Cross-Functional Collaboration Drives Gen AI Excellence in Associations
Association executives know the importance of momentum. Whether advancing professional standards, improving member services, or streamlining operations, associations thrive when they adopt technologies that align with their mission. Gen AI, with its transformative potential, offers associations a chance to elevate their impact—but only when implemented thoughtfully.
Too often, associations rely on a single team, such as IT, to drive technology projects. This siloed approach risks overlooking critical member needs, volunteer dynamics, and cross-departmental dependencies. The real value of Gen AI emerges when associations create cross-functional committees to guide its integration. These Gen AI committees bring together staff, volunteer leaders, and other stakeholders to ensure Gen AI initiatives align with strategic goals, resonate with members, and respect the unique structures of professional associations.
Gen AI Excellence via Collaboration in Associations
Integrating Gen AI into an association’s operations requires perspectives from across its ecosystem. While IT might manage the technical side, member services, marketing, volunteer coordination, and finance provide insights that shape successful deployment.
For example, I worked with a professional association of about 30 staff seeking to use Gen AI to improve member engagement through personalized content delivery. Initially, the leadership assumed the IT team could handle the project independently. However, they had some initial hiccups and resistance, and asked me to help out. At that point, I demonstrated how insights from member coordination staff and chapter leaders could enhance the AI’s ability to predict member interests; they saw the value of broader collaboration.
The association formed a committee that included IT, membership services, a chapter representative, and a volunteer engagement specialist. The team worked iteratively, testing the AI’s personalization models and refining them based on member feedback.
The result? An engagement platform that improved renewal rates by 20% and increased member satisfaction scores by over 30% within six months of the platform launch. Without cross-functional input, the solution might have ignored nuances like regional member needs or volunteer capacity constraints.
By uniting diverse voices, these committees embed Gen AI into initiatives that reflect an association’s values. They also reduce resistance to new technologies by involving stakeholders early, managing risks, and ensuring their input shapes the outcome. When staff, volunteers, and members see their perspectives valued, they become advocates for innovation.
Effective Committee Composition for Gen AI Excellence
Some association executives hesitate to form cross-functional committees, fearing they’ll slow down decision-making or create conflicts. However, in associations—where diverse interests often intersect—these differences are assets. Friction between perspectives helps identify blind spots and ensures the technology serves all stakeholders.
An ideal Gen AI committee for an association might include:
- IT Staff: To manage system integration and data security.
- Member Services Representatives: To provide insights on member needs and preferences.
- Volunteer Leaders: To reflect the perspectives of chapters or sections.
- Marketing Specialists: To explore how Gen AI can drive outreach and engagement.
- Finance Experts: To assess the financial implications and ROI.
- Event Coordinators: To identify how automation can streamline planning and logistics.
For example, a trade association I worked with sought to use Gen AI to streamline event planning. Their committee included IT staff, a finance manager, and two chapter representatives. Initially, chapters resisted the idea, worried automation might reduce their autonomy in event planning. The committee addressed these concerns directly by designing a tool that automated routine tasks, like venue selection, while leaving creative decisions to chapters. As a result, planning times dropped by 30% in the first nine months, freeing volunteers to focus on member-focused programming.
This kind of collaboration aligns an association’s strategic goals with its operational realities, fostering trust and ensuring technology complements rather than disrupts existing processes.
Prioritizing and Refining Gen AI Use Cases
Cross-functional committees also help associations prioritize and refine use cases for Gen AI. One department might view predictive analytics as a top priority, while another focuses on automating administrative tasks. Committees balance these perspectives, ensuring resources are allocated to projects with the greatest impact.
For instance, a healthcare association I supported aimed to use Gen AI to streamline credentialing. Early discussions revealed a compliance risk: automating approvals without proper oversight might jeopardize the association’s standing with regulatory bodies. The committee—comprising IT, legal, and credentialing specialists—piloted the technology, identifying areas where manual intervention remained critical. This iterative process ensured compliance while reducing processing times by 40% within six months of the rollout.
Such pilots are invaluable. They not only fine-tune the technology but also build confidence among staff and members. Committees gather feedback, adjust processes, and demonstrate tangible benefits early, creating a foundation for sustained adoption.
Why Cross-Functional Collaboration Matters for Associations
Unlike corporations, associations must balance internal operations with external leadership in their professions. This dual role means technology adoption can’t be one-size-fits-all. Cross-functional committees bridge gaps between these responsibilities, ensuring Gen AI initiatives enhance member services, strengthen volunteer engagement, and align with the association’s mission.
Consider how this approach might apply to an association looking to standardize professional development offerings across chapters. A committee could include IT staff to manage the platform, chapter leaders to address local needs, and certification experts to ensure consistency. By leveraging these diverse perspectives, the association would not only streamline its programs but also foster alignment across its chapters.
Associations thrive when their stakeholders—staff, volunteers, and members—feel invested in progress. Cross-functional committees create a culture of collaboration, where stakeholders see their input reflected in tangible results. This approach transforms potential resistance into enthusiasm, accelerating adoption and maximizing impact.
For association executives, the lesson is clear: Gen AI represents an incredible opportunity, but its success depends on unity. Committees bring together the brightest minds, bridge departmental divides, and create solutions that resonate across the entire organization. The result is not just a technology rollout but a cultural shift toward innovation, ensuring your association remains a leader in a rapidly evolving world.
Key Take-Away
Gen AI excellence is achieved when associations form cross-functional committees that align technology with mission, engage stakeholders early, and turn potential resistance into collaboration and lasting impact. Share on XImage credit: fauxels/pexels
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky was named “Office Whisperer” by The New York Times for helping leaders overcome frustrations with Generative AI. He serves as the CEO of the future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote seven best-selling books, and his two most recent ones are Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams and ChatGPT for Leaders and Content Creators: Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI. His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles and 550 interviews in Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, Time, Business Insider, Fortune, The New York Times, and elsewhere. His writing was translated into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Korean, French, Vietnamese, German, and other languages. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox. It also comes from over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist, with 8 years as a lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill and 7 years as a professor at Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio.