Choosing the Right AI Starting Point: Agentic AI Discovery Workshop, AI Value Alignment Lab or Cloud Fast Track?
Many enterprises know they need to move on AI. The harder question is where to begin.
Some organizations need help identifying the right use cases. Others already have a direction but need alignment across AI, data and CRM stakeholders. Still others are ready to move quickly inside a preferred cloud ecosystem and want a structured path to prototype, proof of concept and MVP planning.
Publicis Sapient offers several ways to get started, each designed for a different point in the journey. The right choice depends on how clear your strategy already is, how much stakeholder alignment you need, whether you have a preferred platform, how ready your data and governance foundations are and how fast you want to move toward hands-on validation.
Here is how to decide which path fits best.
Option 1: Agentic AI Discovery Workshop
The Agentic AI Discovery Workshop is the best fit when your organization needs clarity before it needs code.
This hands-on workshop is designed to help teams rapidly identify, prioritize and align on high-impact agentic AI use cases. In just a few hours, cross-functional stakeholders work together to map the current landscape, uncover opportunities across the “find, understand, act” spectrum, prioritize for value and feasibility and define a practical action plan.
The outcome is not a long list of abstract ideas. It is typically a focused shortlist of two to three tailored use cases, stronger stakeholder alignment and clearer next steps toward pilot and production.
This option is especially valuable when:
- Your AI ambition is broad, but your starting point is still unclear
- You want to explore high-value opportunities across operations, customer service, employee productivity or industry-specific workflows
- You need business, technology and operational stakeholders aligned before investing in delivery
- You want to evaluate value, feasibility, governance and readiness together
- You are looking for a practical workshop rather than a theoretical AI conversation
It is also a strong fit for organizations operating in complex or regulated environments, where governance, human oversight, privacy, security and readiness need to be part of the conversation from the start.
If your biggest challenge is “Where should we focus first?” the Agentic AI Discovery Workshop is usually the right entry point.
Option 2: AI Value Alignment Lab
The AI Value Alignment Lab is the best fit when the conversation is less about broad AI exploration and more about aligning AI, data and CRM priorities to business outcomes.
This half-day collaborative workshop is designed to bring client and Publicis Sapient stakeholders together to uncover opportunities, risks and solutions in real time. Its focus is on the synergy between AI, data and CRM capabilities, including Salesforce Einstein, GPT and related technologies, with an emphasis on improving customer experiences and business performance.
The lab goes beyond ideation by clarifying objectives, surfacing risks, mapping use cases, aligning on measurement and governance and creating a prioritized roadmap with milestones. A follow-up review helps turn the workshop into a more concrete vision and recommendation set.
This option is often the better fit when:
- You already know AI matters, but need alignment around customer-facing value
- Your organization is trying to connect AI investments to CRM, marketing, service or sales priorities
- You need business, marketing, IT, data and AI stakeholders working from the same plan
- You want to define quick wins and longer-term strategy in the same engagement
- You need a clearer view of risks, measurement and governance tied to customer outcomes
If your main question is “How do we align AI, data and CRM around the outcomes that matter most?” the AI Value Alignment Lab is likely the strongest next step.
Option 3: Cloud Fast Track
A cloud fast track is the best fit when your organization already has a preferred platform and wants to move quickly from exploration into hands-on validation.
Publicis Sapient offers structured four-week programs for leading cloud ecosystems, including Azure OpenAI Quickstart, AWS Gen AI Fast Track and Google Cloud Gen AI Fast Track. These engagements combine platform education, use case exploration, responsible AI, governance, readiness assessment, rapid prototyping and roadmap creation.
Rather than staying at the strategy level, these fast tracks are designed to help teams learn the capabilities of a chosen platform, select a use case for rapid validation, build and test a sample proof of concept or prototype and define the path to production and future MVPs.
This option is often the right choice when:
- You already have a strong cloud preference or strategic platform commitment
- You want to move from idea to prototype in a structured, time-bound engagement
- You need hands-on exposure to platform capabilities, governance and implementation realities
- You want readiness assessment and prototyping combined in one accelerated path
- You are looking for a faster route to proof of concept and MVP planning
If your main question is “How do we prove value quickly on Azure, AWS or Google Cloud?” a fast track is likely the best fit.
How to choose based on your priorities
Choose the Agentic AI Discovery Workshop if you need use case clarity
Start here if your organization is still sorting through possibilities. This workshop is built to help you identify the right opportunities, prioritize them and align stakeholders before committing to a build path.
Choose the AI Value Alignment Lab if you need business alignment across AI, data and CRM
Start here if your challenge is not a lack of ideas, but a lack of shared direction. This is the right option when customer experience, CRM and business-value alignment are central to the decision.
Choose a Cloud Fast Track if you need speed and platform-specific momentum
Start here if your cloud direction is already in place and you want to accelerate learning, prototyping and roadmap creation within that ecosystem.
Five practical decision variables
- Strategy clarity: If your priorities are still broad, start with discovery. If you already know the business domain and outcome area, value alignment or a fast track may be more appropriate.
- Platform preference: If Azure, AWS or Google Cloud is already the preferred path, a fast track can help you move faster. If platform choice is still secondary to use case selection, discovery may be the better first step.
- Readiness level: If you need to understand data, governance, integration and organizational gaps before building, discovery or value alignment can help frame the work. If you are ready to validate in a working environment, a fast track is better suited.
- Need for prototyping: If the goal is alignment and prioritization, choose a workshop. If the goal is a working proof of concept or prototype, choose a fast track.
- Speed to proof of concept: If you want a structured four-week path to hands-on validation, the platform fast tracks are designed for that. If you need to choose the right use case before accelerating, begin with discovery.
Not sure where you fit? Start with these questions
- Do we need to identify the best use cases, or do we already know where we want to focus?
- Is our priority broad AI opportunity discovery, or alignment around AI, data and CRM outcomes?
- Have we already committed to Azure OpenAI, AWS or Google Cloud?
- Are we looking for stakeholder alignment, a roadmap, a prototype or all three in sequence?
- How quickly do we need to move from strategy to proof of concept?
Your likely next step
If you need to discover and prioritize the right opportunities: choose the Agentic AI Discovery Workshop.
If you need to align AI, data and CRM around measurable business outcomes: choose the AI Value Alignment Lab.
If you are ready to accelerate on a preferred cloud platform: choose Azure OpenAI Quickstart, AWS Gen AI Fast Track or Google Cloud Gen AI Fast Track.
Wherever you begin, the goal is the same: move from AI interest to practical business value with the right balance of ambition, feasibility, governance and speed.