Customer zero is becoming a strategic advantage in the age of AI-powered services. Enterprises deploying artificial intelligence at scale are learning that the real advantage isn’t just in new tools, it’s in being their own first customer. This “customer zero” approach lets them test AI in-house, fine-tune it in real time and apply those insights externally. By embedding intelligence into workflows from day zero, they gain speed, precision and a repeatable model for real-world impact, according to Doug Schmitt, chief information officer of Dell Technologies Inc. and president of Dell Technologies Services Inc. Acting as customer zero gives Dell greater control over AI’s impact while grounding innovation in real business needs, not theory. By testing and refining AI internally, Dell builds credibility and sharpens its services-led approach, guiding customers from strategy to deployment. That firsthand experience helps reduce friction and deliver smoother, faster AI transformations across the enterprise, according to Scott Bils, vice president and general manager of product management, professional services, at Dell Technologies. “When you take a look at what we’re doing from a professional services standpoint, it’s really to help customers on their end-to-end journey and helping them drive AI transformation. It’s around helping them deploy,” he said. “We provide the consulting services and manage services around it all the way from day zero to day two plus. As we go through the journey internally at Dell, [it] provides us a tremendous amount of insight that we can then take to our customers and help accelerate their journey.” This internal-first mindset has also enabled Dell to digitize and refine its own processes, creating a blueprint that customers can follow. AI is layered into workflows that are already disciplined and well understood, allowing for both rapid experimentation and reliable results. That strong foundation of data, automation and process discipline provides fertile ground for scalable AI and LLM deployment, Schmitt noted. Customer zero is more than a model; it’s a mindset that blends internal accountability with innovation, giving organizations the confidence to build, test and deliver real-world AI outcomes. As AI factories mature and agents begin to automate decisions across the enterprise, that feedback loop between internal use and external delivery will be essential.