How do I find everyday AI uses for staff outside IT?

Many IT leads are being asked to find practical, everyday uses of AI for colleagues who do not write code. This article argues that the best place to start is not a list of clever examples from other organisations, but the work your own teams already do each week. It sets out six practical steps: choose three willing teams rather than the whole organisation, spend time watching the real work, ask people which parts of their job they would most like to stop carrying, agree clear data rules before anyone uses a tool, run short timed trials with a named owner and a before and after measure, and write up each successful use case so other teams can reuse it. A worked example from a civil engineering practice shows how two small trials, one on summarising tender documents and one on drafting client updates, can produce a clear keep or drop decision within a few weeks. The article also lists common mistakes, such as starting with the licence instead of the work, measuring logins instead of outcomes, and letting a good pilot fade without an owner. It draws on the guiding principles Focus on Value and Start Where You Are from John Sansbury's The Journey to Service Excellence, a question for leaders from Ian Hughes's What Stays the Same, and UK guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre and the Information Commissioner's Office.