Most impact leaders know that AI is changing and reshaping many of the contours of our economy and life experiences. Very few people are able to use it confidently in their daily work.
On February 3, NationSwell hosted a group of peer leaders for a virtual roundtable focused on immediate practical applications of AI in impact teams. Together, we explored how leaders can use generative and, increasingly, agentic AI to improve the speed, clarity, and capacity of core workflows such as reporting, communications, grantee engagement, and operations.
From everyday low-lift use cases to mission-enabled opportunities, this session uncovered many actionable insights for implementing AI within your team and organization. Some of these insights are listed below.
Important points:
Deploy AI with user-centered design from day one. AI tools are much more likely to succeed when they are built with a deep understanding of end users, informed by diverse perspectives, and tested for ease of use. Rooting AI in user needs reduces failure rates and accelerates adoption, especially where many digital transformation efforts fall short.
Start with low-risk, high-return AI use cases to build momentum. Impact teams are already gaining value from using AI for summarization, synthesis, reporting, and more. These applications save time, minimize the technical effort required, and give your team confidence before moving to more complex AI-enabled workflows.
AI is used to augment human judgment, not replace it. The strongest applications position AI as a thought partner that accelerates analysis and uncovers insights, while leaving critical thinking and strategy to humans. Reviewing output, verifying sources, and applying human judgment remain essential to responsible use.
Incorporate AI into products and systems to reduce friction at scale. When AI is built directly into platforms like grantmaking and employee engagement, it can automate administrative tasks, uncover patterns, and recommend next steps. This allows impact leaders to focus more time on mission-critical work.
Treat AI as a capacity multiplier in resource-constrained environments. Impact teams are being asked to do more with less, and AI is increasingly becoming a necessity rather than a nice-to-have. Delivered thoughtfully, it can expand an organization’s capacity, accelerate access to capital and services, and ultimately drive greater impact.
Apply advanced use cases of AI to derive insights for decision-making. AI-powered analysis of geospatial and time-based data helps organizations predict risks, target interventions, and allocate resources more effectively. Whether it’s modeling climate impacts, forecasting service demand, or adjusting workforce strategies, AI can be used to better understand needs and provide more responsive and targeted support to communities.
Unlock new functionality from off-the-shelf tools. You don’t need to develop a full-stack AI solution to unlock big things. By taking full advantage of the existing capabilities of an off-the-shelf, low-cost/free LLMS, you have the opportunity to significantly increase your productivity and effectiveness while protecting sensitive data and respecting your organization’s policies. Be sure to check out the audio-to-text feature for brain dumps, deep research mode for exploration and insight, and Claude’s Experiments for writing.
