Should You Lead as an AI-First Artificial Intelligence Association?

With over twenty years of experience working alongside leaders from diverse associations, I have observed substantial changes in our sector. From the initial embrace of the internet, which revolutionized communication, to the emergence of cloud computing, improving operational efficiencies, and mobile technology offering immediate access to information, the evolution has been extraordinary.

We are now on the verge of a new era of innovation called AI-First. This transformation is set to revolutionize the way we function and interact with members, stakeholders, and the wider community.

Leaders in trade and professional associations, such as the Executive Director, Vice President of Membership, and Events Director, are confronted with a significant choice. They need to decide if the AI-First approach is merely a trendy term or a fundamental framework that will define our organizations over the next ten years.

To navigate this complex terrain, it is vital to focus on key strategic questions for your mission-driven organization:

• What implications does an AI-First strategy have for enhancing member engagement and personalization?

• How can AI technologies streamline operations, improve decision-making, and drive innovation?

• What ethical considerations must be addressed when integrating AI into our practices?

By tackling these questions, we can better harness AI's potential to meet our members' evolving needs and position our associations as leaders in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

What's the Deal with Being an "AI-First Association" Anyway?

The concept of an "AI-First" company or an Artificial Intelligence-led Association, as defined by leaders at institutions like Forbes and Kearney, goes far beyond simply using a chatbot or generating an email draft with ChatGPT.

An AI-First Association is one that structures its strategy, operations, data, and talent based on the fundamental assumption that Artificial Intelligence is crucial for fulfilling its mission and providing value to its members.

It’s a leadership transformation before it's a technology transformation. AI isn't an add-on; it's the central nervous system of the organization.

• Rethinking Decision-Making: Instead of simply asking, "How can we cut costs?" you ask, "How can AI analyze our data to predict which members will lapse and then trigger a hyper-personalized retention campaign?"

• Shifting Human Roles: Staff move from "task executors" (like manual data entry or basic report generation) to "AI collaborators" focused on complex problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and strategic judgment—the things AI still can't do.

• Data as an Asset: Proprietary member data (engagement scores, learning pathways, donation history) is treated as the organization's single most valuable asset, explicitly structured to train and power custom AI models.

Should You Care if Your AMS or Technology Vendors are "AI-First"?

The brief response is a definite "Yes," but with an important condition.

Opting for an AI-First provider for your Association Management Software (AMS) is a strategic decision to enhance your organization's future potential. It's crucial to recognize what a "True AI-First Vendor" offers and to differentiate between facts and "Myths." Let's delve deeper into these subjects.

What a True AI-First Vendor Offers: Core Association Value

An AI-First vendor genuinely integrates intelligence into the heart of their platform, emphasizing tangible benefits for your association's mission, rather than merely adding features. For the VP of Membership and Executive Director, this involves Personalization and Predictive Analytics powered by algorithms that consistently learn and evolve, rather than relying solely on pre-defined rules.

This intelligence is immediately visible in areas such as the following:

• Predictive Dues Renewal: AI proactively anticipates which members are likely to lapse, allowing your team to optimize retention efforts before a member disengages.

• Targeted Learning & Education: AI analyzes individual member preferences and learning paths to deliver hyper-relevant educational content, maximizing engagement and professional development.

• Precision Non-Dues Revenue: AI enhances lead scoring for advertising and sponsorship and identifies high-potential revenue opportunities, ensuring your organization focuses effort on the most promising initiatives.

Importantly, these vendors focus on an AI-centered product roadmap, demonstrating their deep commitment to enhancing their platform's intelligence to meet the specific needs of the association market, ensuring their solution delivers substantial value in the long run.

The Essential Warning:

My colleagues at RSM US, a leading consulting firm, wisely underscore a core truth: AI should be considered an experiment backed by strategy, rather than an immediate final goal. Organizations that engage with an AI-First vendor without a strategic framework aligned with measurable objectives risk wasting valuable time and resources. As an executive, you must start with a well-rounded strategy by asking one fundamental question: "What results are you striving for?" This must clearly define specific objectives, whether they involve boosting member engagement, enhancing operational efficiency for your staff, or increasing non-dues revenue streams from events and education.

Once these strategic goals are set, you can then thoroughly assess and choose the AI-First vendor with the expertise to most effectively achieve your desired results. This commitment to strategic alignment guarantees that implementing AI technologies is purposeful and leads to tangible benefits for your association, rather than simply becoming a costly distraction.

What is the Impact of Not Being an Artificial Intelligence Association-First Leader?

The consequences of inaction are not immediate failure, but rather a slow, compounding erosion of your association's competitive advantage and relevance:

• Outpaced by Peers: Competitors who prioritize AI, including both other associations and innovative non-profits, will function with enhanced efficiency, agility, and a more personalized understanding of their members. This will make it more challenging for you to compete for limited member dollars, sponsor funds, and time.

• Weakened Decision-Making: Without AI analyzing your massive data sets, your executives will continue to make costly strategic decisions based on lagging indicators, intuition, or limited sample sizes, rather than real-time, predictive insights.

• Talent Drain: High-flying, future-loving employees want to play with the latest tech toys that make them feel like superheroes. If a company sticks to its old ways, it becomes as annoying as a mosquito at a picnic, and soon enough, those top-notch folks will buzz off to places where they can level up their "AI sidekick" skills.

• Loss of Personalization: Your members expect the tailored, Amazon-like experience they get everywhere else. Failing to use AI for content curation, personalized event recommendations, and individualized communications means your value proposition feels generic and falls flat.

Steps You Can Take Now to Become an AI-First Association

This transformation must be led from the top—from your board to your executive team.

1. Stop Bolting On, Start Building a Data Foundation: 

   Your data is the driving force. Make it a priority to launch an executive project aimed at integrating your member data (from AMS, LMS, Community, and Events platforms, etc.) into a structure that is organized, regulated, and clearly prepared for AI use.

2. Rethink Roles to "AI Collaborator": Identify the tasks in Membership, Events, and Education that are most time-consuming and repetitive. Rather than using AI to replace staff, explore how AI can enhance their capabilities. For example, instead of the Education team manually tagging content, they can focus on auditing the tags suggested by AI for member learning paths.

3. Prioritize High-Impact Use Cases: Focus your first AI initiatives on areas that directly drive revenue or member satisfaction.

   • Membership: Use AI to flag members at "high-risk" of non-renewal and automate the outreach with a hyper-personalized value pitch.

   • Events: Use AI to recommend session tracks and networking partners based on a member's full engagement history.

4. Demand AI Transparency from Vendors: When assessing new software, especially an AMS, ask vendors probing questions: "How does your AI develop and improve over time?" "Can you showcase your AI's decision-making process customized for our particular industry?"

How to Ensure You Are Working with an AI-First Software Vendor

The promises of AI are easy to make; the reality is complex. Protect your investment by asking these key questions:

Vendor Evaluation Criteria	Executive Questions to Ask
Data Architecture	Is your product's architecture designed to handle our proprietary data and use it for custom AI models, or is AI a separate, pre-packaged module?
Model Explainability	How can we audit the AI's decision-making? (e.g., Why did the AMS score this member as "high-risk" for lapse?)
Product Roadmap	What specific, measurable AI capabilities are being developed next year to enhance membership retention and non-dues revenue?
Governance & Bias	What mechanisms do you have in place to prevent bias in your AI's recommendations (e.g., ensuring content recommendations don't exclude a segment of your membership)?

Given the complexity and executive-level nature of this decision, the most effective next step is to secure an agnostic, expert consultation with SmartThoughts.

Our Final SmartThoughts on the AI First Topic

The success of your association's future hinges on making the correct technological decisions today.

To support you in this crucial executive decision-making process, we have developed an "AI in AMS Executive Report." This report offers an impartial analysis of both current and emerging AI capabilities in the Association Management Software (AMS) industry.

If you are an Association Executive and not currently working with a consultant, request your complimentary copy of the AI in AMS Executive Report today to equip your leadership team with the data needed for a successful AI-First strategy.