Build the business case, establish a unified technical foundation and work your way up to high-stakes interactions.

The benefits of an AI receptionist are overwhelming — eliminating missed calls, cutting wait times, offering interactive voice responses around the clock and more. But getting company-wide buy-in and implementing the change can still be challenging.

Skepticism is natural. I saw it in my early days as an entrepreneur. Many executives were wary of the Internet, or even in denial about how much it would ultimately change society.

Of course, there was then a dot-com bust, during which some of those skeptical leaders felt vindicated. Organizations that had rushed to pour assets into the Internet, without a realistic plan, paid a price or vanished altogether. But leaders who were smart about the upcoming technological revolution built the biggest businesses in the world.

That's where we are with AI now. Some businesses probably will regret scrambling too quickly to introduce the new technology.…