AI has become a familiar part of the workplace and many people are using it to help them at work with activities such as writing emails, finding out basic information and dealing with customers.
Some slightly more advanced users give it tasks such as researching, comparing information, filling in forms, email management, document review, and data processing. And they rely on AI agents and digital assistants to carry out multiple connected tasks.
But they are all missing out on the transformative power of AI. Help with these tasks is very welcome of course but AI’s real value creation comes in redesigning workflows rather than automating individual tasks within the workflow.
This requires a strategic rethink of internal processes and structures so that new ways of performing tasks can be developed. For many companies the goal is taking people off routine jobs that AI can do so that they can focus on customers and business expansion.
In addition AI’s prodigious number-crunching capabilities mean it can support decision making and analytical activities.
While this transition may seem daunting, the rise of no code and low code programs means anyone can sit at a keyboard and develop AI tools that cut costs and free up staff time.
To know where they want to get to, companies should look at where they are now in their AI use, which will be at one of three levels.
Many companies have hardly left the starting gate with using artificial intelligence and could be described as at level one. Typically they use AI to:
- Write emails
- Write content
- Answer questions
At level two, the intermediate stage, they use AI to:
- Automate tasks
- Improve workflows
- Support staff
And at level three, companies that really get AI use it to:
- Build software
- Redesign processes
- Create AI-powered businesses
The biggest opportunities are increasingly appearing at levels two and three so companies at level one are missing out on AI’s potential to redesign how their businesses operate.
Many companies do not get far beyond using generative AI for marketing messages and emails and creating other text-based materials, and are missing out on AI’s capacity to support other business functions.
Examples of how AI boosts performance include a sales department adopting AI to streamline lead processing; gathering up all the information about a potential new customer and routing it to the sales person most appropriate to follow up the contact.
Or an IT service desk can use AI to classify and prioritise support requests, keeping the user informed about resolution progress while sorting out straightforward problems without IT staff needing to be involved.
And AI-powered stock control keeps precise track of inventory, can identify alternative suppliers and anticipate potential disruptions to stock levels.
Many business owners are finding it hard to get a fix on AI because it is relatively new and is evolving rapidly.
One way to get on top of it is to look at pain points in the business and think about how AI can ease them. This works better than buying in AI software and then trying to figure out what to do with it.
And low code and no code programs mean anyone can set up an AI workflow so there is no need to wait for an off-the-shelf AI product to appear that answers their needs.
Knowing where to start with AI is a challenge for many businesses. One way to make it more approachable is to ask the right questions.
Identify the business activities AI can help with
Consider which processes would benefit from automation or could be made more efficient with AI. A good place to start looking is those activities that staff say take up too much time.
Finding AI tools that will be easy to adopt
Are your staff going to be able to master the new technology and will the new tools integrate into your existing technology?
Will I get the results I want?
Try to test software before making a financial commitment. Some AI outputs may not be relevant, useful or of high enough quality. Here, having clear objectives and knowing what ‘better’ looks like is vital.
What will the return on investment be?
How much time and money will AI save the business and how could these resources be used to support expansion?
As was discussed earlier AI’s uses have spread far beyond the generative AI most of us are now using for things like answering simple queries. AI tools are transforming companies’ processes relating to sales, marketing, customer service, administration, reporting, finance and operations. These – and others – are the areas that future articles in the Practical AI for Business Owners will explore.
Each article aims to avoid technical or inaccessible language and is aimed at the business owner who is curious to know more about how AI can help his or her company function more efficiently, more cheaply and with fewer resources. AI is seen as the fourth industrial revolution, and companies can no more ignore it than in the past they could the invention of steam power or mass production or the internet. Businesses will have to change in response to it and those that embrace AI are likely to be the ones that survive and prosper.
