a common one that works well.

3. Cover the Brainstorming Ground Rules (2-10 minutes)

• No Bad Ideas: Save negativity for later. Right now, we’re generating not judging.
• Quantity Over Quality: More ideas mean more chances for success. Aim for volume.
• Wild Ideas Welcome: Suspend reality temporarily. One impossible idea can spark a feasible one.
• No Ownership Battles: Ideas belong to the team. Collaboration beats competition.
• Build on Others: Use “Yes, and…” thinking. Evolve, merge, and improve ideas together.
• Stay Present: No emails, no phones. Even during breaks, don’t get distracted.

These rules should be available throughout the session. Consider hanging a poster with them or sharing an attendee packet that includes it. If anyone is attending remotely, share these in the chat area.

As the facilitator, you should be prepared to enforce these rules!

4. Frame the Challenge (5-20 minutes)

Why are we here today? What’s the goal of this brainstorming session? What do we hope to achieve after spending hours together?

This is a critical time to ensure everyone’s head is in the right place before diving into the actual brainstorming. We’re not here just to have fun, we’re here to solve a business problem. Use whatever information you have to enlighten the team on current state, desired state, competition, business data, customer feedback…whatever you have.

Now that we have everyone mentally prepared, consider a short break after this.

5.A. Individual Ideation (5-15 minutes)

This time is well spent whether you had your team generate ideas ahead of time or not. Even if you asked them to, you cannot expect everyone to have devoted time to think about your business objective ahead of time. You will end up with more diverse ideas if you keep this individual time in the agenda.

Here, we want to provide your attendees with paper, pens, and/or sticky notes, and set a timer. Remind them that quantity of ideas is the goal.

Ask the team on their own to come up with 10+ ideas in 5 minutes. They can compete to see who comes up with the most. Keep some soft background music playing (instrumental music). Consider dropping a “crazy bomb of an idea” as an example… something completely unrealistic and surprising, just to jar their minds one last time before they start. Show them that it’s OK to be wild in their suggestions.

When the round is done, optionally, you can take the next 5-10 minutes hearing some of the team’s favorites. Not all, just the favorites. Write them on a board, or post the sticky notes up.

5.B. Second Round of Individual Ideation (10-20 minutes)

If you have time, do a second round of individual idea creation, but this time introduce lateral thinking. Using random entry to show them that ideas can be triggered through associations. Have snippets of paper with random words for each person to draw from a bowl or hat. Give them an additional 5 or 10 minutes to come up with another set of ideas that relates to the word they selected.

For this second round you should be prepared to help anyone who struggles. You can suggest connections to their selected word, or push them to explore synonyms, antonyms, or other associations. For instance, if they draw “tiger”, you can associate animal, cat, jungle, teeth, claws, stripes, fur, orange, black, white, predator, aggression, primal, mascot, camouflage, frosted flakes, breakfast, sports, Detroit, baseball, Cincinnati, football, apparel, clothing, costume, Halloween, and more!

The associations are endless. They draw “tiger”, associate “stripe”, and relate that to the objective in how “striping” could mean updating parts of a system, and not all of it. Or they associate “baseball” and relate that to the objective in how a “bunt” is a strategic move that averts expectations and gets you on base.

6. Idea Sharing (10-60 minutes)

This portion of brainstorming is where ideas start to come together. When people start sharing their initial ideas, others get inspired. Remind everyone that we’re not after ownership, we’re collectively trying to solve the business problem. Your helpers can take notes on who was involved in an idea, so they can later be tagged for additional input or the project team.

This step can be nerve-wracking. Professionals may be uncertain about sharing half-baked ideas, but this is what we need! Don’t pressure anyone, so you, as the facilitator, can offer to share ideas on their behalf if they would like that.

As part of this step, begin identifying patterns and themes. People’s first ideas are generally the easy ones that multiple people will have (including your competitors). There will be similarities. Group those ideas now and try to give the groupings easy to reference names.

The bulk of the ideas are now in everyone’s heads, consider a short break after this.

7. Idea Expansion (20-60 minutes)

As the team comes back from a break, do a round of dot voting. Your ideas are pasted up and grouped, and the team has had some time to let those ideas settle in their minds. Now we’re ready to start driving the focus of the rest of this session.

There should be a set of concepts that are most intriguing to the team. Now, you will encourage pushing some further, spin-off ideas, and cross-pollination. Even flipping ideas to their opposite is still welcome. SCAMPER is an acronym that applies to creative thinking, and you might print it out and display it for your session today.

Like comedy improv, we still do not want to be negative about any idea. Use “yes, and…” to elaborate on someone’s idea. “I really like this idea, now imagine if we spin it as…” Make sure these expansions are being written down and captured.

8. Wild Card Rounds (10-60 minutes)

If you have a larger group, this time is ideal for break-out sessions. If your group is small, it can be another individual ideation round.

Take the top contending themes and divvy them out to groups or individuals. Then you can run 1-3 speed rounds, rotating themes between rounds.

1. Role Play: Ask them to expand on their theme as if they were Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezzos, Einstein, your competitor, or SpongeBob. This makes them think differently.
2. Constraints: Consider how they would have to change the idea if they were limited by budget, time, quality, or approach. Poetry is beautiful because of its constraints.
3. Wishful Thinking: What could you do if all constraints were lifted? If you were writing a fictional book, how would you make this happen?
4. Exaggeration: Take the idea to the extreme. If the idea as stated is 10%, what does 100% look like? What does 10-times look like?

This level of pushing creativity can be exhausting, consider a break after this.

9. Bring it Together (10-60 minutes)

Update your board with the latest ideas and iterations, if you haven’t already. Give the attendees a few minutes to peruse the posted ideas and reflect. Refresh the favorites list with another round of dot voting.

If time allows, move on from all this divergent thinking, and ask the attendees to list some constraints or areas that need to be investigated for these favorite ideas to work. Keep in mind this is still a “no bad ideas” session, so this effort should be a means to identify next steps for the idea and how to ensure it is successful if it is selected to move forward.

If you still have more time available, start some discussion that could help create a priority matrix after the meeting (like How/Now/Wow). Venture into identifying the following for each of the favorite ideas. We’re just looking for broad strokes and wide ranges today. On a scale of 1-10, where do these fall?

• Impact: How much would this change the story for the business?
• Effort: How much effort from business resources might be required?
• Timeline: What would the timeline look like?
• Cost: Would there be outside costs?

10. Next Steps (5-10 minutes)

This is the last step of this brainstorming session, but this is not the end. Now we fill the team in on what happens next and give them confidence that today’s effort will be useful. Start by asking the team what excited or surprised them the most today, and what they’d like to do again sometime.

Explain to the team how these ideas will be documented and shared out. The team should already be excited about at least one of today’s ideas, they’ll sleep on these ideas and continue thinking. So, let them know that there will be an opportunity to add additional thoughts to their favorites in the days/weeks to come.

Explain if you have any further plans to get feedback from stakeholders, leaders, or customers. If there are decision makers that are not in this meeting, then help your team understand what you’ll be doing to share these collective ideas with those who will make the final call.

Lastly, thank them for their time today. Express your own satisfaction and excitement for what’s to come. Try to squeeze in a few more laughs and build a feeling of teamwork. Consider remarking on something from this meeting as a “you had to be there” type of joke, even if it is the unrealistic bombshell of an idea that gets a laugh.

Tips for the Facilitator

• Energy Management: Watch the room’s energy. If it dips, inject movement. Stand up, stretch, take a quick walk, change the pace with a speed round.
• Protect the Quiet Voices: Don’t let extroverts dominate. Use techniques like written brainstorming and round-robin sharing to ensure everyone contributes.
• Embrace the Awkward Silence: When you ask a question and get silence, resist the urge to fill it. Give people time to think. Count to ten in your head before jumping in, and don’t make them feel like it was a failure to not say anything.
• Document Everything: Assign helpers to photograph whiteboards, capture sticky notes, and record key insights. You’ll lose valuable ideas if you rely on memory alone.
• Keep Your “Crazy Idea Bomb” Ready: If the room gets stuck, be prepared to throw out something intentionally wild to break the pattern. Sometimes the group needs permission to think bigger.
• Stay Neutral: As facilitator, your job is to guide the process, not advocate for specific ideas. You can participate, if you want to, but save your own advocacy for later. No idea is a bad idea in this session.

Conclusion

I hope you find this example brainstorming session agenda helpful! It’s one of my favorite things to run through. Get your team prepped and ready, then deliver an amazing workshop to drive creativity and innovation!

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If you are looking for a partner to run brainstorming with, reach out to your Perficient account manager or use our contact form to begin a conversation.

Brainstorming sessions have a love-hate situation. Half the team is excited, the other half dreads it. The truth is, anyone can be creative, but it doesn’t happen by accident – it takes intentionality.

The key is preparation. If people show up cold, they’ll default to routine thinking or recycle old ideas. To break free, our brains need to loosen up first.

After years of leading innovative teams, I’ve learned what works. Here’s a simple game plan to help your team show up ready to think differently and generate fresh ideas together.

Your Job as the Facilitator

Your goal is to make sure the team is ready for what might feel like an unusual process. This isn’t a standard meeting. If your team walks into the same room, sits in the same chairs, sipping the same coffee, they’ll fall into routine and recycle old ideas.

Jumping in cold with, “Now, let’s be creative!” usually leads to either awkward silence or one person dominating the conversation. Neither sparks innovative ideas from the team at large.

Instead, help the team stretch beyond their daily rut. Give them a clear game plan so they arrive ready to think differently and generate ideas that excite everyone.

Week Before: Early Prep

Start the conversation early so people have time to adjust and prepare. Share the problem or opportunity you’ll tackle and why it matters. Encourage participants to jot down initial ideas ahead of time to prime their creative pump and avoid awkward silences for you. If you want, you can ask them to send a few ideas to you ahead of time.

Lay out expectations clearly:

1. Send the agenda so everyone knows what to expect.
2. Focus on idea generation, not debate. Quantity over quality with an “idea factory.”
3. Encourage wild thinking. Suspend reality for a moment, because one impossible idea can spark a feasible one.
4. Set aside ownership. Collaboration is key. Great ideas are evolved, changed, merged.
5. Share inspiration. Send the team an article, video, or data to start the train of thought.
6. Suggest habit shifts. Exercise, meditation, or quiet time can help reset the mind ahead of the session.

Consider a message like:

“Next week we’re going to think differently together. I’m not expecting perfect solutions, but instead want you to arrive with your mind loosened up and ready to play. Here’s how to prepare…”

Day Before: Prime the Mindset

Send a reminder the day before to reinforce excitement and set expectations. If you’ve received early ideas, acknowledge them with enthusiasm and let the team know this is meant to be fun.

Offer quick prep tips:

1. Revisit the “why” of this session. Remind them of the importance of participation.
2. Ask them to avoid distractions in the morning. No early morning emails!
3. Set the tone of the event as judgment-free, experimental, and collaborative. Similar to comedy improv: use “Yes, and…,” “What if…,” or “Could we…?”
4. Emphasize the evolution of ideas and how they grow and change. Building together is the goal.
5. Note that ideas start out rough, but you can polish them. Even the opposite of a good idea can spark another great idea.
6. Suggest breaking their personal routine. Try small disruptions: take a new route to work, wear something unusual, listen to a different music genre. Maybe walk up the stairs backwards.

Consider a message like:

“To prepare your mind for tomorrow, I’m challenging you to break from your norm tonight and tomorrow morning. Try at least two of these suggestions or invent one of your own. Let’s see who finds the weirdest personal disruption!”

Day Of: Set the Stage

First impressions matter. Start the session a little later than usual (we asked them to not hop into work before the session), we want them to arrive fresh. Have the space ready before they walk in.

Make the room feel different:

• Atmosphere: Light background music. A slideshow or posters with creative quotes. Snacks and beverages.
• Seating: Avoid typical conference room setups. Use casual seating or standing tables for comfort and encourage movement throughout the session.
• Tools: Whiteboards, large pads of paper, notebooks, sticky notes, pencils, pens, markers, colored dot stickers for voting, and a screen or projector for references.

The goal here is to signal that this isn’t a typical meeting – it’s a space for creativity.

During the Session

Keep things casual while welcoming everyone as they arrive. Explain why the meeting space looks different and ask if anyone disrupted their morning routine. Be prepared to share your own example if no one chimes in. Keep it light and fun! Aim for laughs, no pressure. Icebreakers work OK, but I prefer a few optical illusions and brain teasers for warming people up.

You should have helpers ready to capture ideas, snap photos of boards, and tally votes. If you use breakout groups, assign a helper to each group.

As facilitator, reiterate the rules:

1. Restate the objective for today. Fresh ideas are needed.
2. No bad ideas. Reviews and debates come later.
3. No competition. Fighting over ownership limits creativity. (Your helpers should keep note of who’s passionate about ideas for follow-up.)
4. Wild ideas are welcome! Spin-off ideas are expected.
5. Quantity over quality. More ideas provide more chances for breakthroughs.
6. Free to move around. Standing, pacing, and changing seats keeps energy up.

Be ready to help if people get stuck:

• Use lateral thinking such as random words, images, or “How would Einstein/Steve Jobs/SpongeBob solve this?”
• Flip the problem by trying the opposite approach or by exaggerating to an illogical extreme.
• Adding constraints can help creativity.
• Use speed rounds. Tight limits often spark creativity. “How many unique ideas can you generate in 5 minutes?”
• You should prepare at least one “crazy idea bomb” to break out of slumps if they happen.

Here’s my example agenda for brainstorming.

Session End

Wrap up on a positive note. Thank everyone for their time and willingness to break out of their routines. Reference a funny idea or moment from the session, if one stood out, trying to end with laughs.

Invite quick reflections:

• What excited or surprised you most today?
• What helped loosen you up?
• What would you want to do again next time?

End with an outline of next steps so the team knows this isn’t the end of the process. Share how ideas will be reviewed, refined, and moved forward.

After: Keep the Momentum

Send a quick follow-up thanking everyone for their time and creativity. Reinforce that this is just the beginning. More to come!

With help from your volunteers, capture all ideas in a shared document, tally votes, and define next steps:

1. Share the summary docs so everyone can reflect.
2. Gather feedback and invite additional thoughts.
3. Assess impact vs. effort for each idea.
4. Engage leadership and sponsors to get buy-in for promising ideas.
5. Consider budget and resources early.
6. Identify project champions. Not idea owners, but people who can move ideas forward and build teams.
7. Create teams around high-potential ideas. Make sure to include those who were passionate about them.
8. Plan follow-up sessions for refinement and move toward official project initiatives.

Conclusion

With a little preparation and clear expectations, you can take brainstorming sessions to the next level. You prime the pump for real creativity when your team understands the goal and the process. Pair these concepts with broader initiatives with North Star Goals.

So rally your team, break the routine, and spark some innovation!

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If you are looking for a partner in brainstorming, reach out to your Perficient account manager or use our contact form to begin a conversation.

We’ve all been there. Parents rushing out the door yelling, “Time to go!” Everyone piles into the car only to realize one kid forgot their jacket and the other never combed their hair. Frustrating! But where you feel frustration lies opportunity. An opportunity to communicate better by being explicit with our desires instead of implicit.

The same thing happens at work. You’re in a meeting and the key stakeholder says, “We should really do this thing better.” Sounds like action, right? But it is not! “we should” is a slippery slope because no one owns it. It sounds like progress, but it’s really just wishful thinking.

Implicit Statements

People, and even entire cultures, communicate in different ways. Some people are extroverted, others introverted. Where some are playful, others are serious.

While it’s far from universal, most people I’ve worked with lean toward implicit communication, especially in verbal conversations. And this is a problem. Implicit statements create confusion in projects, relationships, and life – regardless of your natural tendencies.

Many assume that being explicit sounds bossy or demanding. In reality, explicit communication isn’t controlling, it’s clarifying!

Why Implicit Communication Fails

Consider a statement like: “We need to do better at communicating.” Sounds clear and to the point, right? But it’s not. It certainly is short, polite, feels collaborative, and suggests improvement. But let’s break it down:

• “we” = Undefined responsibility. It sounds like teamwork, which is great in theory, but once the meeting ends, each person assumes “we” means someone else.
• “need to” = Wishful thinking. Why do we need to? What happens if we don’t? What if it takes a year or two?
• “do better” = Lack of expectation. People don’t share the same mental model. One person thinks 10% better, another imagines 10x better. And then there’s that one guy who thinks, “We’re fine. No changes needed.”
• “at communicating” = Vague. Are we talking about meetings? What about in emails? Or maybe they mean documentation, or work item ticket comments. What exactly isn’t working well right now?

Implicit language feels soft and nice, but it leaves too much room for interpretation and disconnect.

Explicit Directions

I earned my Eagle Scout rank when I was 16 years old. Those lessons have stuck with me through the years, and now that I’m a parent I’m relearning them as my kids go through Scouting. Recently, I sat in on a First Aid merit badge class with my youngest son, and the difference between implicit and explicit communication was made abundantly clear.

Picture an accident scene. A take-charge bystander shouts, “Someone call 911!” This sounds urgent, but it’s dangerously vague. Who is “someone”? Each second after an accident is critical, where uncertainty can cost lives. What if a dozen people nearby end up calling 911 at once? This is not good.

Instead, emergency preparedness training teaches us to be specific: “Sam, call 911!” Or, if you don’t know their name, point to them, make eye contact, even touch their shoulder and say, “You need to call 911!” Explicit directions save time, prevent confusion, and get results.

Why Explicit Communication Succeeds

Explicit communication gets things done. If tasks aren’t clearly assigned, nothing happens. That’s why project managers use RACI charts. These spell out who’s responsible and accountable, as well as who should be consulted and informed.

Being explicit creates a shared vision, prevents rework, and shortens timelines. When you leave details up to interpretation, someone will spend days perfecting something you didn’t want. We’ve all been there: you follow vague direction, deliver what you think is perfect, and then redo everything because expectations weren’t aligned.

Clear expectations reduce frustration. When two parties are upset, it’s almost always because something was left unsaid earlier. Even the smallest misunderstanding can spiral into an emotional mess.

6 Practical Communication Tips

1. Replace Vague Language – Be specific and targeted. Instead of, “We should update the deck.” Say, “Tara, update the deck with our new capabilities slides by end of day Thursday.”
2. Assign Ownership – Make it clear who is responsible. Example: “Alex, we need you to take lead on this.”
3. Include Timeframes – Set expectation or urgency. Instead of, “We need to have this ASAP.” Try, “Jane, at the very latest we need a final draft by noon on Tuesday. Sooner is better.”
4. Provide Context – Explain the “why” for relevance. Example: “Bill, the new component has to be built and tested by end of month so that it can be in production ahead of the new regulations taking affect.”
5. Confirm Understanding – Restate the desire and align. Instead of, “Abbey tells us that she’ll need 40 hours for this.” Rephrase it for confirmation like, “Abbey, you said you need 40 hours for this, so I think that means you need a week, right?”
6. Reiterate Assignments & Next Steps – End communications with a concise action plan. Example: “Next steps will be Todd getting legal approval by end of week, and then Sarah getting VP signatures by next Wednesday.”

Conclusion

Be clear. Be concise. Be explicit.

People aren’t mind readers! Drop the belief that being direct is a negative personality trait. It’s not bossy, it’s simply good communication.

Even if you’re emailing someone who “gets it,” think about what happens if that email is forwarded to someone else. Will the next person understand what you mean? Explicit communication isn’t just for now, it’s for anyone who might read it or hear it later.

Your Homework: Reach out today to that friend that always says, “We should do lunch sometime,” but you never do. This time, be explicit:

“Hey, do you have time for lunch in the next couple weeks?”

Bonus Points: Be intentional with it. Schedule your priorities.

“Would you be opposed to me putting a recurring monthly lunch on your calendar?”

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If you are looking for a partner who can be explicit and get things done, reach out to your Perficient account manager or use our contact form to begin a conversation.

Modern Healthcare has once again recognized Perficient among the largest healthcare management consulting firms in the U.S., ranking us ninth in its 2025 survey. This honor reflects not only our growth but also our commitment to helping healthcare leaders navigate complexity with clarity, precision, and purpose.

What’s Driving Demand: Innovation with Intent

As provider, payer, and MedTech organizations face mounting pressure to modernize, our work is increasingly focused on connecting digital investments to measurable business and health outcomes. The challenges are real—and so are the opportunities.

Healthcare leaders are engaging our experts to tackle shifts from digital experimentation to enterprise alignment in business-critical areas, including:

• Digital health transformation that eases access to care.
• AI and data analytics that accelerate insight, guide clinical decisions, and personalize consumer experiences.
• Workforce optimization that supports clinicians, streamlines operations, and restores time to focus on patients, members, brokers, and care teams.

These investments represent strategic maturity that reshapes how care is delivered, experienced, and sustained.

Operational Challenges: Strategy Meets Reality

Serving healthcare clients means working inside a system that resists simplicity. Our industry, technical, and change management experts help leaders address three persistent tensions:

1. Aligning digital strategy with enterprise goals. Innovation often lacks a shared compass. We translate divergent priorities—clinical, operational, financial—into unified programs that drive outcomes.
2. Controlling costs while preserving agility. Budgets are tight, but the need for speed and competitive relevancy remains. Our approach favors scalable roadmaps and solutions that deliver early wins and can flex as the health care marketplace and consumer expectations evolve.
3. Preparing the enterprise for AI. Many of our clients have discovered that their AI readiness lags behind ambition. We help build the data foundations, governance frameworks, and workforce capabilities needed to operationalize intelligent systems.

Related Insights: Explore the Digital Trends in Healthcare

Consumer Expectations: Access Is the New Loyalty

Our Access to Care research, based on insights from more than 1,000 U.S. healthcare consumers, reveals a fundamental shift: if your healthcare organization isn’t delivering a seamless, personalized, and convenient experience, consumers will go elsewhere. And they won’t always come back.

Many healthcare leaders still view competition as other hospitals or clinics in their region. But today’s consumer has more options—and they’re exercising them. From digital-first health experiences to hyper-local disruptors and retail-style health providers focused on accessibility and immediacy, the competitive field is rapidly expanding.

• Digital convenience is now a baseline. More than half of consumers who encountered friction while scheduling care went elsewhere.
• Caregivers are underserved. One in three respondents manage care for a loved one, yet most digital strategies treat the patient as a single user.
• Digital-first care is mainstream. 45% of respondents aged 18–64 have already used direct-to-consumer digital care, and 92% of those adopters believe the quality is equal or better to the care offered by their regular health care system.

These behaviors demand a rethinking of access, engagement, and loyalty. We help clients build experiences that are intuitive, inclusive, and aligned with how people actually live and seek care.

Looking Ahead: Complexity Accelerates

With intensified focus on modernization, data strategy, and responsible AI, healthcare leaders are asking harder questions. We’re helping them find and activate answers that deliver value now and build resilience for what’s next.

Our technology partnerships with Adobe, AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce, and other platform leaders allow us to move quickly, integrate deeply, and co-innovate with confidence. We bring cross-industry expertise from financial services, retail, and manufacturing—sectors where personalization and operational excellence are already table stakes. That perspective helps healthcare clients leapfrog legacy thinking and adopt proven strategies. And our fluency in HIPAA, HITRUST, and healthcare data governance ensures that our digital solutions are compliant, resilient, and future-ready.

Optimized, Agile Strategy and Outcomes for Health Insurers, Providers, and MedTech

Discover why we been trusted by the 10 largest U.S. health systems, 10 largest U.S. health insurers, and 14 of the 20 largest medical device firms. We are recognized in analyst reports and regularly awarded for our excellence in solution innovation, industry expertise, and being a great place to work.

Contact us to explore how we can help you forge a resilient, impactful future that delivers better experiences for patients, caregivers, and communities.

 “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” – Confucius.

 A room full of smart people, eyes glinting with the thrill of the future. Words like predictive models, AI-driven insights, and automated decisioning fly across the table like a Wimbledon final. Budgets, approved. Deadlines, drawn. Headlines, dreamed about.

But no one talks to or notices the quiet, slightly awkward one in the room, “it’s Data Governance”. The one who isn’t flashy … The one who shows up early with spreadsheets. The one who asks annoying questions, such as, “Where did this data come from?” and “Can we really trust this source?”

And yet, in almost every great technology story and every technology failure, Data Governance is the silent architect, whether you call it that or not. It was present, building the foundation… or sometimes silently watching as the castle falls.

The Illusion of Data-Driven Greatness

Some time back, I was working on a project where a major trading platform launched a new engine to automate trade surveillance and compliance monitoring.

Dollars were invested. The system promised to detect insider trading, front-running, and wash trade patterns too subtle for human eyes to catch. At first, everyone celebrated… until the false positives began to roll in. Legitimate trades were flagged as suspicious!!! Compliance officers were drowning in noise!!! Clients grew agitated, and regulatory auditors began asking uncomfortable questions.

When traced back, the root cause wasn’t the model itself. It was the data feeding it!

• Trade timestamps were off by milliseconds across systems.
• Reference data on instrument types was incomplete.
• Entity mappings between clients and brokers were outdated by over 9%.
• Historical compliance notes were inconsistently formatted and misclassified.

The model learned from incorrect data… and produced inaccuracy at an exponential scale. The organization had to suspend the AI engine and return to manual reviews in parallel, a massive operational setback.

The real problem wasn’t a technology failure. It was a data governance failure.

Why Data Governance is the New Competitive Edge

In the coming decade, success won’t be determined by who has the flashiest algorithms. Algorithms are cheap, open-source, and are increasingly commoditized. Success will hinge on who has better data, the companies that:

• Know where their data comes from.
• Know how it has been transformed.
• Know its limitations, its biases, and its gaps.
• Know how to course-correct in real time when something goes wrong.

Data governance used to be framed as a compliance tax… a necessary evil. But in the AI economy? It has become the operating system. Companies that treat governance like a strategic weapon, like a competitive differentiator, will build systems that are faster, smarter, safer, and more trusted. Everyone else will just be building very expensive sandcastles at low tide and praying tides don’t change.

The Risks Few Are Talking About

People love to talk about risks in the AI-driven world in sci-fi terms: rogue robots, existential threats, AI Models running for president

The real risk, one that is already unfolding in boardrooms and regulatory filings today, is much simpler: bad data feeding powerful systems.

• False alerts triggering unnecessary audits.
• Missed detection of real financial crimes.
• Market surveillance breakdowns causing regulatory breaches.
• Systemic compliance failures due to unseen data quality gaps.

All because governance was an afterthought.

The New Playbook for the AI Economy

If you’re a business leader, here’s the shift you need to make:

Smart organizations are now embedding governance into the very DNA of how they build, deploy, and manage AI systems. They’re asking:

• Who owns this dataset?
• How do we know it’s complete?
• What biases are hiding here?
• How do we certify and monitor trustworthiness over time?

And they’re investing accordingly — not reactively, but proactively.

Respect the Architect

Here’s the thing about architects. If they do their jobs right, no one notices them. The building just stands tall, sturdy, unshakable against storms. But what about when the foundation is weak? When the beams are poorly set? When the wiring is rushed? Well, then everyone notices. Usually, it’s too late. Data Governance is the silent architect of the AI structures. It’s time we gave it the respect and the investment it deserves. Because in the end, it’s not the flashiest ideas that win.
It’s the ones built on unshakable foundations.

Remember: “It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it is the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.” – David Allan Coe.

My dad generally does not have a very strong opinion about anything. His best reaction was when we went to see the Taj Mahal in Agra, India and he said … “it’s good”. Not someone who will applaud anything vociferously. When he heard about the whole manifestation spiel from my sister, he recommended us to read Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr Maxwell Maltz, a 1960s book he read as a young man that he says “was amazing”.  Coming from someone whose emotional range is “okay” to “could be worse,” this was basically his version of fireworks… Naturally, I decided to check it out…

I expected old and outdated self-help type advice… the kind of “grind harder” energy of the war era that feels like it belongs in black-and-white movies. But instead? It did hit different. It felt modern, relevant, and annoyingly… effective. Hence this blog.

A Plastic Surgeon Turned Epistemologist (I know … big word for brain transformation)

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, the author of Psycho-Cybernetics, was a cosmetic surgeon in the 1960s who noticed something unusual: fixing someone’s nose or scar didn’t always fix how they felt about themselves. Turns out, their self-image… the mental picture they had of themselves… didn’t update with the surgery.

That’s when Maltz cracked the code: Your self-image is basically your brain’s blueprint its operating system. It’s like the app running in the background that controls how you act, react, and even hold yourself back. If your self-image is outdated, no amount of external changes will make a difference. But if you can rewire it? It could be a game-changer.

Gen Z Did NOT Invent Manifestation?

Okay, let’s talk manifestation. You’ve seen it… people whispering affirmations into their oat milk lattes, crafting vision boards with magazine clippings and pinterest boards, journaling their dream lives like they’re already living them. The vibe? If you focus your thoughts and energy enough, good things will find you…

But guess what? Maltz was onto this way back in 1960… before TikTok made it a trend. His version wasn’t about crystals or cosmic timing; it was about mental rehearsal. Picture your goals so clearly and consistently that your brain starts treating them like real experiences. No props!!

The Theater of Your Mind

Maltz called this technique “The Theater of the Mind.” Imagine yourself achieving your goals… like actually see it happening in your head. Whether it’s acing a presentation or finally asking out your crush without turning into a bundle of nerves, you rehearse it mentally until your brain starts to believe it…

It’s not magic; it’s mechanics. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between real and vividly imagined. So instead of overthinking or getting lost in distractions, you train your inner autopilot to aim higher…

Failure and Feedback

Here’s the part that stayed with me: failure isn’t a sign you’re not capable… it’s just feedback for your brain to adjust course. Maltz compared it to your GPS… when you make a wrong turn, it doesn’t panic …  it just calmly recalculates and finds another way…

For someone raised on perfection and performance, this was freeing. Mistakes aren’t the end… they’re just part of the route…

So… Is This Just Another Self-Help Book?

Maybe, the tropes are similar, but the styles and the tools aren’t. Psycho-Cybernetics isn’t about wishing for miracles… it’s about understanding and reshaping the self-image that quietly directs your everyday life. When you change how you see yourself, everything… your habits, your confidence, even your presence… begins to shift.

I started believing I could handle challenges that once made me retreat. And more than anything, I realized that a lot of my so-called “personality quirks” were just old thought loops on repeat.

Vintage Science Meets New-Age Glow-Up

If you’re into manifestation… scripting dream lives at 11:11 or creating mood boards full of palm trees and future homes… ask yourself this: what’s your self-image doing while all this is happening? Because no matter how often you visualize success, the author emphasizes that if your inner dialogue still sometimes doubts your worth, that vision may never fully land.

Maltz figured this out decades before hashtags and highlight reels. And maybe that’s why my dad felt a shift when he read this book… and why I’m feeling something similar now just at a different age, in a different world… Turns out, rewiring your brain never really is never going out of style. Try it, I highly recommend, or as my dad said its an “AMAZING” read.

A mid-sized bank I was consulting with for their data warehouse modernization project finally realized that data isn’t just some necessary but boring stuff the IT department hoards in their digital cave. It’s the new gold, the ticking time bomb of risk, and the bane of every regulatory report that’s ever come back with more red flags than a beach during a shark sighting.

Welcome to the wild world of data governance, where dreams of order collide with the chaos of reality. Before you start mainlining espresso and squeezing that stress ball shaped suspiciously like your last audit report, let’s break this down into 7 steps that might just keep you sane.

1. Wrangle Some Executive Buy-In

Let’s not pretend. Without exec sponsorship, your data governance initiative is just a Trello board with high hopes. You need someone in a suit (preferably with a C in their title) to not just bless but be convinced about your mission, and preferably get it added to their KPI this year.

Pro tip to get that signature: Skip the jargon about “metadata catalogs” and go straight for the jugular with words like “penalties” and “reputational risk.” Nothing gets an exec’s attention quite like the threat of their club memberships being revoked.

2. Tame the Scope Before It Turns Into a Stampede

Organizations  have a knack for letting projects balloon faster than a tech startup’s valuation. Be ruthless. You don’t need to govern every scrap of data from the CEO’s coffee order to the janitor’s mop schedule.

Focus on the critical stuff:

• Customer data (because knowing who owes you money is kind of important)
• Transaction history (aka “where did all the money go?”)
• Regulatory reporting (because nobody likes surprise visits from auditors)

Start small, prove it works, then expand. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was a decent data governance structure.

3. Pick a Framework (But Don’t Treat It Like Holy Scripture)

Sure, you could go full nerd and dive into DAMA-DMBOK, but unless you’re gunning for a PhD in bureaucracy, keep it simple. Aim for a model that’s more “I get it” and less “I need an interpreter”.

Focus on:

• Who’s responsible for what (RACI, if you must use an acronym)
• What data belongs where
• Rules that sound smart but won’t make everyone quit in protest

Remember, frameworks are like diets – the best one is the one you’ll actually stick to.

4. Recruit Your Data Stewards (and Convince Them It’s Not a Punishment)

Your data stewards are the poor souls standing between order and chaos, armed with nothing but spreadsheets and a dwindling supply of patience. Look for folks who:

• Actually understand the data (a rare breed, cherish them)
• Can handle details without going cross-eyed
• Won’t melt down when stuck between the rock of compliance and the hard place of IT

Bonus: Give them a fancy title like “Data Integrity Czar.” It won’t pay more, but it might make them feel better about their life choices.

5. Define Your Terms (Or Prepare for the “What Even Is a ‘Customer’?” Wars)

Get ready for some fun conversations about what words mean. You’d think “customer” would be straightforward, but you’d be wrong. So very, very wrong.

• Establish a single source of truth
• Create a glossary that doesn’t read like a legal document
• Accept that these definitions will change more often than a teenager’s social media profile

It’s not perfect, but it’s governance, not a philosophical treatise on the nature of reality.

6. Build Your Tech Stack (But Don’t Start with the Shiny Toys)

For the love of all that is holy and GDPR-compliant, don’t buy a fancy governance tool before you know what you’re doing. Your tech should support your process, not be a $250,000 band-aid for a broken system.

Figure out:

• Who gets to see what (and who definitely shouldn’t)
• How you’re classifying data (beyond “important” and “meh”)
• Where your golden records live
• What to do when it all inevitably goes sideways

Metadata management and data lineage tracking are great, but they’re the icing, not the cake.

7. Make It Boring (In a Good Way)

The true test of your governance structure isn’t the PowerPoint that put the board to sleep. It’s whether it holds up when someone decides to get creative with data entry at 4:59 PM on Fridays.

So:

• Schedule regular data quality check-ups
• Treat data issues like actual problems, not minor inconveniences
• Set up alerts (but not so many that everyone ignores them)
• Reward the good, don’t just punish the bad

Bonus: Document Everything (Then Document Your Documentation)

If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist. If it’s written down but buried in a SharePoint site that time forgot, it still doesn’t exist.

Think of governance like flossing – it’s not exciting, but it beats the alternative.

Several mid-sized banks have successfully implemented data governance structures, demonstrating the real-world benefits of these strategies. Here are a few notable examples:

Case Study of a Large American Bank

This bank’s approach to data governance offers valuable lessons for mid-sized banks. The bank implemented robust data governance practices to enhance data quality, security, and compliance. Their focus on:

• Aligning data management with regulatory requirements
• Ensuring accurate financial reporting
• Improving decision-making processes

resulted in better risk management, increased regulatory compliance, and enhanced customer trust through secure and reliable financial services.

Regional Bank Case Study

A regional bank successfully tackled data quality issues impacting compliance, credit, and liquidity risk assessment. Their approach included:

1. Establishing roles and responsibilities for data governance
2. Creating domains with assigned data custodians and stewards
3. Collecting and simplifying knowledge about critical data elements (CDEs)

For example, in liquidity risk assessment, they identified core CDEs such as liquidity coverage ratio and net stable funding ratio.

Mid-Sized Bank Acquisition

In another case, a major bank acquired a regional financial services company and faced the challenge of integrating disparate data systems. Their data governance implementation involved:

• Launching a data consolidation initiative
• Centralizing data from multiple systems into a unified data warehouse
• Establishing a cross-functional data governance team
• Defining clear data definitions, ownership rules, and access permissions

This approach eliminated data silos, created a single source of truth, and significantly improved data quality and reliability. It also facilitated more accurate reporting and analysis, leading to more effective risk management and smoother banking services for customers.

Parting Thought

In the end, defining a data governance structure for your bank isn’t about creating a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s about keeping your data in check, your regulators off your back, and your systems speaking the same language.

When it all comes together, and your data actually starts making sense, you’ll feel like a criminal mastermind watching their perfect plan unfold. Only, you know, legal and with fewer car chases.

Now go forth and govern. May your data be clean, your audits be boring, and your governance meetings be mercifully short.

As I gear up for my presentation at the Adobe Summit this March, I’ve been reflecting on the transformative potential of a well-executed content supply chain—and the hurdles large organizations face in making it a reality. And since it is Summit, I will obviously be referencing tools like Adobe GenStudio, Adobe Workfront, AEM Sites, and AEM Assets, which all aim to streamline content creation, management, and activation. Yet, one pain point consistently rises to the top when implementing this process at scale: siloed teams and disconnected workflows.

The #1 Barrier to an Efficient Content Supply Chain

In large organizations, it is practically impossible to audit the content generation processes because content production often resembles a patchwork quilt rather than a seamless assembly line, with each patch representing a different department or agency. The patches themselves represent the individual departmental processes, which makes stitching them together difficult.

For example, the Marketing team might be crafting campaigns within the agency, while design teams work in isolation on visuals that get handed off to the dev team for assembly within their isolated channel teams.  This fragmentation isn’t just a minor inconvenience—it’s the number one barrier to achieving an efficient content supply chain.

This pain point isn’t insurmountable, however. The Adobe Experience Cloud is designed specifically to bridge these process clusters to help orchestrate tasks across teams, ensuring everyone—from copywriters to legal reviewers—is aligned on timelines and deliverables. Now coined GenStudio from Adobe, Adobe has invested significant dollars into creating one holistic solution to streamline content development. The trick is getting everyone on the same page.

Simply Buying Tech Won’t Solve Your Content Supply Challenges

Ok, so, yes, it’s the age-old adage of people and processes and not just technology. You probably didn’t need to read this to figure that out, but if it is so obvious, why do so many large organizations struggle to improve? My observation is this: if you don’t have the proper change management and cross-functional training in place and if you can’t foster and establish a cultural shift toward collaboration, then all the technology in the world won’t help, making leadership buy-in is critical.

At Adobe Summit, my plan is to review the technology elements but to also dive deeper into how organizations can tackle this pain point head-on, with real-world examples and practical strategies. We have to start by connecting the dots—and the people—behind the content, unlocking the full potential of the organization to scale up content production.

Stay tuned for more insights as I prepare for March, and let me know your thoughts on streamlining content workflows in the comments!

Attending Adobe Summit 2025?

Join us for lunch during Adobe Summit to explore why having a clear, strategic vision is essential before deploying new technologies. We’ll discuss how GenStudio and other tools can fit into your existing content workflow to maximize efficiency and creativity.

We hope to see you there!

Beyond GenStudio: Crafting a Modern Content Supply Chain Vision
Wednesday, March 19 | 11:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M.
Register

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader” – John Quincy Adams

 I have always thought that the word LEADERSHIP is a word of great proportions, not only because of the union of its 10 vowels and consonants but also because of the background that entails being a true leader.

Becoming an agile leader in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment (a term known as VUCA 3) is a whole new challenge for those of us who are immersed in the wonderful world of “project management.” Taking advantage of this space, I would like to share some tips on agile leadership.

6 Tips for Agile Leadership

1. Moving From an “Ego-system” to a “Healthy Ecosystem”

Jordi Alemany, in his article “The Key to Transforming an Ego-system into a Healthy Ecosystem,” published on LinkedIn, warns of the risks of working in an ego-system instead of seeking to generate a healthy ecosystem for working with other people to create innovative solutions:

“In an ego-system, unlike in a healthy ecosystem, social interactions are characterized by unfair competition and an absolute lack of trust and collaboration.

Egosystems hinder the development of talent and the competitive capacity of organizations since the people who live in them lose all their focus and consume their energy in internal conflicts” (Alemany, 2023).

Thus, based on the above premise, I recommend that new and current agile leaders assume the responsibility of becoming true leaders who serve the team and leave their ego behind the project’s entrance door.

On the other hand, Belen Maspoli’s article “5 Keys to Leading with Agility: Driving Transformation and Organizational Success” provides valuable advice that I think is prudent to address.

2. Fostering Collaboration and Autonomy

According to Peter G. Northouse, leadership is moving from the leader as the “boss” who must be obeyed and respected—a practice that prevailed in the 1920s—to “the leader as an authentic, adaptive person at the service of others ” (Northouse, 2015).

Therefore, leaders must foster psychological safety among teams so that they feel free to express their ideas without guilt, make decisions, and assume responsibility. This increases the chances of improving creativity and innovation and, therefore, team results.

3. Promote Effective Communication

It is said that “life happens in a conversation,” and 99.9% of misunderstandings and problems should be solved through good communication. The same applies to agile teams, where clear and open communication can help us stay in the game, anticipate possible risks, build trust, and improve collaboration. However, it is not only about communicating but also about learning to actively listen and act accordingly.

If you have doubts about the impact of communication on the success of organizations, according to David Grossman in his study ‘The Cost of Poor Communications’ “four hundred companies with more than 100,000 employees revealed that in 2016 they had average losses of 62.4 million dollars annually due to inadequate communication towards and between employees” (Grossman, 2016).

4. Embrace Change and Experimentation

“The only constant is change.” It could be read as a cliché, but we now live in an increasingly dynamic world that demands quick adaptation. As leaders and teams, we need to change our concept of error and embrace mistakes as the best opportunity to improve and learn. Leaders see error as those small steps to success and lose the fear of it. “The biggest mistake a person can make is to be afraid of making a mistake” (Elbert Hubbard).

5. Leading by Example

This is an easy phrase to read but sometimes challenging to follow. To become a truly agile leader, congruence between what you think, say, and do is necessary. Remember that words convince, but actions drag.

6. Promote Continuous Learning

If the world constantly changes, our cognitive abilities cannot remain static. The agile leader must acquire new skills and knowledge to respond to change and learn from others. Here, I pause to tell you what I am experiencing today. With the rise of artificial intelligence, I am becoming fascinated by the practices and tools for project management. This is what is coming, and we must train ourselves in it.

I could discuss improving agile leadership, but I’ll save a bit for future posts.

I hope these tips can help you improve your daily performance. Trust your leadership; even when you don’t see it, believe it.

Glossary:

VUCA: Acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. VUCA model defines the current environment in which companies must thrive. New project managers must thus be able to change while maintaining what makes the project and the organization unique.

Bibliography:

• María Alonso. (December 19, 2024). VUCA environments: project management in a changing world. Retrieved from https://asana.com/es/resources/vuca
• Jordi Alemany . (July 9, 2023). The Key to Transforming an “Egosystem” into a Healthy Ecosystem . Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/la-clave-para-transformar-un-egosistema-en-ecosistema-jordi-alemany/?trackingId=nuk6R5XgTR%2BzXAyR43caGQ%3D%3D 
• Peter G. Northouse, leadership, Theory and Practice (2015).
• David Grossman. (February 18th, 2016). The Cost of Poor Communication. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/organizational-employee-development/cost-poor-communicat

It’s difficult, in the consulting services industry, to explain the requirement for existence of a core thought leadership group to augment the sales and marketing teams that are tasked with collection of logos. In today’s hypercompetitive and fast evolving marketplace, the lines between thought leadership and sales are increasingly intertwined… Thought leadership, when done right, isn’t just about looking and talking smart (though that’s nice); It’s about building credibility, earning trust, and yes, making sales easier. Banks, financial institutions, and insurance companies know this dance all too well, and their recent playbook is packed with lessons for the rest of us.

The Synergy Between Thought Leadership and Sales

Let’s face it… Thought leadership in a consulting business isn’t just about dumping PDFs on your website or spouting off buzzwords at conferences. It’s about serving up fresh, insightful perspectives that make your audience say, “Wow, they really get it…” For sales teams, it’s the perfect assist. Instead of chasing down leads with worn-out pitches, they’ve got something substantial, something that sparks meaningful conversations. Imagine this: An insurance exec armed with a research-packed whitepaper on managing industry-specific risks… suddenly, they’re less of a salesperson and more of a trusted advisor. Boom.

In the financial sector, where trust is paramount, thought leadership plays a crucial role in establishing credibility. By sharing valuable insights and demonstrating deep industry knowledge, consulting partners can position themselves as trusted advisors rather than mere service providers, or worse, body shoppers.

Real-Life Examples

1. A major American Bank’s Initiative “Women’s Global Banking Insights” – The large bank struck gold with a series of reports focused on empowering women financially. Did they post cute slogans and call it a day? Nope… They dug deep, offering data and advice that real businesses could use. The payoff? Corporate clients who not only took notes but also opened accounts. Talk about turning insights into income…
2. Insurance Providing company’s Sustainability Commitment – They went all-in on sustainability and climate resilience, and they didn’t just stop at fluffy PR. They published juicy whitepapers and hosted can’t-miss webinars about sustainable investing and ESG trends. Cue the applause from institutional investors. The result? Not just warm fuzzies… they scored big with sustainability-linked insurance sales. Proof that doing good can be good for business.
3. Card Business’s Small Business Advocacy – During the COVID-19 chaos, this card company became a lifeline for small businesses with its Recovery Insights platform. It was like a treasure trove of data on consumer trends and recovery strategies… Think actionable, not academic. Businesses loved it. Mastercard’s sales of related tools and products? Through the roof. Who doesn’t love a partner who really gets their pain points?

Thought Leadership Directly Aids Sales

1. By Lead Nurturing: Blogs, webinars, and reports give your prospects reasons to stick around and reasons to buy… eventually.
2. By Priming Brand Preference: By demonstrating deep understanding of industry challenges, companies can become top-of-mind when customers seek solutions.
3. By Creating Urgency: Well-crafted thought leadership content can highlight emerging issues, creating a sense of urgency for potential clients to act.
4. By Facilitating Multi-Stakeholder Engagement: In complex B2B sales, thought leadership helps engage various decision-makers within an organization by providing relevant insights for each role.
5. By Transcending Transactional Relationships: Thought leadership enables sales teams to build long-term, value-driven relationships with clients, moving beyond one-time transactions.
6. By Upselling Opportunities: Your clients see your content and think, “Wow, these folks are ahead of the curve…” Suddenly, they’re buying more because they don’t want to miss out

Bottom line?

As we move towards what some are calling “AI Powered Thought Leadership,” the integration of thought leadership and sales is likely to become even more pronounced This evolution will likely see a greater emphasis on data-driven insights, personalized content delivery, and the use of AI to identify and address emerging industry trends. By committing to strong thought leadership initiatives, companies can directly enhance their sales efforts, build stronger client relationships, and establish themselves as trusted industry leaders. As the landscape continues to evolve, those who master this synergy will be well-positioned to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Thought-Leadership isn’t just about flexing your brainpower… It’s a full-on growth strategy. When done well, it’s a win-win for the sales team, the clients, and let’s be real, your bottom line. Who says being thoughtful doesn’t pay off?

The healthcare industry stands at a transformative crossroads with generative AI (GenAI) poised to revolutionize care delivery, operational efficiency, and patient outcomes. Recent MIT Technology Review research indicates that while 88% of organizations are using or experimenting with GenAI, healthcare organizations face unique challenges in implementation.

Let’s explore a comprehensive approach to successful GenAI adoption in healthcare.

Find Your Starting Point: A Strategic Approach to GenAI Implementation

The journey to GenAI adoption requires careful consideration of three key dimensions: organizational readiness, use case prioritization, and infrastructure capabilities.

Organizational Readiness Assessment

Begin by evaluating your organization’s current state across several critical domains:

• Data Infrastructure: Assess your organization’s ability to handle both structured clinical data (EHR records, lab results) and unstructured data (clinical notes, imaging reports). MIT’s research shows that only 22% of organizations consider their data foundations “very ready” for GenAI applications, making this assessment crucial.
• Technical Capabilities: Evaluate your existing technology stack, including cloud infrastructure, data processing capabilities, and integration frameworks. Healthcare organizations with modern data architectures, particularly those utilizing lakehouse architectures, show 74% higher success rates in AI implementation.
• Talent and Skills: Map current capabilities against future needs, considering both technical skills (AI/ML expertise, data engineering) and healthcare-specific domain knowledge.

Use Case Prioritization

Successful healthcare organizations typically begin with use cases that offer clear value while managing risk:

1. Administrative Efficiency

• Clinical documentation improvement and coding
• Prior authorization automation
• Claims processing optimization
• Appointment scheduling and management

These use cases typically show ROI within 6-12 months while building organizational confidence.

2. Clinical Support Applications

• Clinical decision support enhancement
• Medical image analysis
• Patient risk stratification
• Treatment planning assistance

These applications require more rigorous validation but can deliver significant impact on care quality.

3. Patient Experience Enhancement

• Personalized communication
• Care navigation support
• Remote monitoring integration
• Preventive care engagement

These initiatives often demonstrate immediate patient satisfaction improvements while building toward longer-term health outcomes.

Critical Success Factors for Healthcare GenAI Implementation

Data Foundation Excellence | Establish robust data management practices that address:

• Data quality and standardization
• Integration across clinical and operational systems
• Privacy and security compliance
• Real-time data accessibility

MIT’s research indicates that organizations with strong data foundations are three times more likely to achieve successful AI outcomes.

Governance Framework | Develop comprehensive governance structures that address the following:

• Clinical validation protocols
• Model transparency requirements
• Regulatory compliance (HIPAA, HITECH, FDA)
• Ethical AI use guidelines
• Bias monitoring and mitigation
• Ongoing performance monitoring

Change Management and Culture | Success requires careful attention to:

• Clinician engagement and buy-in
• Workflow integration
• Training and education
• Clear communication of benefits and limitations
• Continuous feedback loops

Overcoming Implementation Barriers

Technical Challenges

• Legacy System Integration: Implement modern data architectures that can bridge old and new systems while maintaining data integrity.
• Data Quality Issues: Establish automated data quality monitoring and improvement processes.
• Security Requirements: Deploy healthcare-specific security frameworks that address both AI and traditional healthcare compliance needs.

Organizational Challenges

• Skill Gaps: Develop a hybrid talent strategy combining internal development with strategic partnerships.
• Resource Constraints: Start with high-ROI use cases to build momentum and justify further investment.
• Change Resistance: Focus on clinician-centered design and clear demonstration of value.

Moving Forward: Building a Sustainable GenAI Program

Long-term success requires:

• Systematic Scaling Approach. Start with pilot programs that demonstrate clear value. Build reusable components and frameworks. Establish centers of excellence to share learning. And create clear metrics for success.
• Innovation Management. Maintain awareness of emerging capabilities. Foster partnerships with technology providers. Engage in healthcare-specific AI research. Build internal innovation capabilities.
• Continuous Improvement. Regularly assess model performance. Capture stakeholder feedback on an ongoing basis. Continuously train and educate your teams. Uphold ongoing governance reviews and updates.

The Path Forward

Healthcare organizations have a unique opportunity to leverage GenAI to transform care delivery while improving operational efficiency. Success requires a balanced approach that combines innovation with the industry’s traditional emphasis on safety and quality.

MIT’s research shows that organizations taking a systematic approach to GenAI implementation, focusing on strong data foundations and clear governance frameworks, achieve 53% better outcomes than those pursuing ad hoc implementation strategies.

For healthcare executives, the message is clear. While the journey to GenAI adoption presents significant challenges, the potential benefits make it an essential strategic priority.

The key is to start with well-defined use cases, ensure robust data foundations, and maintain unwavering focus on patient safety and care quality.

By following this comprehensive approach, healthcare organizations can build sustainable GenAI programs that deliver meaningful value to all stakeholders while maintaining the high standards of care that the industry demands.

Combining technical expertise with deep healthcare knowledge, we guide healthcare leaders through the complexities of AI implementation, delivering measurable outcomes.

We are trusted by leading technology partners, mentioned by analysts, and Modern Healthcare consistently ranks us as one of the largest healthcare consulting firms.

Discover why we have been trusted by the 10 largest health insurers in the U.S. Explore our healthcare expertise and contact us to learn more.

References

1. Hex Technologies. (2024). The multi-modal revolution for data teams [White paper]. https://hex.tech
2. MIT Technology Review Insights. (2021). Building a high-performance data and AI organization. https://www.technologyreview.com/insights
3. MIT Technology Review Insights. (2023). Laying the foundation for data- and AI-led growth: A global study of C-suite executives, chief architects, and data scientists. MIT Technology Review.
4. MIT Technology Review Insights. (2024a). The CTO’s guide to building AI agents. https://www.technologyreview.com/insights
5. MIT Technology Review Insights. (2024b). Data strategies for AI leaders. https://www.technologyreview.com/insights
6. MIT xPRO. (2024). AI strategy and leadership program: Reimagine leadership with AI and data strategy [Program brochure]. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Let’s be honest – if you’ve ever thought that Quarterly Business Reviews (or QBRs) were a huge headache, you’re not alone! A QBR is an alignment meeting that’s held every three months between a company like Perficient and its clients.

When my director first introduced us to the idea, the team was skeptical. It seemed like just another box to check, and my first few QBRs felt more like a chore than an opportunity. No surprise when they didn’t lead to much account growth! Over time, though, I realized what a gift they are, and everything changed. Let me tell you why QBRs matter and how to make them work for you! 

There are three parts to a productive QBR – showcasing successes, offering recommendations, and reviewing goals. Let’s dig into each part individually. 

Part 1 – Showcasing Past Successes

The first step in any QBR is what earns that “quarterly review” name. This is where you get to show off the Perficient team’s accomplishments over the previous quarter. What were our big wins? What cool new features launched? Sometimes we have quieter quarters than others, but there is always something you can display as an achievement. Get creative and be sure to lean on other team members for suggestions!

When you’re showing off the team’s wins, make sure you keep in mind that not everyone on the call has the same role. One fantastic benefit of QBRs is getting to present to VPs and other executive leadership who may not be involved in the day-to-day engagement. However, they may not really understand the impact of a statement like, “We successfully implemented a multi-instance deployment strategy leveraging Sitecore’s xDB architecture, optimizing the content delivery network integration for enhanced latency performance.” 

There’s a reason that KISS is such a popular principle– keep it simple! Use non-technical language as much as possible and remember to tie your achievements back to how the client benefits. We all know Perficient teams deliver maximum results, but how does that really impact your client’s bottom line? Explain exactly how this past quarter helped contribute to their success, through wins like boosted site security or reduced costs.

Part 2 – Offering Thoughtful Recommendations for Improvement

Now we head into everyone’s favorite part – offering recommendations and driving new business! This is where you start looking ahead to the upcoming quarter and thinking about The Next Big Thing. Sure, it might be tempting to think this is your chance to push all those shiny upgrades and premium options that will help pad your pockets (kidding!). But in reality, that’s not at all what a good QBR is about.

What really drives success is understanding your client’s story. A sales leader I admire once said that you can’t be truly successful at selling unless and until you deeply understand someone’s story. What motivates them? What do they look back on at the end of the year and feel proud of? When you understand these things about your client, you open the door to making thoughtful recommendations that actually offer value.

It’s not about making the sale – it’s about taking care of your clients. It’s about understanding their business, their needs, what their frustrations are, and what will really drive their growth. Pushing that flashy new tool may net you a bigger commission check, but when you get to next quarter’s QBR, are you going to be able to show that it helped your client meet their long-term strategic goals? Or is it going to be something you sheepishly leave out of the QBR, because your client spent a bunch of money and had nothing to show for it? 

Part 3 – Aligning with the Client’s Business Goals 

By the time you get to this stage of most QBRs, you’ve been presenting for about 45 minutes straight. Now it’s your client’s turn to shine! You want to ensure that you’re aligned with their business strategy, so kick this part off by asking them what the future looks like. Some good example questions are –

• What specific outcomes do you hope to achieve in your business over the next quarter, the next six months, the next year?

• Are there any challenges you’re currently facing that you believe could impact your goals? 

• What does success look like for your business a year from now? 

What may surprise you is that if you’ve done your homework and put in the time to understanding your client’s story, this part of the conversation should be a close mirror of Part 2. If they bring up challenges, you should ideally already know about most (if not all) of them. When they talk about new initiatives, hopefully you’ve already considered those and included them in your earlier recommendations. 

What you don’t want is for the client to surprise you with goals or challenges that you’ve never heard before. This can potentially mean a misalignment in your understanding of their “big picture”. But don’t panic if this happens! Think of it as an opportunity to realign and dig deeper into their evolution. This is your chance to recalibrate and ensure your team’s work stays focused on what truly matters to your client. Sometimes, these surprises can open the door to even better growth and collaboration. 

Why QBRs Matter for Long-Term Success 

Here’s the crux of the matter – when you’re deeply aligned with your client’s story, sales don’t need to be forced.

They happen naturally. 

Once your clients see that you genuinely understand their business and aren’t just trying to make a quick sale, they start to ask for more on their own. Since adjusting my own frame of mind, I’ve had clients come to me directly asking for additional services, because they trust my recommendations and know I have their best interests at heart. Nurturing this kind of credibility comes from consistently delivering value and keeping the focus on what matters most to the client, rather than pushing unnecessary upgrades.

QBRs aren’t just a quarterly obligation. They’re a critical part of building lasting relationships with your clients. When done right, they help you showcase Perficient’s value, offer strategic recommendations, and ensure that both you and your client are in sync on the path forward. 

By shifting your mindset and treating QBRs as a tool for building trust, you’ll find that sales and client loyalty come naturally. And trust me, once you’ve experienced that shift, you’ll never look at QBRs as a headache again!