Running your own business in 2022 puts you against tough competitors. Some of them are entering the process of digital transformation, while others are already using the latest technologies to their advantage. If you want to rise above the competition and grow your business in the future, you have to bring your operation to a new level.
Customers these days want to buy personalized products, and they want them as soon as possible. An artificial intelligence solution is the best, but only if you prepare your operation correctly. Let's see what you should do to help your business thrive in this new digital environment.
Worldwide Digital Transformation
By now, you must have heard about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across various industries. Even though AI has been around for decades, its evolution was slow due to the lack of computing power. However, as computers became more powerful, the need for AI increased. Today, AI for business is used to optimize production, reduce costs, and optimize entire operations.
There is no doubt that AI is the future of many industries and businesses everywhere. It's already utilized by real estate, entertainment, automotive, and many other industries. AI is practically the best way to build your business's value, as it allows you to reimagine your entire operation and prepare it for future challenges.
Of course, adopting new technologies is never a simple process. Not only that, but AI technologies are still expensive, so it's essential that you prepare your company for the digital transformation correctly. Otherwise, you might end up spending a ton of money on the wrong solution. Let's see what steps you should take when adopting AI for business.
Applying AI to Your Operation
There are two ways you can choose when applying AI solutions to your business operation. You can either apply it to solve problems and optimize internal processes, or you can use it to redefine the entire organization from the ground up.
Neither of these methods won't help you grow your business overnight. However, when applied to the right process, AI can provide some significant benefits. Still, AI is difficult to scale due to the changing markets. Moreover, companies that have many assets and stakeholders struggle to apply AI to their operations due to complex systems.
Define The Problems You Want To Solve
The best way to adopt AI for business is to identify its application before the transformation begins. In other words, prioritize business domains broad enough to allow the AI to have an impact on performance. Even if you get things right, you are looking at an 18-month long training period before the solution provides expected results. Here is what you should do:
- Identify and prioritize areas the AI can optimize. Create a list of business problems such as inefficient production, increased customer demand, supply chain issues.
- Surround yourself with team members that understand the power of AI and have the right skills to help deploy it as soon as possible. You'll need team members from all over the organization and those that understand the potential AI offers.
- Create a list of all assets and available technologies. Select the areas and domains where AI can pick up and build on past work, as that will give you better results than when starting from scratch.
There are many business domains where AI can make significant improvements, but it's always best to start the digitalization on one or two processes. Prioritize the areas that provide the most value and where you have the highest leadership report, and work your way up from there.
Assemble Skilled Teams
Once you start the digital transformation, you should be aware of the fact that it affects all of your internal departments. It's not a process that rests only on data scientists. You'll need a team of people from every department, including business, analytics, and IT.
The key here is to set up a self-sufficient team that has the skills and the resources to follow the transformation to its end. If you leave key team members in separate silos, you will experience delays, and the miscommunication could lead to bigger problems down the road. It's essential that you empower your team to design, build, and test new ideas that will help improve the organization.
Reimagine The Operation
Most successful companies reimagine their operations by creating goals and overcoming challenges. Your new execution team won't have all of the answers you need. That's why you should instruct them to reach out to end-users and find out more about their problems and challenges when interacting with your company.
Once you have that, create a list of ideas and a roadmap of the AI adoption journey. Finally, allow your team to develop prototypes and see how new features will help streamline the operation after deployment.
Welcome The Changes
Keep in mind that digitalization is not a simple process. Your team members and employees will run into dead ends all the time, so it's up to you to keep everyone organized and motivated. However, managing the operation in this new environment also requires changes in communication, decision-making, and overall mindset.
You should also try to focus on existing technologies that can accelerate AI development. Cloud platforms, APIs, and DevOps, can all help you get the most out of your AI adoption. Also, organize your data pipelines and other existing resources to help the AI identify problems and find solutions. Lastly, align employee incentives with the new processes and use reporting tools to increase transparency across the entire operation.
Expand AI to Other Departments
Once the AI solution is deployed and starts showing results in the first few business domains, use the same methodologies and mindset to accelerate innovations and find ways to apply the AI to other domains. Always start from the processes where the AI for business has access to historical data to speed up the adoption process.
After some time, your team members and AI solution will be able to provide answers more quickly, allowing you to grow your company and cope with the challenges you will surely face down the road.
