A proof of concept establishes that the technology can perform the task. A proof of value establishes that performing it that way is worth what it costs, to a named part of the business.
They are different exercises with different owners, durations and success criteria, and confusing them is one of the most expensive habits in enterprise AI.
The comparison
- Question answered — POC: can it work? PoV: should we do it?
- Who runs it — POC: technical team, often with the vendor. PoV: the department that owns the number, with the vendor supporting.
- Duration — POC: days to weeks. PoV: a measured cycle long enough for the baseline to be beaten repeatably.
- Success criterion — POC: acceptable output quality. PoV: a number moved, against a baseline recorded beforehand.
- What it justifies next — POC: a pilot. PoV: a budget line.
Why the confusion is expensive
A team runs a POC, it succeeds, and the result is presented to the board as evidence of value. At the next budget review someone asks what changed in the business, and there is no answer — because nobody measured a baseline, and the exercise was never designed to produce one. The programme then reads as a failure despite the technology having worked.
Converting one into the other in a single cycle
Three additions, none of them technical. Record a baseline before anything changes. Attach a P&L owner who will be asked about the number. Set a decision date in advance, so the exercise ends in a decision rather than in an extension.
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