Who saw this coming? Albania has just appointed Diella, the world’s first AI-generated government minister, to oversee public procurement. But this isn’t just a gimmick. It’s a good illustration that AI application is not the end goal, but rather the means to achieve smart strategy.

Diella, meaning “Sun,” has been charged with running public tenders, with the aim to make them totally transparent, totally corruption-free, and objective. In this bold move, the Albanian government didn’t just proclaim “we want to use AI”. They said, “we want fair, clean, efficient procurement.” AI was then recognized as the optimal and creative way to make it happen, completely reframing what a public official can be.

This shift in focus—from being obsessed with adopting technology to leveraging it to provide breakthrough value —is key for businesses as well.  Many executives ask “What are we doing with AI?” when they should be asking “What new customer value can we unlock with AI?” Steve Jobs' great insight continues to be highly relevant in the age of AI:  "You've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology, not the other way around".

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