The business world can’t wait to jump into AI and start leveraging the technology for its many well-hyped benefits. According to the International Monetary Fund, it will change nearly 40% of jobs worldwide, and Statista reports that the market for AI technologies, which was around $200 billion in 2023, is expected to grow beyond $1.8 trillion by 2030.
In light of this, it’s becoming increasingly critical for businesses to adopt an AI-first strategy — a paradigm shift that goes beyond the mobile-first and cloud-first approaches of the past. However, an AI-first strategy isn’t just about relying solely on AI. It’s about ensuring that human intelligence and artificial intelligence can co-exist to deliver the best products, services, and user experiences. The most effective AI adoption involves applying human critical thinking to AI models, augmenting rather than replacing human capabilities.
While it’s tempting for business leaders to roll up their sleeves and start working with AI, there are some prerequisites needed to ensure the technology is leveraged correctly so organizations can reap greater benefits and enjoy a smoother AI journey.
At the heart of any AI system, particularly large language models (LLMs), lies data — a business’ most precious asset. This data encompasses information about customers, suppliers, products, purchase orders, sales orders, event logs, audit trails, and even data from IoT devices. Businesses can also leverage non-proprietary data purchased from external vendors to help fuel their AI systems, but that data needs to be vetted to ensure accuracy since it didn’t originate in-house.
To harness the power of data effectively, businesses must establish robust data governance policies, ensuring well-defined data classification and stewardship strategies. Aggregating data across the organization and making it accessible from a single source of truth (SSOT) is equally vital. When AI models are built upon such well-curated data, they can truly augment human intelligence across people, processes, and technology.
Empowering people
As the primary entities applying human intelligence, people stand to gain the most from AI augmentation. While we’re already witnessing LLMs providing answers to human queries, the near future will likely see AI models evolve to actively ask questions and engage in more proactive interactions.
In the business context, AI systems can significantly enhance employee productivity. Meaningful insights generated by AI will help employees learn faster and make smarter, quicker decisions. By ensuring the co-existence of AI and human intelligence, businesses can empower their employees to focus on more strategic and higher-value tasks. Similarly, end-users and consumers will become smarter and more productive as they increasingly interact with AI systems.
Optimizing processes
AI’s impact extends to business processes across various functions. As LLMs mature in terms of data volume and quality, businesses can iteratively streamline and optimize their processes, leading to improved productivity. With continuously optimized AI systems in place, process improvements and re-engineering can occur more rapidly and frequently. This creates a scenario where both AI and processes (driven by human intelligence) augment each other, benefiting the business, its employees, and its customers.
For example, AI-powered chatbots are already revolutionizing customer service processes in many companies. By handling routine inquiries and providing instant support, these chatbots free up human agents to focus on more complex and nuanced customer issues, ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience.
Transforming technology
While advancements in computing power and storage have played a significant role in AI’s evolution, businesses must also consider their existing technology assets, such as software applications, infrastructure, and IoT devices. As AI systems mature, it becomes increasingly important for businesses to continuously evaluate and streamline their tech stacks.
The co-existence and integration of AI systems with the broader enterprise tech stack are crucial for continued success. People who manage and support these technology assets can now rely on insights from AI systems to make informed decisions, rapidly evaluating and optimizing their tech stack. In this way, AI augments human intelligence in technology management.
The rise of AI is not without its challenges and risks. Concerns about job displacement, bias, and privacy must be addressed as businesses navigate this new landscape. However, the potential benefits are immense. By augmenting human intelligence across people, processes, and technology, AI is unlocking new opportunities, driving business value, and enhancing customer experiences.
Experts have even coined the term “hybrid intelligence” to describe the powerful co-existence of human and artificial intelligence. Embracing this evolution and harnessing the power of AI to augment human capabilities will be the key to thriving in Digital Business. The future belongs to businesses that can successfully navigate this frontier, leveraging AI to empower their people, optimize their processes, and transform their technology.
