Picking the right AI project for your company often comes down to having the right ingredients and knowing how to combine them. That, at least, is how Salesforce’s Marco Casalaina tends to think about it. The veteran artificial intelligence and data scientist expert oversees Einstein, Salesforce’s AI technology, and has made a career out of making emerging technologies more intuitive and accessible for all. With Einstein, he’s working to help Salesforce customers — from small businesses to nonprofits to Fortune 50 companies — realize the full benefits of AI. HBR spoke with Casalaina about what goes into a successful AI project, how to communicate as a data scientist, and the one question you really need to ask before launching an AI pilot.
How to Set Your AI Project Up for Success
A Q&A with Marco Casalaina, the head of Salesforce’s Einstein AI program.
December 08, 2021
Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images
Summary.
To pick the right AI project, it’s essential to understand how AI works — what it’s good at and what it’s not. HBR spoke with Marco Casalaina, head of Salesforce’s Einstein project, who broke down the basic ingredients of a good AI project and the questions leaders need to be asking themselves before investing time and resources in a new AI project. The most important one, he argues, is, “Can a human do it?”