By Dunsin Fatuase
There are many vehicles for scaling your business, beating the competition and cutting down expenses with an increase in the bottom line. One of those vehicles is Technology.
Artificial intelligence, AI as it’s generally called, is no longer just a body of content for science fiction. This technology is currently disrupting multiple industries like Finance, Travel, Retail, Healthcare, Customer Experience and Agriculture.
Whether directly or indirectly, many of these changes are currently impacting your life on a daily basis, how much more your business and the field of play.
With a current market of $29 Billion globally, AI currently has a transformative effect on consumer, enterprise, and government markets around the world. “Making it the biggest commercial opportunity in today’s fast-changing economy,” according to a report by PwC.
For the sake of proper context, Artificial Intelligence refers to information systems inspired by biological systems. AI encompasses multiple technologies including machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing (NLP), machine reasoning, speech recognition and expert systems.
From a simpler perspective, AI combines a wide range of computer science branches concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. In some cases, AI solutions can combine other emerging technologies for improved human experience. E.g Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Robotics among others.
Since AI Solution executes tasks intelligently in a way that yields huge accuracy, reduces time for data-heavy & repetitive tasks, delivers consistent results and increases the productivity of the entire system where applied. This makes it a price point for businesses that want to compete favourably. AI now becomes their unfair advantage.
According to the Facts and Factors market research report, the AI market is expected to reach 299.64 billion globally by 2026. While I will assume that your business is currently being addressed as a global entity, it will be of great importance to see that your competitors are not sitting locally.
The consequence of this reality is that you might already be at a disadvantage if your operations are still being coordinated via a linear and manual approach.
In the process of adopting AI in your business, you will go through multiple phases especially if the business is not currently built around familiar technology. The farther your current process is from related technology the longer the process of incorporating AI. In the long run, the impact on your business will be worth the journey. The first step in this process is to do an in-depth analysis of technological growth in your industry and survey the type of competitive pressures showing up. “How is AI being used in my sector”, “What is the latest IT development in the last 6 months” Answers to questions like these should be within your grasp. Once you have the response to this, you should begin to find answers to questions like: “What operational pain points can that automation and other AI techniques address”, “how is it being done in your industry” and “what opportunities does the adoption of this change bring?” In your response to these questions, you want to be assertive about your position. Do you want to be a follower, an industry disruptor or just someone with the goal of transforming your business alone ?
Your position from the above question will determine how you want to engage your Tech/AI talents, consultants and what role they will play. Whenever an organisation is set on this journey, it’s important to consider their values, cultures and in what other they need to be prioritized.
The last stage is to build control and governance around this adoption which is an internal approach to handling incidences and manage continuous adoption. It’s imperative to be aware of the AI Policies existing in your field of play. Equally, territorial law around the use of certain technologies, if they exist, can’t be neglected. Policies around data management, data collection, data storage, data processing and acceptable use policies.
The impact of this adoption is unequivocal and will set your business on a path of global and enduring impact. As generations involve, businesses that are friendly with adopting incoming technologies usually experience longevity and sustenance of impact. Rigid businesses often suffer from extinction and eventually become forgotten in history. Your business deserves the 21st-century technology show of glory and you can make it work.
Dunsin Fatuase is a Data, AI Leader and Country Director, West & East Africa, Coven Works Inc.