Business Leaders Are Critical to the Success of AI It has become easier for businesses to adopt artificial-intelligence tools, but it only matters if they're implemented properly.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
As commerce has become paramount to the progress of modern civilization, it is safe to infer that the overall success of artificial intelligence (AI) will largely depend on how well it's received by the business world. Advances are making it easier for businesses to adopt the technology, which has demonstrated great utility in the decision-making processes, and its automation attribute is making operations faster and more efficient. Developments such as continual increase in computing power have helped make AI more feasible.
That being said, this does not necessarily translate to an equally fast pace of adoption, as many would assume.
Matching ambition with action
In 2017, BCG and MIT released the results of a survey they had conducted with 3,000 executives in which almost 85% of the respondents believed in the ability of AI to give their companies a competitive advantage. In fact, more than 60% of the total went a step further to say that AI was urgent for their organizations. Conversely, only half of the 60% admitted to having an implementation strategy in place.
Another informative study conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in late 2018 revealed that fewer than 10% of companies in the US were using AI, most of which were large organizations.
These two studies show the disparity between intention and action when it comes to AI implementation in business. Granted, that was years ago, before the pandemic, which may have given many executives an awakening. However, if you are convinced of the possibilities of business in the new world, there are specific ways in which you can ensure your organization realizes these opportunities big or small.
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Allocating resources
For many of the companies that understand the importance of AI in business, one of the greatest hurdles is resource allocation. Specifically, businesses need to find qualified personnel to set up and run AI systems. They also need to invest in the necessary infrastructure and further ensure proper data collection, analysis and storage.
AI specialists are difficult to find. Studies revealed that there is not nearly enough talent in the world to address the current needs for AI adoption in industry. However, as interest grows, it is expected that the gap will gradually diminish. AI infrastructure includes all of the systems that have to be in place to support the machine-learning workflow, which allows data scientists, engineers and developers to access and manage computing resources for testing, training and deploying AI algorithms.
There are two ways to set up AI infrastructure: on your own internal hardware or as part of an AI platform. Data, infrastructure and specialists are the prerequisites for successful implementation of AI in business. They pose new demands on the company's time and money, which means that AI will only be deployed if it is seen as a priority. Therefore, it is the leader's call — after finding out important ways your business can benefit from AI — to allocate adequate resources to its implementation.
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Fostering confidence
When introducing the topic about adopting AI at the workplace, you will probably grapple with two challenges that will reflect a lack of confidence in the technology. On one hand, your staff will be cynical that AI is coming to replace them — a legitimate concern. On the other hand, they will be skeptical about the reported abilities of the technology.
For the cynics, engaging them early on of the decision is a great first step to addressing their worries. Setup a meeting with them on their experiences at work and discuss different ways to improve their jobs. The next step is to indulge them in a vision of their futures. Show them that rather than force humans out of the workplace, AI will de facto create more jobs. Finally, beyond all the talk, show your commitment to their welfare by investing in employee training.
With the skeptics, you cannot help but agree. There is evidence of AI performing rather poorly — bias, lacking common sense, falling short with math, being forgetful, etc. — which calls into question its overall reliability as a tool of industry. However, in many other areas such as in manufacturing and automation, the technology has performed exceptionally well, especially when it comes to repetitive and dangerous tasks. Depending on your business, you will be able to justify the integration of AI into specific aspects of work.
To successfully adopt AI, your employees must be fully confident about working with the technology. They should not be wary that AI will replace them, nor should they feel afraid or doubtful of its ability.
Protecting customers
To learn and take action, your AI system will probably require that it be fed with large amounts of data on an ongoing basis. For instance, if you intend to use AI for sales and marketing, you have to connect it to data sources so it can analyze it and show you what you might otherwise miss. This means there will be much data collection and storage. The challenge in this is that it could lead to data security issues. The data-management system is usually vulnerable at the point of collection, and storage is still a major issue for many businesses.
To implement AI, you will want to create an impenetrable data-management environment that will offer security to existing data while still allowing a connection with the relevant sources and destinations. Notably, AI thrives on data. As most of the data will necessarily come from your customers, it is imperative to have protected data collection and storage systems. Besides the obvious legal reasons, guaranteeing data security is a minimum requirement for the modern consumer.
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As a business leader, you are part of a relatively small group of people who will determine how AI is used and how much it will impact human society.
That said, understand that implementation will take collective efforts. It will involve:
Your role in ensuring availability and optimal use of resources.
Your company's capacity to understand and use the technology.
Your customer's confidence in the ability of the organization to protect them.
Therefore, make it a priority to dispel all doubts regarding the efficacy of AI through active learning and maintain leadership in championing its deployment.
