Trek’s Director of Advanced Technologies wanted to bring AI into the organization but faced a sprawling value chain, frozen budgets, hiring freezes, and post-COVID travel restrictions.
With too many potential AI entry points and no clear prioritization framework, the team needed a fast, credible path to executive approval, one that could survive scrutiny from Trek’s president without requiring a multi-year, high-risk investment.
Loft Design audited Trek's full value chain to identify and prioritize 35 AI opportunity areas, built the executive business case that secured a new AI budget during financial austerity, then designed a physical AI-embedded handlebar system housing a small language model running locally on a microcontroller for CES 2025.
Loft’s structured executive narrative enabled Trek’s Advanced Tech director to secure a significant new AI budget during a period of hiring freezes, travel restrictions, and post-COVID financial austerity.
Growth Edge sprints mapped Trek’s entire value chain, identified 35 AI opportunity areas, and narrowed the field to three high-ROI priorities, giving the director a crisp, defensible recommendation for the president.
Within approximately 18 months of initial engagement, Loft had a working physical prototype at CES 2025, the world’s first on-device AI agent for cyclists, running a small language model on local hardware with no internet connection required.
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