Product Owner (representing product development) · SWR/ARD · 2023 – 2025 · Baden-Baden
SWR cross-department AI testing phase
Context
At SWR there was a cross-department group moving AI topics through the organisation. My deputy department lead in product development asked whether I wanted to represent the department there. I stayed and represented product development in the group.
Problem
AI tools do not enter organisations like SWR through one central procurement decision. They enter when people from different areas bring concrete use cases and when a structured group collects, evaluates and tests those ideas.
Constraints
Cross-department group without direct authority, collaboration through shared evaluation, public broadcasting privacy and compliance requirements for every tested tool, limited testing resources and documented results for later rollout.
Process
We continuously collected use cases, evaluated them structurally, ran tests and assessed the results afterwards. My role was to bring in the product development perspective, contribute use cases from the department and help shape the evaluation system.
Solution
A functioning structure for receiving, evaluating and testing AI use cases inside the organisation.
Results
Several AI tools entered the organisation long-term through this route. The group and the structure created continued to have an effect beyond my contract term.
Learnings
In large organisations, the fastest route for AI adoption is often a cross-department group evaluating use cases from across the house. It lowers resistance and builds governance structure without forcing it artificially.