Every CIO has a slide deck full of AI pilots by now. A chatbot that answers FAQs. A copilot that drafts emails. An agent that summarizes meetings and files the notes nobody reads. The demos get applause in the boardroom, the budget gets approved for “phase two,” and then largely nothing happens. The pilot quietly lives on in a sandbox, forever 80% done, forever six weeks from launch. If that sounds familiar, you are not behind. You are, statistically, in the majority.