Mario Peshev is the CEO of DevriX and Growth Shuttle, an angel investor, and a business advisor with 10,000+ hours of consulting.
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The year 2023 was the coming out party for artificial intelligence (AI), and it was a raucous celebration, from the historic popularity of ChatGPT to the enormous investments in AI-related companies.
While its real-world impact is still being determined, one thing is sure: We’ve entered a new era of technological advancement, and these solutions are here to stay.
That’s why businesses are not asking if they should implement AI but how.
According to Cisco’s AI Readiness Index, 97% of respondents indicated an urgency to integrate AI into their company’s products and services. Meanwhile, just 14% said they felt fully prepared to make the transition. Consequently, as Fast Company recently reported, “the vast majority of business leaders lack either the infrastructure, policies, talent, culture or data to do it.”
Put differently, AI has enormous potential to enhance companies’ processes, products and services for the better, but its impact is contingent on effective implementation.
Here are three best practices for implementing AI to drive growth, profitability and adaptability.
1. Set clear objectives.
AI isn’t a farce, but it’s also not a magic bullet that can be applied to any and every challenge. Rather than applying the technology generally or haphazardly, companies should purposefully harness their capabilities to specific business objectives.
Ask yourself questions like: What problems do you need to solve right now? What organizational goals need to be attained? What metrics need to be improved?
Then, you can identify specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals for your AI initiatives.
While AI has countless opportunities to reimagine business processes in the future, its impact today is primarily felt in two places: personalized customer experiences and streamlined operations.
By using AI to analyze data and personalize how they interact with customers, brands can deliver better, more personalized experiences than ever before. At the same time, using AI to make work faster and cheaper by automating simple tasks and improving workflows represents a tangible benefit that’s available right now.
These parameters allow companies to apply AI solutions to specific business challenges or projects where they can make the most tangible positive impact while mitigating risks or potential downsides.
2. Prepare people to use tools effectively (and ethically).
Whether you’ve made AI implementation an intentional strategy or not, many of your employees are already using this technology to help with their day-to-day responsibilities.
One recent survey found that while 43% of professionals say they are using AI tools to perform work tasks, just one-third of respondents said they told their bosses they were using these tools.
In response, the Society of Human Resources Management published the telling headline “AI in Workplace Is Like the Wild West: Untamed.” Meanwhile, an Ernst and Young survey found that employee anxiety about AI-fueled disruption is skyrocketing.
A successful AI implementation plan will account for both, ensuring that people have the skills and parameters to effectively and ethically leverage AI in their day-to-day operations while also upskilling or reskilling existing employees who may see their workflows change as technology continues to evolve.
3. Start with a pilot project.
As AI attracts investor attention and piques executives’ interest, companies have been quick to rebrand as AI companies or promote AI implementation across core business functions. However, AI adoption is a journey, not a destination. You don’t have to get there all at once.
Rather than overselling the technology’s impact or rushing to roll out half-baked solutions, start with a pilot project that allows teams to work towards clear objectives in a limited capacity. This might include:
• Personalizing content for a specific customer segment.
• Using a chatbot to enhance customer service capabilities.
• Improving employee productivity with available AI tools.
Everyone benefits from strategic AI implementation.
Companies rushing to roll out their AI-powered solutions have produced a steady stream of embarrassing or alarming mistakes. It’s a reminder that AI is an incredibly powerful tool with the potential to remake our businesses for the better, but its benefits can also escape or elude us.
Intentionality is the key to ensuring we capitalize on the former while mitigating the risks of the latter, making the most of this new, potentially world-changing technology.
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