AI readiness isn’t about the AI. It’s about everything underneath it

AI readiness isn't about the AI. It's about everything underneath it. I'm Brett Johnson, and I'm the general manager at VOSS Solutions for ANZ. Every organization wants to do AI. Far fewer are asking whether they're actually ready for it. In the first episode of our new fireside chat LinkedIn video series, I sit down with VOSS CTO, Dan Payne, to unpack what AI readiness really looks like for ANZ organizations, and it has surprisingly little to do with picking the right AI tool. Here's Dan's take: Readiness is built on operational foundations, not technology hype. That means understanding your business processes before you try to automate them. Modern tooling with API and MCP support so systems can talk to each other. Structured accurate data because no AI model can compensate for messy inputs. And measurable outcomes defined before you start, not retrofitted after. Our conversation covers real use cases like compliance monitoring, workflow automation, and employee education programs. Dan and I also discussed the barriers most lean IT teams are quietly wrestling with, such as fragmented hybrid environments, inconsistent operational data, and stretched thin skills. The most useful takeaway? Start with an honest audit of your workflows, your visibility, and your data quality before you start with the AI. Most organizations don't need to rebuild from scratch. They need the right orchestration layer to make sense of what they already have. Watch the full conversation to hear Dan's practical roadmap for AI readiness and why the foundations matter more than the flashy part.