On October 9, Bay State IT and Pax8 co‑hosted a webinar to help leaders cut through AI hype and focus on practical adoption that drives results. If you missed it, you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel.
4 Insights on strategic AI
Here are a few standout insights from our speakers, Sean Sanker Jr. from Bay State IT and Elliott Eliason from Pax8:
1) Start with simple tasks and clear goals.
Elliott urged teams to begin with clear goals and “pass‑the‑butter” tasks, the repetitive, high‑volume work that slows people down. Identify the pain points, then pick 1-2 use cases where AI can eliminate tedious tasks. AI excels at tasks like summarizing long threads, meeting prep, or generating first‑drafts. That focus helps you see impact early and build momentum towards more effective AI utilization.
2) A high-quality prompt can strengthen your AI output.
Sean broke down why prompts matter: large language models predict the next token, so vague questions return vague answers. For a great prompt, make sure to describe your goal, any context, any information sources, as well as the desired output format and expectations. For ideal prompt length, Sean says “the longer the better”. No matter what AI model you are using, more information tends to result in a stronger output. Elliot also recommended standardizing how your organization prompts.
3) Be aware of security risks in AI.
Sean shared some security tips to keep in mind when using AI. Avoid pasting sensitive content into unmanaged tools, assume publicly shared links may be discoverable, and consider “passphrase” checks to help family or colleagues verify callers in an era of voice/video spoofs. For businesses, use enterprise‑grade controls and permission‑respecting tools like Microsoft Copilot so AI only sees what it should. Bay State IT also recommends that businesses don’t permit agentic browsers until the technology becomes more secure.
4) Agents are powerful, but don’t outsource your thinking.
As organizations graduate from one‑off prompts to task‑oriented agents, keep steps constrained and review outputs. Agents shine at structured, multi‑step work (e.g., triaging a queue, drafting responses, preparing reports), but they should escalate decisions and changes to people, with a flow that keeps a “human in the loop.”
Interested in more strategic AI insights?
Sean and Elliot covered far more during the webinar, including tips for utilizing tools like Microsoft Copilot. If these AI tips are helpful and you’d like to learn more, check out the full recording. As moderator Paul Truland emphasized during the session, we’re here to help! Book a free meeting if you have questions or are interested in a working session on your AI roadmap.
This webinar was hosted by Bay State IT in partnership with Pax8. Sign up to receive an email when we announce our next webinar.
