No Playbook, No Pause Button: Takeaways from VSAE’s AI Summit
On June 4, association professionals and industry partners gathered in Richmond for VSAE’s first-ever AI Summit. We touched on tools and tech, but the bigger focus was on the strategic questions association leaders need to be asking right now—around policy, legal risks, data management, and workforce readiness.
What stood out to me was the shared sense that we’re all walking an AI high wire—trying to strike the right balance between setting up structure and guardrails, while also staying curious and moving forward, even if we don’t have it all figured out yet.
As the day unfolded, some key themes rose to the top. Here’s what stuck with me:
1. AI is here to stay, and it’s moving fast.
The tools we’re using today will look completely different six months from now. While the old playbook for adopting new technology still has value, it wasn’t built for this pace. We’ve got to stay nimble, pay attention, and be ready to adapt quickly.
2. It’s a chance to innovate and work smarter.
AI isn’t about replacing staff; it’s about freeing them up to focus on what really matters. It can take repetitive tasks off our plates, surface insights from data, and help us deliver better, more personalized member experiences.
3. Don’t wait for a perfect plan.
Christina Lewellen said it well: if we wait until everything’s figured out, we’ll never move. Start small. Try a tool. See what works. Give yourself—and your team—permission to test and explore without needing all the answers first.
4. Support your team and make space for failure.
This shift won’t happen without people. Encourage your team to try things out, share their successes, and also what didn’t work. That’s how we build real knowledge and confidence.
5. Build policies that enable more than restrict.
Your AI policy should be a guide, not a roadblock. Rick Bawcum emphasized the importance of policies that outline what’s possible, rather than just a list of “shall nots.” Make sure you policy aligns with your mission, values, and strategic goals.
6. Recognize the risks but don’t let them stop you.
Yes, there are real concerns: copyright, data privacy, bias, misinformation. But those aren’t reasons to avoid AI, they’re reasons to be intentional. Know the issues, get legal guidance where needed, and put appropriate safeguards in place.
So, where do we go from here? The Summit was a starting point for VSAE. We’ll continue creating opportunities to learn from one another, share what’s working (and what’s not), and help our members navigate through this change.
The good news, you don’t need to have it all figured out, but you do need to be paying attention, asking questions, and thinking about how AI fits into the bigger picture of how your organization works and serves. And you’ve got to be trying things, because that’s how you figure out what’s useful and what’s not.
