AI is an important catalyst for shaping a better future. We believe it has the power to improve and expand welfare, businesses, and ourselves. However, most organizations struggle to unlock AI’s potential. In this blog, we outline the most common struggles with AI and explain how to create the greatest impact.
Successful AI projects increase profits enormously
The impact of an AI solution can be enormous: 48% of organizations report that 20% or more of their earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) are due to successful AI projects. Why? Because with AI, processes are automated to boost productivity and efficiency, creating more value and revenue for your business.
However, most AI projects fail due to one or more of the following struggles: a lack of a clear business case and impact, no effective collaboration among project stakeholders, an absence of expert AI skills, and a lack of a holistic and sustainable approach to using AI. We firmly believe we can avoid all these pitfalls, create impact, and help all IT leaders get from POC to a successful AI implementation.
5 tips to create the greatest business impact with AI
It’s clear that AI can bring your organization many benefits, but how do you create the most significant business impact via AI? Here are five tips to help you do that.
1. Go for the most significant impact
First step: you need to brainstorm. Come up with as many ideas as possible to apply AI for your use case. Once you’ve made a list of potential AI solutions, narrow that list to the solution that will achieve the greatest impact. That solution may involve the AI providing 100% of the value, or the solution’s value may come from both AI and humans.
2. Don’t fall into the “AI for AI” trap
Many organizations hop onto the AI bandwagon because they think they should use AI and not because they have a specific plan for it. AI enables you to create significant value for your business. Identify which strategic value drivers you want to improve, such as:
Growth – e.g., increase sales revenue or customer satisfaction.
Efficiency – e.g., decrease effort, throughput time, or costs.
Financial – e.g., decrease the cost of capital.
3. Involve end-users from the beginning
Involving end-users early and often is crucial to the success of your AI projects. You can’t meet the needs of end-users if you don’t understand their wants and needs. Involve them in the first brainstorming sessions, put prototypes in the hands of users, and observe how they use your AI solutions. Engage with them, collecting valuable feedback from them throughout the development process. Let user behavior and valuable feedback guide you on what to prioritize and build next.
4. Take a holistic, sustainable, and responsible approach
The success of your projects does not solely lie in the hands of end-users and how they respond to your AI solutions. It also requires that you effectively manage many aspects of using AI, including:
Privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA
Cybersecurity
Fairness and Bias
Education and training
5. Get to code and a POC in the most efficient way
To meet the constantly changing demand of end-users, you need to get to code and a POC as fast as possible. Start by assembling a multidisciplinary team of domain experts and individuals who understand:
Your business and the end-users of your products and services
The data required to train effective AI models
The IT landscape of your organization
The impact you want to achieve
Next, create a process where the team creates a POC in the shortest time possible. Validate the fit of your AI solution to the business problem with minimal code and effort. Optimize your AI solution in small iterations to uncover what end users truly want. This approach will bring the most impact for your business and end-users.
Done! Now you are ready to create impact with AI.
Want to learn more on how to create impactful AI solutions that increase your EBIT? Book a call with our AI specialist below.
