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More than 250 business leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and students filled the Seneca One auditorium on June 17 for the inaugural Accelerate AI event to gain a clearer understanding of how they can adopt artificial intelligence tools in meaningful ways.

Throughout the afternoon, local experts from the University at Buffalo School of Management’s Center for AI Business Innovation and Radial Ventures shared their passion for building foundational AI skills, measuring business outcomes and balancing innovation with responsible usage.

“When we talk about AI, we’re concerned it’s going to replace us,” said UB Assistant Director Domicic Sellitto. “It’s just another technology, and we should treat it as such.”

Whether you’re just getting started or already exploring AI, here are three of the most important takeaways from Accelerate AI.

1. Start with an action plan (it takes 10 minutes)

“You don’t need more AI tools,” said UB professor of entrepreneurship Celine Krzan. You need AI that knows your business. To start pointing AI at the right work, think about where your workload is frequent, repeatable and safe to review.

Then think of it in terms of three buckets:

• The Assistant (efficiency): Saves time on repeatable work
• The Strategist (operations): Improves decisions, planning and prioritization
• The Creator (growth): Ships sales, marketing, customer and communication output

Establishing this foundation will allow you to jump right into building an action plan. Click here to begin your 10-minute setup.

2. Measure the real outcomes

The measure of your return on the time and money invested in AI tools should not simply be the rate of adoption. Keeping in mind that new tools tend to make you slower at first, UB’s Dominic Sellitto said that AI can quietly become a cost center if the hours saved do not lead to:

• Cut costs – due to fewer hours paid for
• Freed time that allows you to do work that earns revenue
• More volume or output with the same headcount

Ready to run the numbers and see what actually reaches your bottom line? Open the Realistic AI ROI Calculator to find out.

3. Protect your data

When UB professor Kevin Cleary audits any company’s cyber security practices, he tells them to treat agents as people. The question you should ask before pasting anything into an AI is: “Would I be OK if this became public?” If the answer is no, don’t hit enter.

For many small- and mid-sized businesses, success doesn’t require implementing hundreds of security controls. Instead, focus on starting with 5-10 things that protect critical information while enabling innovation.

One move you can make this week? Start inventorying and labeling your data systems and vendors. Then tag each one either high risk, medium risk or low risk. Read Cleary’s guide for your next four moves.

What’s next? Continue learning with an ongoing series

Due to the response of this first event, Accelerate AI is launching a new series with four industry-focused sessions hosted by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership on the following dates:

• July 15: Healthcare
• July 29: Professional services & finance
• Aug. 12: Manufacturing
• Aug. 26: Real estate development

All sessions are free and last from 8 a.m.-noon.

Click here to register and select the sessions you’re interested in attending. We hope you’ll join us as we continue these important conversations.

About the Accelerate AI coalition

Regional stakeholders are working together to provide small- and mid-sized businesses in Western New York from a wide range of industries with free AI education and resources that help them become more competitive. The initiative is hosted by TechBuffalo, Radial Ventures, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and Series B, with support from the 43North Foundation and educational content developed by the University at Buffalo School of Management’s Center for AI Business Innovation.