Artificial Intelligence has been making headlines in recent years for its potential to revolutionize businesses across various industries. From improving operational efficiency to boosting profitability, AI is changing the way businesses operate.
In this post, we’ll take a high-level overview of how companies can leverage AI to improve business outcomes from operations through increased efficiency to boosted profitability.
Business Operations
If we peel away all the technological considerations of AI, and focus only on what it means for business, we will see a powerful and incredibly versatile tool that can contribute immensely to process optimization, the streamlining of operations and workflows, as well as a way to reduce costs.
Most commonly, when we think about what AI can do for our business it the ability to automate repetitive tasks (e.g. data entry and customer service) that take up a lot of our employees’ time and stifle creativity as a result. Supported by an AI-driven software, you can free up employees’ time to focus on more complex activities that require human expertise, such as problem-solving and decision-making.
Another way that AI is improving business operations is by analyzing large amounts of data to provide insights, enabling businesses to have access to all the necessary information for making better decisions. By analyzing data from various sources, such as sales data and customer feedback, companies gain a better understanding of their customers’ needs and preferences, which can be utilized in the creation of more targeted marketing campaigns as well as improved products and services that better meet customer expectations.
Take the retail giant Walmart, for example. They use AI to optimize their supply chain operations; by analyzing data – including weather patterns, traffic data, and social media trends – Walmart is able to predict customer demand and adjust their inventory accordingly, which led to reduced costs across the board and improved customer satisfaction by ensuring that products are always in stock.
Increasing Efficiency
Automation by AI does not only make the jobs of employees better, giving them the means to spend their work hours more creatively and productively, but also increase efficiency. The same repetitive tasks will be carried out with greater precision, as the software is practically incapable of making errors that we humans do. With huge amounts of data to sift through and manage, bringing an AI on board to deal with it will lead to much more accurate results achieved at a fraction of the time it would take humans who would be affected negatively by repetition.
However, automation is not the only area where AI can shine in its ability to deliver increased efficiency. Another way becomes attainable by improving the speed and accuracy of decision-making. By analyzing large amounts of data, AI can identify patterns and trends that we humans might otherwise miss, which helps companies make more informed decisions, anticipate future demand for a specific product predicted by the AI, or identify brand new revenue streams.
For instance, JP Morgan Chase is known to use AI to analyze customer data in order to identify potential risks and opportunities in existing and planned portfolios. Through the monitoring of customer transactions and social media activity, they could detect potential fraud and identify new revenue opportunities as well, which translated to more efficient operations at significantly reduced costs.
Boosting Profitability
Last but not least, AI also has the potential to significantly increase profitability. We’ve mentioned the way it can discover new revenue streams, but through functionalities that can lead to improved customer satisfaction, it can make both existing and future customers more loyal to the brand, eager to choose the company’s products or services long term.
As always, the key is understanding the customers’ needs and preferences, which an AI-driven software can easily do by analyzing massive data sets such as customer feedback, social media interactions, website traffic, and more in real time. Using the processed data, companies are able to create more targeted marketing campaigns and tweak their products and services according to customers’ needs.
At the same time, the almost instantaneous review of customer data and feedback can help locate areas and processes in customer service that are in need of improvement. In certain use cases, the AI can actualize the changes that improve customer experience on its own, further increasing customer loyalty and delivering higher revenues.
Amazon uses AI to personalize its product recommendations to each individual customer. Their AI is trained to analyze and process data from past purchases and browsing history, which allows Amazon to recommend products that are more likely to be of interest to the specific customer.
Challenges of AI Implementation
While the benefits of using AI in business are clear, there are also significant challenges to implementing it. One of the biggest obstacles is cost, as AI implementation requires significant investments in hardware, software, and personnel expertise – especially when we consider the global shortage of qualified professionals with the knowledge to develop and implement AI solutions.
Another challenge is ethical concerns, since as AI becomes more sophisticated, there are a growing number of concerns about its potential impact on jobs and society. With its incredible potential to automate many jobs, and without companies enacting social responsibility, a great deal of people could lose their jobs in certain industries, impacting labor, millions of families, as well as national (and to some extent, international) economy as a whole.
Another ethical concern is the potential for AI to be used for malicious purposes. For example, without proper regulation and technological guard rails, it can be used to create fake news or deepfakes, which could be used to spread disinformation and manipulate public opinion, or perpetuate biases and discrimination.
Connecting AI into your Business
Despite the challenges, the benefits of using AI in business are clear. In a nutshell, AI has the potential to improve operational efficiency, increase profitability, and improve customer satisfaction. However, it is important for businesses to be mindful of the costs and expertise required to implement AI solutions, and it’s important that all companies using AI carefully consider the ethical implications of its use and ensure that it functions in a responsible and ethical manner.
As AI continues to develop and become more and more sophisticated, it is essential for any AI-using business to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and to continue to explore new ways to leverage it.
And if you’ve been considering bringing an AI on board to help with your business processes, increase the overall efficiency of your operations, or leverage it to boost profitability yet don’t know how to get started, contact our AI experts! We’ll help you discover the optimal solution for making AI work for you efficiently and responsibly!
If you would like to be informed about our opportunities in time, follow us on LinkedIn!
