Start with the problem, not the tool. Large organizations should run internal labs to experiment with new tech. Small and mid-sized companies benefit from vendor partnerships that show real-world applications.
There are 2 things I think that are really important. One is, you know, focus on solving your problems and bringing in and then challenging yourself to go find the tools, maybe new tools that you wouldn't have considered before to help you do that. But always start with your problem, because if you focus on the technology as you're going in, you're going to end up perhaps not getting the value from it and then really hurting the understanding of the potential. But along with that, and I guess kind of the side— and I want to come back to your point about large companies and smaller ones— if you're large enough to have a little lab where people can tinker with the technology to learn what its capability is, you know, so that when you need to use it, you understand how to use it, that's great. But if you're a small to mid-sized company, you need to get, in my opinion, a group of vendors, if you will, or providers who can help you with that. In other words, they can take you into another client or they can take you someplace where you can see how it's been applied so you understand when you have a problem similar how to pull the tool in. I think there's both elements. Don't try to solve something, don't try to use the technology for technology's sake, solve a problem, but then also spend some time learning enough about it so that you can actually know when the right time is to apply.
