From Buzz to Business: Making AI Actually Work

Last week’s 6degrees.AI conference, only the third event in its history, had a great energy. Conversations were flowing, ideas were being exchanged, and there was a genuine sense that we’ve moved past the “AI hype” and into the practical realities of how to make AI work in a real-world environment.

The exhibition floor had the perfect balance; not too crowded, not too sparse. The number of exhibitors felt just right for the size of the venue, creating an environment where attendees could genuinely engage with each stand and have meaningful conversations without feeling overwhelmed.

TTC Global proudly stood alongside industry peers like SAP, UiPath, Spark, and Adobe and our booth enjoyed a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. The conversations we had revealed a clear trend: people understand AI — their challenge now is implementation. Attendees wanted to know:

• How do we test AI models effectively during development?
• How do we assure quality and accuracy before launching into production?
• And once it’s live, how do we monitor AI systems to ensure they continue to perform reliably and responsibly?

We were able to showcase our very own aiDelta platform, which provided a practical example of how AI can be tested, assured, and monitored across the full lifecycle, directly addressing many of the questions organisations are now asking.

The level of attendees also spoke volumes. With CIOs, CDOs, and CEOs making up much of the crowd, it’s clear that AI has moved beyond initial excitement with organisations now asking not if they should adopt AI, but how they can embed it safely, strategically, and at scale.

Key Takeaways

The talks that took place in the adjoining room also provided some interesting insights:

• Have a clear strategy. Successful AI adoption starts with understanding where it fits in your organisation’s roadmap — not just deploying it for novelty’s sake.
• Define the role of your AI agents. Treat them like members of your workflow. Give them purpose, boundaries, and oversight — and stay vigilant about bias, hallucinations, and rogue contexts.
• Build methodically. Everyone’s racing to ship the next AI innovation, but it pays to bank your wins and scale carefully.
• Data governance matters. Protecting your data, understanding how it’s used, and maintaining compliance are foundational to long-term AI success.
• Measure ROI. Before deploying AI agents, baseline your total cost of ownership (TCO) and track return on investment post-implementation.
• Watch your cloud costs. Cloud computing enables AI scalability — but it can also deliver some unwelcome surprises on your invoice if not closely monitored.

Final Thoughts

What stood out most from this year’s conference was the shift in mindset. AI is no longer seen as a future disruptor — it’s a present-day enabler. The challenge for organisations now is not about understanding AI’s potential, but about implementing it responsibly, efficiently, and sustainably.

At TTC Global, we’re proud to be part of that journey — helping organisations test, assure, and manage AI with the professionalism and expertise that is required for successful technology transformations.