Project Rescue and Success Assurance in AI and Digital Transformation with Tory Bjorklund

About this episode

Leadership Briefing: Project Rescue and Success Assurance in AI and Digital Transformation with Tory Bjorklund

Guest: Tory Bjorklund, Founder & CEO, Victoria Fide Consulting
Host: Alex Jarett, Founder, Technology Executives Club®

In this Leadership Briefing, Tory Bjorklund explains why major technology initiatives frequently fail and what organizations can do when projects begin to go off track.

Tory’s firm, Victoria Fide Consulting, was founded around the concept of “Success Assurance.” The name comes from Latin and reflects the company’s mission to help organizations successfully transform through the use of technology.

As organizations invest heavily in AI, ERP systems, CRM platforms, and other digital transformation initiatives, failure rates remain high. Studies suggest that many enterprise AI initiatives fail to deliver meaningful return on investment, while ERP and other large enterprise systems have struggled with similar outcomes for decades.

Tory explains that most failures are not caused by the technology itself. More often they occur when organizations underestimate the complexity of people, processes, and operational change required to support transformation.

The discussion includes several real-world examples of project rescue situations.

In one case, a manufacturing company implemented a new ERP system only to discover that operations had become less efficient after going live. By assessing how the system had been implemented and aligning it with the company’s actual production processes, Tory’s team was able to recover the initiative and significantly improve productivity.

The conversation also explores AI initiatives that stall when projects attempt to tackle too much too quickly. In one example, a company attempted to deploy an internal AI chatbot but struggled through multiple iterations before bringing in outside expertise. By narrowing the scope and launching a focused pilot project, the organization was able to demonstrate value quickly and regain momentum.

Tory also discusses CRM implementations that fail because key stakeholders are left out of the design process. Systems that are built around the needs of a single department often fail to support the broader organization, creating frustration for both employees and customers.

While project rescue is a major part of Victoria Fide’s work, Tory explains that the firm was built around helping organizations avoid failure in the first place. Drawing on decades of experience, he developed the Victoria Fide Process for Transformational Change, which focuses on preparation, disciplined execution, and ensuring employees actually adopt new systems and processes.

A key theme of the discussion is that successful digital transformation depends far more on people and processes than on technology itself. Organizations that align leadership, processes, and accountability before implementing new systems dramatically increase their chances of success.

Topics Covered:
* Why ERP, AI, and CRM initiatives frequently fail to deliver expected results
* The difference between project rescue and proactive success assurance
* Real-world examples of rescuing ERP and AI initiatives that were failing
* Why organizations often underestimate the complexity of transformation
* The role of people and processes in successful digital transformation
* How structured preparation improves the success rate of major initiatives

Learn more about Tory and see all of his briefings on his Board of Advisor channel here: https://www.technologyexecutivesclub.com/advisory-board-tory-bjorklund

This Leadership Briefing was hosted by Alex Jarett, Founder of Technology Executives Club®, the GTM Thought Leadership platform for Tech Business Leaders and Technology Leaders.

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