Lots of people are talking about it. Some people are experimenting. Few people are doing it well. Sound familiar? If you have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) with regard to AI – don’t. Early adopters are doing some really interesting stuff – but they are mostly large Enterprises or start-ups funded by Venture Capitalists. Most businesses like your own are only beginning to think about them. Here’s how we suggest you approach the opportunity/challenge that AI represents.
What Opportunity?
1) AI will automate the lower value/more repetitive work that you/your team do in the course of running your business.2) AI will answer questions that you already ask about your business – and automate your response.
3) AI will enable you to ask questions about your business that you have not yet thought of
What Challenge? In Doing 1,2,3 Above
- AI will change job roles and responsibilities and require us to acquire new skills. Some employees may find this harder than others.
- AI will help businesses develop new business models or (at the very least) make them more competitive .
- AI will require some IT investment .
What Investment?
To take advantage of 1 and 2 above, you need to:
- Look to the vendors of the software that you use. Organisations like Microsoft and Sage have a key role to play. They need to embed AI within the software that they provide – in relevant and eas- to-use ways. If you are using software from vendors who are not making the necessary investment – you’ll need to move.
- Make sure that you are using the latest versions of the products that Microsoft and Sage provide. They won’t be enhancing legacy versions of their products with AI capabilities.
To take advantage of 2 and 3 above, you need to:
- Make a plan in terms of your overall systems/data architecture – such that AI tools can look for patterns across all the data in your business.
- Execute.
How Can TSG Help?
By:
- Being thoroughly practical.
- Helping you develop an AI-friendly systems/data architecture that eliminates legacy silos of data.
- Identifying and implementing quick wins that add value to your business and help your people develop their understanding of what AI will do.