Phase 1: Initiation and Scoping (“Foundation Building”)

Objective

The objective of Phase 1 is to establish a solid foundation for the business case analysis. This phase focuses on clearly defining the business problem or opportunity, identifying the key stakeholders and project team, and setting clear boundaries for the work. A well-executed initiation phase ensures the analysis is focused on a genuine business need and is aligned with strategic priorities from the outset. This corresponds to the “Foundation Building” phase of a successful GenAI implementation roadmap.

Key Activities

1 Identify the Business Need/Opportunity:

Clearly articulate the problem to be solved or the capability gap to be filled. The problem should be framed in the context of the organization’s mission. For example, the problem may be a need to improve the speed and accuracy of situational awareness during disaster response or to optimize the allocation of critical resources.
Conduct preliminary research and interviews with key personnel to validate the problem and gather initial context. Identify a mix of executive, mission, data, and technology candidates for the first round, while knowing there will be follow-up for deep dive later in Phase 2.

2 Define High-Level Business Outcomes:

Translate the business need into a set of desired, measurable outcomes. These outcomes should be specific, achievable, and relevant.
- Examples include: “Reduce the time to generate initial incident action plans,” “Improve the accuracy of wildfire risk forecasts,” or “Increase the efficiency of insurance claims processing.”

3 Form the Core Team & Map Stakeholders:

Identify and form a cross-functional core team to lead the analysis. This team should include representation from business operations, IT, data science, and project management.
Map all relevant stakeholders across the enterprise. In a public sector context, this could include national and regional planners, incident command staff, field-level operators, and partner agencies or industries.
Develop a stakeholder engagement plan that defines how and when each group will be involved to ensure their needs and expertise inform the process.

4 Define Scope and Boundaries:

Explicitly define what is “in scope” for the business case analysis. This includes the specific processes, organizational units, and technologies to be examined.
Equally important is to define what is “out of scope” to manage expectations and prevent the analysis from becoming too broad. For instance, an analysis might focus on GenAI for wildfire response while explicitly excluding the recovery phase for a later effort.

5 Document Initial Assumptions and Constraints:

List all assumptions being made at the start of the project (e.g., “access to necessary data will be granted,” “key personnel will be available for interviews”).
Identify all known constraints, which may include budget limitations, technology standards, regulatory requirements, or project deadlines.

Inputs for this Phase

Organizational strategic plans and mission statements.
Existing documentation on challenges, user pain points, or identified capability gaps.
High-level ideas or proposals for leveraging GenAI.
Input from subject matter experts and potential end-users.

Outputs of this Phase

Project Charter: A formal document that includes the problem statement, business outcomes, scope, assumptions, constraints, and a list of the core project team members.
Stakeholder Map and Engagement Plan: A visual map of all stakeholders and a corresponding plan detailing their roles, interests, and the plan for communication and engagement throughout the analysis.