# AI Experiments Need Domain Experts. Here’s How to Support Them.

1 Research Highlights August 6, 2026By Batia Wiesenfeld, Arvind Karunakaran, and Katherine C. Kellogg

Harvard Business Review ![professor_batia_wiesenfeld_headshot.png](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/2025-03/professor_batia_wiesenfeld_headshot.png?itok=TRIMBCyr)Most leaders agree that the largest returns from generative AI will not come from off-the-shelf productivity tools. Instead, they’ll come from organization-wide solutions that create value for a broad set of employees and enhance the organization’s distinctive competencies.

The catch here is that building these solutions requires the buy-in of the organization’s domain experts, who will need to commit time and energy to figuring out how this technology could be used to reconfigure their workflows. While this effort promises to free them up to perform higher-value tasks, it also requires them to add the work of experimenting by themselves and with colleagues across the organization on top of demanding workloads. This collective gen AI experimentation can come with a hidden cost that, if left unchecked, can break ambitious AI initiatives.

To understand how leaders can facilitate gen AI innovation, we performed a two-year field study of gen AI innovation at U.S.-based two organizations: we’ll call them NE Health and LegalCo. The companies were pursuing similar efforts—using gen AI to develop organization-wide solutions. At NE Health, domain experts used gen AI to help develop the organization-wide solution of patient-friendly discharge summaries. At LegalCo, domain experts used gen AI to help develop the organization-wide solution of legal research. In both cases, these experts needed to engage in collective gen AI experimentation with their colleagues.
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Read the full [*Harvard Business Review* article](https://hbr.org/2026/08/ai-experiments-need-domain-experts-heres-how-to-support-them).

## More from Professor Wiesenfeld

- [Rivalry and Collaboration Attitudes: NYU Study Finds Writers Need Both to Thrive in the Age of AI](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/research-highlights/rivalry-and-collaboration-attitudes-nyu-study-finds-writers-need-both-thrive-age-ai)
- [Why Most Organizations Aren’t Getting Value from Generative AI](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/why-most-organizations-arent-getting-value-generative-ai)
- [New Research Reveals Uptake of AI-powered Messaging in Healthcare Settings](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/new-research-reveals-uptake-ai-powered-messaging-healthcare-settings)
- ["Rivalry as a Craft": NYU Study Reveals How Writers Compete With AI](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/rivalry-craft-nyu-study-reveals-how-writers-compete-ai)
- [AI Tool Successfully Responds to Patient Questions in Electronic Health Record](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/ai-tool-successfully-responds-patient-questions-electronic-health-record)