Across industries, organizations are investing heavily in AI—building impressive prototypes, validating use cases, and demonstrating clear technical potential. Yet many of these initiatives never make it beyond the proof-of-concept stage. This book tackles this widespread challenge head-on, revealing why successful demos so often fail to translate into production systems. The book shifts the focus away from models alone and toward the broader ecosystem required to operationalize AI—data ownership, governance, compliance, infrastructure, and long-term accountability. Its core objective is to help readers bridge the gap between experimentation and execution by understanding the structural and organizational barriers that stall progress.

Structured as a practical guide, the book walks readers through a clear and actionable journey. It begins by defining the concept of “POC prison” and diagnosing the root causes behind stalled AI initiatives, followed by a strategic reset that reframes how organizations should approach AI. At the heart of the book is a hands-on 90-day roadmap for building an AI operating model—from assembling the right team and laying foundational infrastructure, to productizing use cases, making go-live decisions, and scaling responsibly. The final sections focus on sustaining success through governance, change management, and adoption, while also addressing common pitfalls that lead teams back into the POC cycle. Rather than celebrating prototypes, this book equips readers with the mindset and tools needed to build AI systems that are resilient, scalable, and ready for real-world impact.

What You Will Learn:

• Recognize early warning signs that AI initiatives will remain demos rather than become production systems
• Design AI initiatives backwards from production by defining operational requirements, data dependencies, governance, and accountability early
• Use a practical 90-day execution model to move selected lighthouse use cases into controlled production
• Turn promising AI experiments into systems that integrate with real business processes, existing platforms, and enterprise governance structures
• Avoid common scaling traps such as fragile data pipelines, innovation theatre, unclear ownership, and prototypes that cannot be operated, monitored, or maintained long term

Who This Book Is For:

Technology leaders, architects, product owners, transformation leaders, and AI practitioners responsible for turning AI prototypes and proofs of concept into reliable production systems

Luise Freese is an independent Azure and Power Platform architect based in Germany. Her work focuses on AI-enabled systems, business applications, and automation that survive real-world enterprise conditions. She helps teams build accessible apps, robust data models, and automation that respects governance, compliance, and human effort. A recurring theme in her work is making the invisible visible: unmeasured work, emotional load, operational friction, and the real cost of “quick wins”. Her motto "Changing the world one app at a time" stems from her extensive work with non-profit organizations.

Alongside client work, Luise writes and speaks about productivity myths, pseudo-agile practices, AI readiness, and why many digital initiatives fail long before technology becomes the problem. She is known for combining clear technical guidance with a sharp eye for organizational patterns, and for asking the uncomfortable questions others tend to avoid.

When not working and traveling, Luise is a runner, a mother of (teenage) dragons, a LEGO-builder, and a lover of the number 42. Her favorite color is #ff69b4.