07 April 2021
Artificial Intelligence: Staying Ahead Of Disruption With AI
Companies are turning to artificial intelligence for everyday business use to sift through consumer and market data to find insights that enable better decision making.
As AI services have grown in scope, scale and affordability, small and medium-sized businesses are applying them to everyday tasks to make operations less expensive and resource intensive. AI can also reveal opportunities for growth that are hidden in data.
Artificial intelligence: a quick primer
Pre-AI computer programs excel at crunching numbers and organising information. AI programs add a layer of insight to those numbers. For example, an online retailer can use information about customers' past purchases to suggest other products they might enjoy. Alternately, an AI-enabled speech recognition call processing system can recognise customers by their voice, call up their recent transactions and anticipate questions they might have.
Machine learning is another term associated with AI. This is a specific form of artificial intelligence that gets smarter over time. For instance, the more data an online analytics tool equipped with machine learning consumes, the better it becomes at predicting customer needs. Similarly, a cybersecurity solution with machine learning can learn what constitutes a normal online exchange and detect when users behave suspiciously.
Robotic process automation (RPA) is another aspect of AI that can assist small businesses. RPA bots mimic human actions such as following up invoices or filling in standard forms . By automating theses mundane and repetitive processes, teams can focus on more meaningful work.
"RPA frees up time by eliminating repetitive administrative processes, often carried out by high-value employees, giving small businesses more opportunities to focus on the exciting parts of their business," says Andrew Phillips, managing director and vice president, Australia and New Zealand at RPA firm UiPath.
How AI can help improve your business
Artificial intelligence can make your business more aware, agile and anticipatory. It can help you stay attuned to market signals and improve how you respond. It can assist you to appropriately size your business operations and provide insights so you can respond to changing industry demands. Its predictive capabilities can rapidly identify and help you to capitalise on emerging opportunities.
AI is probably already embedded in many of the tools you use each day, such as social media platforms on which you market your business and in your accounting software.
Here are some other common AI uses:
Robotic Marketer is a useful example of an AI-powered tool available to small businesses. This marketing strategy software is based on AI, machine learning and big data. It turns information about a company, its business goals and marketing objectives into an actionable marketing strategy. With the power of AI, businesses are able to update their marketing strategies in real-time to keep up with continuous changes in the market. Whether it is an economic crisis or a pandemic, the 'robot' is able to deep dive into big data on the current climate, competitor landscape, and best practices to provide a business with an in-depth 12-month marketing strategy in a matter of minutes.
Elker is another cutting-edge tool powered by AI that offers small businesses as advantage. Elker uses an artificial-intelligence engine to receive and route reported incidents – both positive and negative – safely and anonymously, using a traffic light system. It is a flexible, real-time mechanism, including a choice of a mobile app or web platform, that allows organisations to identify trends and resolve disputes before they escalate. It keeps the reporter and the person to whom it is reported safe. It supports workplace culture, reduces unnecessary staff turnover and provides access to strategic data for business decisions.
Specialist food wholesale business Soft Stuff is one business that has embraced the power of AI. Faced with challenging market conditions when COVID-19 hit, it used AI-powered business intelligence platform Sisense to analyse its data to identify issues and roadblocks and devise a new B2C model. Now Soft Stuff sells directly to retail customers and has expanded its product range to include meat, poultry, fish and dairy. Sisense's analytics platform will continue to play a role in the business's future decision making.
Factors to consider when choosing AI tools
There are lots of AI tools you can embed in your operations in minutes. Many run on virtually any IT setup. When you're choosing AI tools for your business don't forget to take into account:
AI and machine learning are now easier to implement than they have ever been. They can provide a convenient and cost-effective way to maintain service levels and increase productivity, helping to safeguard your business against disruption.
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