I've watched the same mistake repeat for years.
A new technology shows up. Someone says the business needs it. The demo looks convincing. The pressure builds to move quickly.
Nobody stops to ask what happens if it does not work the way it was promised.
Now it is happening with AI. It has never been easier. You no longer need deep technical skills to start plugging AI into real business systems and processes.
The difference is that small and mid-sized businesses may not have the guardrails. No internal technology team pushing back. No formal review process. No one whose job is to ask the uncomfortable questions before money gets spent.
So the decision gets made too early. Before the risks are clear. Before the trade-offs are understood. Before anyone has worked out what the business is really signing up for.
That is where bad AI decisions start.
AI is a genuine leap in capability. That does not stop bad decisions happening around it.
Because the real cost of a bad AI decision is rarely the subscription. It is everything that comes after.