The AI Race grabs headlines and the narrative seldom varies: On the world stage, it’s US innovation versus China’s speed. In business, senior leadership at all sorts of organizations are romanced by the prospect of winning the AI Race. Some believe it’s just a matter of greater investment and a policy change or two.

Begs the question: Is AI a race to be won?

A race is a contest to determine who is the fastest at covering a set course, one with a defined start and finish line. Obstacles are identical for competitors because, of course, a race must be fair with the same rules for all.

Get there first and you’ve won. The winner accepts the trophy and holds the title—and a Wikipedia entry—in perpetuity. But some journeys in life extend beyond near term milestones. Take the case of the first automobile race held in the United States in 1895. Six motorized vehicles participated, four cars and two motorcycles, and they raced from Chicago to Evanston and back. Frank Duryea’s motorized wagon won the race and a Benz car came in second. Frank did go on to build 13 cars, a feat in those days but till today we drive Benz cars all over the world. AI in organizations is in a similar vein, I think.

Let’s revisit the idea of a race in the context of AI: What is AI? Artificial intelligence is a capability that enables us to do our most important tasks better than before. It can help make recommendations to our sales force on the next-best action for a customer, identify defects on the manufacturing floor, better optimize inventory in the supply chain and interpret images and text as humans do. And in many cases, we increase our capabilities by using many open source algorithms that are available to all.

What AI is not. AI is not a technology that we own, and others do not because we got there first. If we find clever, novel ways to forecast, that does not mean that others cannot find smarter methods as well. In some cases, AI may be a product that we get to design first and perhaps even patent but getting there first doesn’t stop others from getting there, too. As digital proliferation increases, the state of the possible is well understood by all. It’s no secret that online ordering/curbside pickup is fueled by AI. The actual algorithms, how data is stored and utilized may be a trade secret, but the use case is not.

There is no end point. No finish line. As an enabler, AI needs to keep getting better. The processes keep evolving. AI’s goal is to mimic human intelligence and help us improve. As customers evolve and markets evolve, organizations need to be creative and keep refining to stay competitive. There is some glory and front runner status to be the first to beat the human Go champion or other equally daunting challenges but that does not preclude others from working to improve their capabilities on everyday tasks that can be benefited from AI.So, identify your most important problems that can benefit from AI and find ways to get better. Your competition is the present way of doing things.