17 Jan 2026

On the pitfalls and advantages of using artificial intelligence in business processes and everyday routines, shares a guest lecturer at UCU Business School, CEO of StayInno & Uitware, AI Business Consulting and AI Strategy expert Andrii Bilous.

“Stop ‘implementing AI’. Start rebuilding your processes!”

Andrii Bilous is a graduate of the MSc in Technology Management 2025 program, CEO of StayInno & Uitware, and an expert in AI Business Consulting and AI Strategy. He teaches the courses “AI for Business” and “Business Analytics” at UCU Business School. Andrii Bilous reflects on the role of AI in business and also shares his insights in posts on LinkedIn. In particular, he notes that the McKinsey AI Report 2025 reveals an alarming trend: while large corporations are scaling AI and generating real profits, 71% of smaller companies (with revenues under $100 million) remain stuck in a “perpetual pilot mode.”

As Andrii Bilous explains: “High-performing companies don’t just give their teams access to ChatGPT. They fundamentally redesign how work is done. Layering AI onto old, inefficient processes only leads to the ‘automation of chaos.’”

Instead, he advises: “Choose one process—such as lead qualification or legal document processing—and break it down into atoms, the smallest logical steps. Lead by example: companies achieve three times better results when executives don’t just say ‘okay’ to AI but actively use it themselves.”

So what should a CEO of a small or medium-sized business do?

Andrii Bilous recommends that SME leaders answer three key questions:

Why do you need AI?

  • Revenue growth (more sales, new products)

  • Margin improvement (lower costs, less manual work)

  • Better service (speed, quality, customer loyalty)

Where can AI generate or save money within 6–12 months?

  • Sales and marketing: more leads, higher conversion rates, better offers

  • Operations: eliminating manual work in Excel

  • Finance: contract processing, data reconciliation, automation of compensation and reimbursements

What is your AI adoption strategy?

  • Observation (monitoring AI developments)

  • Cautious adoption (implementing what has proven effective)

  • Active adoption (having an AI strategy and using it extensively)

  • Experimentation (actively experimenting with new AI technologies to gain a competitive advantage)

How can AI be used without losing strategic thinking?

The lecturer emphasizes that AI should be a tool that supports and amplifies human capabilities, not a technology that makes us dependent: “The first approach is the path to defeat. It’s when we say: ‘AI, make a presentation for me.’ The result is usually mediocre, generic, and standardized. The task seems done, but our own development stops—our thinking is no longer trained.

The second approach is the path to victory. Here, we build the structure ourselves, overcome procrastination, and only then involve AI—not to replace thinking, but to scale it. AI becomes an amplification tool.”

Andrii also shares how he personally uses AI: “First, cognitive repetition. I always start with a draft created by my own mind. I build the framework and allow myself to feel resistance—this is where real thinking happens.

Second, metacognition (conscious control over one’s cognitive processes). I don’t ask AI for answers. Instead, I ask for critique: ‘Here is my idea. Why might it fail? Where are the gaps in my logic?’ I continue to believe that AI excels at routine, repetitive tasks—precisely so that we can focus on what is complex.”

He also stresses the importance of remembering that AI should sharpen our thinking, not dull it.

Recommended reading: an article on AI in business education and business: https://lvbs.com.ua/news/yak-zminyuyetsya-biznes-osvita-biznes-shkola-uku-pro-klyuchovi-tendentsiyi-biznes-osvity-2025/