How to Incorporate Artificial Intelligence in Your Company

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a topic of conversation in organizations for quite some time, especially among those who work on innovation inside their firms. In the innovation space, it appears that more and more professionals agree that AI will be one of the leading technologies in helping corporations on their path to success. 

It’s likely that the number of organizations that opt for the application of Artificial Intelligence in their business will grow at a continuous pace, and that finding is not surprising. That’s because machine learning is gaining prominence in its ability to make work easier, simplify processes, and drive products. As a result, the implications for Artificial Intelligence in business strategy is that organizations see increased productivity, opening a pathway towards a company’s potential triumph. 

What is Artificial Intelligence, and what does Artificial Intelligence mean? 

AI is a technology that can mimic the brain’s way of processing with the possibilities and improvements that technology can offer. The combination of logical and scientific processes lets Artificial Intelligence autonomously analyze and solve problems, incorporating continuous learning in the process. AI always bases itself on algorithms and paradigms from human nature. Its goal is to facilitate operations and analysis in a way that makes human life more manageable and more comfortable to complete tasks. 

Now that we know how Artificial Intelligence works, we have to ask ourselves why businesses use artificial intelligence. While it’s true that many organizations have invested in it, some may be wondering about business opportunities in Artificial Intelligence. Fortunately, we have some examples of how you can use Artificial Intelligence in your business. 

• Automate processes: Introducing specific machines can help automate manual tasks to execute them in less time with fewer resources. Increased automation can lead to increased business productivity and achieve scalability of your organization’s processes and jobs. 

• Analyze data: Big Data is the main character in today’s business world, characterized by the immense amounts of information reaching companies that they can use to make strategic business decisions. AI helps to organize and order this swathe of data to figure out what pieces of information are useful and exciting for the business model. 

• Help customers: Incorporating tools that automatically answer queries coming from your customers is a very efficient way of fostering that critical relationship while dedicating little time and resources to it. The technology par excellence in offering this service are the chatbots or the technology that provides an increasingly-optimal virtual customer service to bring customers more personalized care. A good example is the Google Assistant, and they’ve very recently started deploying their Google Duplex robot calling service technology in several markets, including Spain. The US was the pilot market for the service before its international expansion.

• Assists team members: While Artificial Intelligence can replace tasks that we once had to perform manually, AI is not an enemy for workers. Instead, it’s a worker’s ally because AI provides them with information and support in some of their tasks. One example is that employees can have more direct contact with customers that previously went through filtering and studies through the enterprise’s AI technology. 

• Fosters innovation: Saving time and resources equates to a more exceptional ability to work on innovation, improvement, growth, and creativity.

• Learn from mistakes: Machines’ learning capabilities are indisputable, and they can register any error to make sure it doesn’t happen again.  This capability leads to a boost in productivity from ensuring mistakes only occur once. 

How businesses use Artificial Intelligence 

AI’s possible business applications are immense, even with the long way we still have to go when it comes to training. According to a Morning Consult study for IBM about AI in Spain, 39% of organizations believe that the most significant roadblock towards developing AI is the lack of expert knowledge.  

The figures in Spain are positive. In line with the February study above, 82% of Spanish companies have implemented, are introducing, or contemplating the application of AI technology in their processes, putting Spain at the front of the pack in Europe. Security, process automatization, and customer service are the top three applications companies are going for when carrying out their AI efforts. 

This growth is understandable if we consider that AI can be the perfect ally for organizations. Along with optimizing processes and empowering growth, it can use predictive learning to figure out what’s the best marketing action for a firm to deploy, who are the most unsatisfied customers, or who’s most willing to buy a product. It’s undoubtedly a potent tool we can apply across all areas of an enterprise. 

We can see the benefits and opportunities AI can provide in three contexts:

• In customer service: As we already mentioned, chatbots are changing the way they manage inquiries and complaints, saving thousands of hours.

• In finance: Using deep learning, AI can help detect and alert institutions to potential outstanding payments. 

• In marketing: The use of predictive algorithms can learn from mistakes and predict consumption trends. Not only that, but digital data aggregation systems’ analytical capabilities are also entering a new era, and a perfect example of that is the arrival of  Salesforce Einstein Analytics. Speaking of marketing and algorithms, we can’t ignore SEO, a discipline that’s increasingly incorporating AI algorithms and the Python programming language to perform keyword and search intention research in much less time. Speed is a crucial new concept. 

Artificial Intelligence integration tips for businesses 

Integration AI into an enterprise’s processes is not that straightforward: you need technology, human resources, and a lot of knowledge. However, you can get there bit by bit. Here are some tips: 

Learn about AI and accept it as a development

One of the first things you need to tackle is that Artificial Intelligence, just like other innovations, does not offer an immediate return. It takes time and development, as well as training employees to take advantage of it. Mentalizing it in the managerial rungs of organizations is critical for applying AI.

AI is a tool, not another employee

AI needs to feed off of data and information to grow and offer better solutions. Coordinating the AI implementation strategy is imperative, and the human resources need to be in charge of making others see what direction the technology should follow and let it feed off the tools required to do so. AI also needs alignment with your firm’s KPIs to ensure it achieves a well-defined set of objectives.

Artificial Intelligence won’t do away with human labor

It may be inevitable that this technology will replace specific jobs; it’s also true that new jobs will emerge from it. It’s a new tool like any other, and its execution and application will create new opportunities for those who appropriately train themselves to be leaders in coordinating and developing it.

Learn from other enterprises already using AI  

Many companies get vertigo from looking at what their peers are doing. You don’t have to be afraid of others’ success. Instead, look at it as a stepping stone to support our learning and growth. If other corporations, albeit competitors, have implemented AI, we should look at what they’ve done and replicate what they have done right while avoiding their mistakes.

Global tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, IBM, and Skype have embraced Artificial Intelligence. Along with these tech powerhouses, we’ll find auto firms like Toyota as it works to develop self-driving cars and robots, or Tesla in its use of AI in its future models. Other organizations in more traditional industries have learned to adapt to this new reality, such as Shell, the energy giant that added a 24-hour virtual assistant to its customer service arm. 

It’s clear that the next step in analyzing and understanding our surroundings –and our reality– comes from computers and machines doing it, leading to a new paradigm for organizations. Artificial Intelligence leads to a lot of questions. Yet, one thing soars above the rest: opportunities.