Written by Brandon Yu I 7 min read
AI is here to stay, and it’s up to your business to stay on top of this revolutionary technology.
We often use the phrase “it’s only just the tip of the iceberg” when describing new and emerging trends. ChatGPT, the sole propellant of this new AI revolution, is truly only the tip of the iceberg.
At Onova, we’ve been getting urgent interest from the industry leaders and Fortune 100s, requesting advisory services as to how businesses can upskill for the AI revolution - creating tangible use cases and product prototypes that they can go to market with, how to teach and advise their employees to incorporate AI, or even how we at Onova have been able to successfully build a robust AI application in just three days.
Our recent partnership with generative AI industry leader, Copy.ai, only solidified our bullish stance on AI and reinforces our joint capabilities as an AI leader. We firmly believe that this will create incredible opportunities for us all - but only if you are able to leverage AI correctly.
In this article, we’ll teach you how to do exactly that. From advising our Fortune 500 clients like McDonalds and Bank of Montreal - we’ll take our advice that we deliver to global CIOs and their office to you.
Here are 5 ways that your business should approach AI.
Learn how to Understand AI and it’s Potential
Adapting to AI is crucial for today's businesses. At Onova, we believe in the importance of fully understanding AI before diving into its application. AI isn't just about automating tasks. It offers a chance to interpret complex data, stimulate new ideas, and modify how businesses function in a digital world.
It is crucial for businesses to learn not just how AI works, but also understand AI and it’s true potential. There are hundreds of top AI companies generating brand new use cases every day. AI isn’t just in your chatbot, but it’s also your interior designer, poker coach, and your professional photographer.
Understanding how AI works in each of these instances is crucial to developing an optimism for the potential of AI, but also being able to speak clearly and confidently how your business can deliver AI-powered products and services to your clients and customers.
Your employees should be mandated to experiment with AI based tools. Whether it’s just a simple task like using ChatGPT to write emails or schedule your day, or trying to build an app through AI-based plugins to automate your daily standups - this is essential to build AI fluency across the board.
Build an AI ready infrastructure
Adopting AI isn't a simple plug-and-play affair. It requires careful preparation, beginning with the establishment of a suitable technological and infrastructural foundation. For AI to truly flourish and add value to your operations, you need to ensure your infrastructure is AI-ready.
This means having the necessary hardware and software capabilities in place, capable of supporting the advanced computational demands of AI algorithms. More importantly, it means having AI-literate expertise on your team to be able to directly engage with the AI plugins, bots, and automations that are being developed.
This also means staying on top of AI trends. We shared a few resources that specifically outlined how you can stay in the loop and ahead of the curve. New AI products are being released on a daily basis, and the winners will be the ones who are first-to-market in implementing them.
In a previous blog, we made three bold predictions of net-new jobs that AI will create: the Chief Automations Officer, Prompt Engineers, and AI Forensic Analysts.
These roles and internal capabilities will be crucial to your business success with AI. Hire selectively and invest in AI talent specifically.
Strategic, AI-based partnerships will also be key. Our partnership with Copy.ai allows us to be cutting edge industry leaders in Generative AI hackathons and venture creation. By partnering with agile startups who have AI domain expertise, your team benefits from learning these leading AI methodologies and use cases, upskills in AI understanding and fluency, and may potentially be able to go to market with them.
Selecting the appropriate AI tools and platforms that align with your business objectives is essential. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all solution in AI; the right choice varies based on your unique needs and goals. This step will guide you on how to make informed decisions in selecting AI platforms, people, and partnerships - paving the way for successful AI integration for your business.
Pilot AI-based Projects - Learn By Building
The AI landscape is evolving rapidly, presenting a wealth of opportunities to revolutionize your business. But the transition should be measured and strategic - an opportunity for piloting AI-based projects.
Pilot projects allow you to test, learn, and experiment with AI without putting excessive pressure on your existing operations. These small-scale implementations will help your teams understand the capabilities and limitations of AI, provide valuable data for refining your AI strategy, and enable you to iron out any kinks before full-scale rollout.
Onova has been a key catalyst for several Fortune 500s like BMO, McDonald’s, and HSBC in this space. By open sourcing innovation through corporate hackathons, we see 100s of use cases being developed, and an opportunity for innovative, creative pilot projects to be launched. We recently developed a virtual AI chatbot in 24 hours while organizing a generative AI hackathon with our client Capgemini and Google.
It's like dipping your toes in the water before diving in; you get a sense of the temperature, the current, and any potential hazards. This approach mitigates risk and sets the stage for more successful, informed, and robust AI adoption across your organization.
Companies which lead the charge through AI based projects will dramatically see an increase in their exposure to clients seeking AI solutions and expertise, attract energetic talent who is eager to jump on the booming AI wave, and establish themselves as a market leader in emerging trends
Prioritize Performance-Based Data Analytics
Running these pilot projects need a critical counterpart: a robust data analytics methodology.
Just like all other solutions, AI systems are not simply 'set-and-forget' solutions; they require consistent maintenance and active tracking to ensure they're performing optimally and delivering the desired outcomes. More particularly, AI models need to be recalibrated and retrained periodically to stay accurate and relevant, particularly as the business environment and data landscapes evolve.
The establishment of an AI performance tracking system will be essential. Keeping a close eye on metrics such as prediction accuracy, processing time, and the rate of false positives or negatives will provide vital insights into how well your AI systems are functioning.
More relevant to business needs, tracking the relevant AI trends and where the market is heading is absolutely critical in making sure your business stays ahead of the curve. The data gathered will help you adopt to these trends and demonstrate comprehensive capabilities in responding to them, building on top of them, and delivering profitable solutions to your clients.
By understanding the performance of your AI systems, you're better placed to refine your models and ensure they continually align with and support your business objectives. Your AI is a dynamic tool, and maintaining its 'health' is key to harnessing its full potential.
Maintain Regulatory and Ethical Sensitivity
Amongst all AI initiatives that your business pursues, the most critical feature is regulatory and ethical compliance.
This is both an incredibly exciting but uncertain time in the world of AI. On a daily basis, we discover unprecedented competencies of this technology that brings forth the potential of new business opportunities.
With this potential, also comes risk.
The speed at which AI is evolving, makes it likely that regulatory landscapes are to change rapidly. Beyond meeting legal requirements, companies must also commit to a high standard of ethics in their AI deployment.
This includes ensuring data privacy, mitigating algorithmic bias, and providing transparency in AI decision-making. Ethical AI use is not just about avoiding negative repercussions - it's about building trust with your customers, employees, and other stakeholders.
Moreover, you should incorporate principles of 'Explainable AI' in your projects. It's important that your AI systems can provide clear explanations for their decisions and actions. This not only fosters trust but also makes it easier to diagnose and correct any issues that may arise.
While there is an increasing speed with the advocacy of AI adoption, close attention must be paid to regulations and ethical concerns from a variety of populations and demographics.
The perfect equilibrium comes from when the pace of innovation meets complete compliance, which is now more key than ever in the age of AI.
Leveraging AI should be a priority for your business
Harnessing the power of AI is not a singular act but a journey, requiring education, infrastructure development, experimentation, constant maintenance, and above all, ethical and regulatory vigilance. We've traversed five key areas you should consider:
- Understanding AI and its potential: AI is not just a buzzword; it's a transformative force that's reshaping industries. Hence, it's crucial for your organization to gain a comprehensive understanding of AI and its vast potential.
- Building an AI-ready infrastructure: To be prepared for the AI revolution, you need a robust and flexible infrastructure that can accommodate and optimize AI technologies.
- Piloting AI-based projects: The path to AI adoption should be gradual and experimental. Pilot projects are an excellent way to learn, adapt, and refine your approach.
- Conducting Maintenance and Performance-based Data Analytics: It's crucial to track your AI systems' performance and maintain them proactively to ensure they deliver optimal results consistently.
- Incorporating Regulatory and Ethical Sensitivity: As you incorporate AI, remember that this powerful technology must be wielded responsibly, adhering to all regulatory guidelines and upholding the highest ethical standards.
We are indeed at the dawn of an AI age, and these guiding principles will be instrumental for businesses eager to stay ahead of the curve. The AI transformation is a game-changer for our global economy, and the businesses that navigate this change effectively will undoubtedly reap significant benefits in the years to come. By embracing AI with a comprehensive and strategic approach, your organization can position itself at the forefront of this exciting frontier.
