As the business world becomes more competitive, identifying unique methods to make use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) is essential for your business to be successful in the long run.
According to a poll conducted by the consulting firm Gartner, the majority of corporate strategists believe with the idea that AI, as well as analytics, are crucial for their business’s success in the coming two years. Another survey conducted by PwC discovered that 73% of U.S. companies have already made the switch to AI in a certain aspect of their operations, putting those who haven’t yet started to experiment at a disadvantage.
“I believe that in business’ future, everything will be powered by AI,” says Harvard Business School Professor Karim Lakhani, who teaches the course online AI Essentials for Business with HBS Professor Marco InSite. “There’s no one company or job that isn’t going to be affected by AI technology.”
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What is the role of AI in business?
AI is the main factor in the digital transformation of different industries. It’s for instance, it’s helped early detection of diseases for healthcare. In finance, it’s used to automate fraud detection. Through the integration of AI technology, you are able to efficiently adapt and innovate within your organization.
In the latest episode from The HBS Online Parlor Room podcast, Jen Stave Director of the inaugural launch for the Harvard’s Digital Data Design (D^3) Institute, discusses the impact of AI across different industries.
“If you look around the world we live in today We believe we’re at the brink of a significant change,” Stave says. “We would go as in saying that it’s going to be more than internet connectivity, and bigger that electricity.”
The anticipated change has executives to rethink AI’s place in business.
Despite the debate on AI’s negative impact on the workforce and the negative effects on workers, managers are learning to utilize AI to take advantage of the digital transformation occurring in their industry and using AI as a tool to transform the business processes.
If you’re eager to take your company to the next stage in the digital age Here are five advantages that you can count on from implementing AI for business.
5 Benefits You can Expect from using AI in your business
1. Improved Productivity and Efficiency
AI is popular for its capability to increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace:
- Automating repetitive tasks
- The streamlining of workflows
- Providing data-driven insights
These advancements can result in significant improvements in operational performance and employee efficiency. According to the management consulting business McKinsey (pdf), AI and other technologies can be used to streamline work processes which consume 60 to 70% of employees their time, allowing employees to concentrate on more strategic projects.
The same Parlor Room episode, Stave states that business leaders must embrace AI for the highest productivity and efficiency.
“I believe that you should all take advantage of the opportunity which is about to come,” Stave says, “but it’s the individual efficiency which I believe is present today. It’s the area where you’ll hear interesting stories of how you can take on someone else’s work 20 percent more efficiently when you have AI in your co-pilot.”
You can, for instance, make use of AI-powered virtual assistants to manage your time or set reminders. You can also organize your daily tasks. This will help you organize your daily routine, decrease routine administrative tasks, and allow you to be focused on achieving your goals as an organization.
2. Improved Decision-Making
AI is changing the way businesses make decisions. By analysing huge quantities of data AI can assist you in identifying patterns and trends that are not easily discerned from human analysis. This ability can help you make better informed, strategic decisions, and decrease the possibility of mistakes.
Many business leaders are beginning to appreciate how much quality-assurance AI can provide. In an Deloitte research (pdf) 60 percent of executives said that AI allowed them to gain more relevant insights from the data they were monitoring.
But, how you utilize AI technologies to make strategic decisions will depend on the specifics of your business.
For instance, the oil company and natural gas Shell uses AI-driven predictive analysis to improve the drilling of its oil. Shell analyzes huge quantities of data gathered from sensors in its drilling equipment in order to anticipate possible equipment failures or maintenance requirements, allowing them to allocate resources more efficiently.
In the field of healthcare IBM’s Watson makes use of AI to analyse patient information as well as medical research to give doctors treatments that are based on evidence and help them select the most effective cancer treatment.
Whatever industry that you’re working in AI will aid you in extremely complex decision-making in the current rapidly changing world.
3. Boosted Cost Savings
AI provides a variety of ways to cut costs and save money throughout your company.
Since AI helps you automate tedious, time-consuming chores, it can help your employees to take part in more strategic projects. This change can improve employee engagement, which will boost your competitive edge.
AI can reduce expenses for companies by anticipating maintenance needs in order to optimize supply chains and improve the management of inventory through predictive maintenance.
AI can significantly improve the energy usage of your facility, which is an crucial step towards reducing the impact of the effects of climate change because office buildings use nearly one-third of the world’s energy, and contribute about 25% of the world’s emission of greenhouse gases. Through the use of AI to monitor usage patterns and adapt energy consumption, businesses can make significant savings on utility costs while also reducing their impact on the environment.
4. Enhanced Customer Experience
AI transforms customer experience by delivering targeted and effective interactions. Through sophisticated analysis of data, AI can help you discern customer preferences, behaviours and requirements which makes it much easier to customize your offerings and services.
For instance, the top retailer of beauty products Sephora makes use of AI by way of their Virtual Artist feature, an enhanced reality tool that allows customers to test on makeup in virtual reality. It examines the features of your face and skin tone for recommendations on products based on personal preferences that customers can purchase through the app.
Utilizing AI in your customer interactions will also allow to provide more personalised interactive experiences that help increase the loyalty of your customers. Sephora’s AI-powered chatbots and assistants are able to anticipate the needs of customers and respond quickly to customer inquiries and make recommendations that are in line with the individual’s preferences. In the end, Sephora has been an “force to be considered in the retail industry.”
5. Encourages Innovation
AI is an engine for innovation that allows you to experiment with innovative ideas and create innovative solutions.
Through harnessing the power of AI by harnessing the power of AI, you can:
- Accelerate product development
- Improve business operations
- Find innovative ways to meet the demands of your customers
Generative AI, a type of AI which employs the generative model to generate new content by analyzing data, is changing the way companies develop. This technology lets companies quickly create text, images music, text, and many other forms of media, offering an array of opportunities for imaginative as well as practical uses.
“With this emergence of the generative AI and ChatGPT this has been an Cambrian growth,” says HBS Senior Lecturer Jeff Bussgang during an interview on the Parlor Room. “So much innovation, so much excitement.”
A noteworthy example of innovation is the fashion label Stitch Fix. The brand employs AI to study customer preferences and trends to offer personalized recommendations for clothing.
This approach based on AI has enabled Stitch Fix to create a unique shopping experience that combines human-centered expertise and machine learning, resulting in substantial business growth.
Take advantage of this New Business Age
AI doesn’t need to be a threat to business. In fact, a failure to take advantage of it could cause an immediate demise.
To make sure you don’t fall behind, you must be up to date with the most recent strategies and methods to efficiently utilize and implement the tools you’ve learned within your business.
One of the most effective method to achieve this is to enroll in an online course such as AI Essentials for Business, for a better understanding of how to compete in the modern age of AI. Through this course you’ll be exposed to experts from the leading edge of AI that can assist you to manage your business through the process of a successful digital transformation.
