---
id: "action-define-enterprise-outcomes"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ Effect #2: Duplication and Contradiction"]
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/dont-let-ai-reinforce-organizational-silos"
source_title: "Don't Let AI Reinforce Organizational Silos"
tags: ["strategy", "planning"]
related: ["concept-purpose-first-approach", "framework-purpose-first-alignment"]
action: "Define a shared enterprise outcome and work backward to design cross-functional AI support."
outcome: "Ensures AI acts as a strategic enabler for the whole company rather than a tactical tool for isolated departments."
speakers: ["Graham Kenny", "Kim Oosthuizen"]
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-130-ai-reinforce-silos"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/dont-let-ai-reinforce-organizational-silos"
sourceTitle: "Don’t Let AI Reinforce Organizational Silos"
---
# Define Enterprise-Wide Outcomes First

**Action:** Define a shared enterprise outcome and work backward to design cross-functional AI support.

**How:** Before adopting AI tools, clearly define the enterprise-wide outcomes you want to achieve (e.g., customer lifetime value). Work backward from these goals to determine how AI can support them across multiple functions, rather than letting departments optimize individual processes. This is the [[concept-purpose-first-approach]] operationalized via [[framework-purpose-first-alignment]]; the exemplar is [[entity-nexora-market]].

**Expected outcome:** Ensures AI acts as a strategic enabler for the whole company rather than a tactical tool for isolated departments — preventing [[concept-ai-duplication-contradiction]].