POCs must graduate on CFO-grade metrics: margin, handle time, defect rate, or working capital—not engagement. Kill/scale decisions should be pre-committed in the PRD.
Executive snapshot
Enterprise AI ROI: Moving beyond the Chatbot POC
Market & strategyROI
The move
Board patience for science projects is gone; every initiative competes with core roadmap.
The friction
Demos optimize for applause while production lacks eval harnesses and cost controls.
The product verdict
Pair every initiative with unit economics, adoption KPIs, and an explicit sunset path.
Field note · Strategic dispatch · /dispatch/enterprise-ai-roi-beyond-chatbot-poc