The Digital Layer: Building AI-Ready Organisations

Embracing the Culture Shift Required for Generative AI to Transform Organisations

As I delivered the keynote at the Jadu Academy in Birmingham, I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of excitement for the future we’re building together. Generative AI is no longer a far-off concept - it’s already here, and it’s changing the way we approach our customers, the services we can offer them, and how we organise and run our public services themselves. But with all this excitement comes a very real responsibility. AI is an expensive technology to get wrong, and the key to getting it right lies in more than just the technology itself - it lies in the culture we build around it: we need to cultivate a culture that is ready to embrace AI’s possibilities and willing to navigate its challenges

The Power of Experimentation

Experimentation has always been the driving force behind every revolution in human history. From scientific breakthroughs to technological advancements, it’s the process of trial and error that propels us forward. And this couldn’t be more true when it comes to AI.

At Jadu, we’ve embraced this mindset wholeheartedly. Through Jadu Labs, we’ve launched a browser extension that leverages Generative AI to deliver real, tangible productivity tools to our users. But this isn’t just about launching a product; it’s about committing to a culture of experimentation, adaptation and innovation.

Many of the sessions at the Jadu Academy highlighted early experiments with GenAI, showcasing how AI can already transform the way we work. But for AI to deliver its full potential, organisations need to be willing to experiment and, crucially - learn from those experiments.

The Digital Layer - a framework.

One of the key concepts I introduced during my keynote was The Digital Layer. This framework helps organisations understand how they can prepare themselves for AI by connecting their back-office systems to customer-facing tools in a way that is transparent, efficient, and accessible.

The Digital Layer is composed of three elements and drives accessibility and interoperability of the core systems inside your organisation: 

1. Backend

   The foundation of your systems where data is captured in Systems of Record and processes are automated using technologies like RPA and orchestration. AI is being applied here by back-office systems developers - but also through business transformation projects, leveraging services such as Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude and others for data analysis, discovery, content writing and problem-solving. 

2. Customer

   These are your systems of engagement CRM & Case Management, websites, portals, and forms that collect and manage customer data, allowing you to interact with users more effectively. Low-code tools such as Jadu, combined with tools such as Microsoft Power Platform and Power Apps, are ubiquitous across the Customer Layer and support digital teams in building ‘products / apps’ and digital services that meet user needs. AI is applied here throughout the creation process, from content authoring to complex visualisation and optimisation of business processes.  

3. Product

   The final element is where new products and services are built using low-code tools to enable customer self-service. These products must be high-quality, easy to deploy, and, most importantly, accessible. AI is leveraged here for Agents to service everyday customer/user needs - chatbots that can now respond and act on behalf of users. These products/digital services can and should themselves be open and interoperable - and critically accessible. The goal is to create products that are underpinned by API services so that data can be ingested in a multitude of ways: programmatically in other apps, as well as through AI agents ‘acting’ on behalf of the user. 

When these three elements work together, you create an AI-ready organisation. If your systems are accessible for humans, they’ll be accessible for machines too. AI can only perform tasks and interpret data if the information is structured in an inclusive, machine-readable format. Accessibility isn’t just a human concern - it’s critical for making the most of AI. Leveraging the new paradigm of ‘asking’ instead of ‘searching’ - where computing devices perform a function for you rather than telling you where to go and manually entering into a keyboard. I often hear my AbilityNet colleagues talking about how hard it is for a blind user to book a flight on an app. That barrier is removed then AI assistants carry out the task. The Digital Layer enables that open and interoperable potential.

Launching Jadu’s Digital Consulting Services

To further support our customers in this cultural and technological shift, I’m excited to announce the launch of Jadu Consulting. Jadu Consulting is a new business transformation service designed to support organisations in leveraging digital technologies to drive sustainable growth and improve public services. This service builds on Jadu’s long-standing commitment to innovation and excellence in digital service delivery. The team is specialist in helping organisations navigate the complexities of the AI journey, ensuring that they adopt AI effectively and leverage it to create truly transformative outcomes.

Our approach is grounded in helping you integrate The Digital Layer into your operations, ensuring that your organisation is AI-ready, accessible, and poised to fully leverage the opportunity for massive productivity gains that Generative AI offers. 

A Call to Action

The Digital Layer framework helps drive ideation and creative experimentation by finding areas that AI can improve or even transform. Moreover, Digital Layer thinking enables interoperability (in the right places) and automation, saving humans time and effort better spent on more complex challenges. 

This is your moment to lead that charge, to experiment, innovate, and create a culture where AI can thrive - and work with us on finding the real-world use cases that can genuinely transform how we work, the speed we can deliver digital products and the quality, accessibility and usefulness of those products to support people's lives. 

Jadu has evolved to provide support and technology to enable your organisation to leverage everything the mass shift in automation has brought fully. For more information on Jadu Consulting, please visit our website or submit a request.

Watch the Keynote session at Jadu Academy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KheSQoTMSOc&list=PLXnKjAZhh8hOzh7tZPxro8FmuVb7qfyFq&index=2