From AI opportunities to commercially viable applications
Dr Florian Härer will contribute an expert practice session to Management Circle’s intensive seminar “AI Costs: Understand, Measure and Reduce”. The session (From AI opportunities to commercially viable applications) will explore how organisations can move beyond technological possibilities and select AI initiatives that are strategically relevant, organisationally feasible and commercially viable.
As organisations increase their use of artificial intelligence, both the opportunities and the associated costs are growing. Licences, APIs, tokens and infrastructure represent only part of the actual expenditure. Further costs arise from data preparation, system integration, process redesign, governance, competency development and the long-term organisational embedding of AI applications.
Commercially responsible AI management therefore does not begin with optimising models that are already in operation. It begins by determining which AI use cases an organisation should pursue in the first place.
This is the focus of the contribution by Dr Florian Härer, Director of FITLO | Institute for AI Transfer, to Management Circle’s intensive seminar “AI Costs: Understand, Measure and Reduce”.
Assessing and implementing AI applications systematically
The session is entitled:
From AI opportunities to effective applications: assessing and implementing AI systematically
It presents an approach that enables organisations to assess potential AI applications from several business-critical perspectives rather than selecting them solely because of their technological appeal.
The session addresses questions including:
How should AI be approached as a strategic management responsibility?
How can AI opportunities be identified systematically and developed into specific use cases?
Which criteria should be used to assess value, feasibility, data readiness, risks and strategic fit?
How can suitable use cases be prioritised transparently?
How can a selected opportunity be translated into a clearly defined pilot project?
Which roles, responsibilities and competencies are required for effective and sustainable implementation?
FITLO’s contribution therefore adds an important upstream management question to the seminar’s focus on costs: Is the organisation investing in the right AI applications, and are the necessary conditions for successful implementation in place?
Commercial viability begins before implementation
Not every technically feasible AI use case creates sufficient organisational value. At the same time, promising initiatives may fail if the required data is unavailable, processes are not prepared or responsibilities remain unclear.
A robust assessment should therefore combine several dimensions:
expected operational and strategic value
technical feasibility
availability and quality of the required data
effort required to integrate the application into existing processes and systems
regulatory, ethical and organisational risks
expected development and operating costs
required roles and competencies
conditions for scaling and long-term operation
Only by considering these dimensions together can an organisation make a reasoned decision on whether an AI initiative should be implemented, modified, postponed or discontinued.
FITLO’s role in the seminar
Dr Florian Härer contributes a combination of applied research, university teaching and practical experience of implementing AI in industry. In addition to his role as Director of FITLO, he leads an industrial research and innovation centre for artificial intelligence. His academic work focuses on organisational AI transformation, role models and the competencies required to introduce AI effectively.
His contribution applies this perspective to the selection and development of specific AI use cases. Rather than presenting an abstract strategy model, the session outlines a transparent route from the initial identification of an opportunity through assessment and prioritisation to a pilot project and its organisational embedding.
It also demonstrates FITLO’s understanding of AI transfer: combining research evidence with operational experience to support concrete decisions and actionable next steps.
From cost transparency to an actionable plan
Management Circle’s two-day intensive seminar takes a comprehensive view of AI costs. Topics include:
licence, API, token and infrastructure costs
hidden expenditure relating to integration, data preparation and support
total cost of ownership, return on investment and cost per completed task
budgeting, forecasting and continuous cost monitoring
responsibilities, approval processes and governance
commercial assessment and prioritisation of AI applications
practical analysis of participants’ own AI cost cases
In addition to FITLO’s contribution, the programme includes further practitioner case studies and an interactive practice lab. Participants apply the seminar content to their own AI cost case and develop concrete measures for budgeting, governance and implementation.
Dates and target audience. From AI opportunities to commercially viable applications
The intensive seminar is offered on the following dates:
7 and 8 December 2026 online
28 and 29 January 2027 in Munich
2 and 3 March 2027 online
It is designed for specialists and senior decision-makers responsible for assessing, budgeting and managing AI initiatives. The target audience includes professionals working in AI and digitalisation projects, controlling, finance, FinOps, procurement, IT, governance, compliance, innovation, transformation and process management.
Further information, the complete programme and registration details are available from Management Circle.
