Landscape infographic titled “Visual Roadmap: Your First 90 Days with AI.”

Visual Roadmap: Your First 90 Days with AI in .NET

So you’re ready to bring AI into your .NET environment—but you’re staring at a blank page. Where do you start? What’s realistic in 30, 60, 90 days?

We’ve built a pragmatic, visual roadmap to help your team move from concept to AI prototype—and beyond—using Microsoft-native tools you already trust.

🗓️ Phase 1 (Days 1–30): Orientation and Opportunity Mapping

This first month is about understanding, not building.

🎯 Key Objectives:

  • Identify high-friction tasks that could be AI-enhanced
  • Align use cases with business goals (not tech novelty)
  • Audit data availability and quality
  • Educate team members with hands-on tools like:
    • Microsoft Copilot
    • AI Builder in Power Platform
    • Azure AI Demos
    • ML.NET
    • OpenAI ChatGPT calling using the OpenAI API SDK
  • Determine feasibility using a pilot scoring matrix

Focus on education, ideation, and early risk mitigation.

🧪 Phase 2 (Days 31–60): Prototyping and Validation

This is where ideas hit the keyboard.

🔧 Key Actions:

“Visual Roadmap: Your First 90 Days with AI.” It outlines three phases—Orientation and Opportunity Mapping (Days 1–30), Prototyping and Validation (Days 31–60), and Refinement and Road to Production (Days 61–90). Each phase includes an icon and bullet points summarizing key actions like identifying use cases, building prototypes, and preparing for production.
  • Choose 1–2 use cases to prototype (e.g., chatbot, classification, forecasting)
  • Use ML.NET, Azure AI Studio, Semantic Kernel, or OpenAI API SDK for lightweight builds
  • Get real data into the loop, even if sample-sized
  • Share with stakeholders weekly—use feedback to iterate
  • Begin cost modeling for full production

You’re not shipping software here—you’re testing what might work.

🚀 Phase 3 (Days 61–90): Refinement and Road to MVP

By now, you know what sticks and what doesn’t. Time to polish and plan long-term. Create your Minimally Viable Product (MVP). Think of it as a Version 1.0.

🔄 Key Milestones:

  • Finalize a “go forward” roadmap for scaling successful prototypes
  • Layer in performance, logging, exception handling, and security patterns
  • Document integration and deployment steps for:
    • Azure Functions
    • Web APIs
    • CI/CD in DevOps
  • Prepare your architecture for AI reuse across teams

The last 30 days are about preparing for scale—not building everything.

🔍 .NET AI Roadmap Summary

PhaseDaysFocusKey Tools
Phase 11–30Opportunity Mapping & Team EducationCopilot, Power Platform, Azure AI demos
Phase 231–60Prototyping & FeedbackML.NET, Azure AI Studio, Semantic Kernel
Phase 361–90Refinement & Production Planning.NET APIs, DevOps pipelines, Azure Functions

👥 Role-Specific Guidance

Square infographic titled “Visual Roadmap: Your First 90 Days with AI in .NET.” The roadmap is split into three 30-day phases with colored headers and blocks underneath: Days 1–30: Learn fundamentals and explore .NET tools Days 31–60: Build prototypes and integrate AI features Days 61–90: Optimize, scale, and deploy to production Each block includes a concise description of objectives, creating a clean and structured guide for developers adopting AI in .NET.

  • Executives – Focus on ROI clarity and team alignment early
  • PMs – Timebox pilot phases and push weekly iteration
  • Developers – Embrace prototype thinking over perfection
  • IT & DevOps – Start laying the groundwork for scalable deployment

🧠 Final Thought

Your first 90 days with AI in .NET aren’t about flashy models or enterprise-scale deployments. They’re about:

  • Learning what works
  • Killing what doesn’t
  • Building trust in the process

Use the tools you already know—.NET, Azure, Power Platform—and let each 30-day phase build on the last.

AI in .NET isn’t a moonshot. It’s a staircase. Start climbing.

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