Do you have an Artificial Intelligence Strategy?

A data strategy is not enough. You need an AI strategy to compete in this era of automation.

Most leading business strategists and AI-enabled businesses cite the importance of a full-fledged strategy to build Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities in an organization.

New advancements in the field of AI are auguring exciting developments in the business world. OpenAI’s GPT 3 model that can write human-like messages and poetries. Google’s DeepMind’s AlphaGo challenging human abilities.

No wonder, AI capabilities will soon become a source of differentiators for business. Are you ready to gain from the marvels of Artificial intelligence?

Here’s what business strategy professionals need to work out an AI strategy for their organizations.

9 Spokes of AI Strategy for Business

1. Business Strategy

A plan for AI integration created in silos rarely produces any results. To get optimal results from bringing Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to your organization, you must tie your AI plans to overall business strategy. For business strategy professionals, it is best to ensure semblance between business goals and AI plans.

Ask yourself:

• What is our business strategy?
• Where does AI fit into our business strategy?
• Do we need to tweak our business strategy to update it and make
  it accommodative toward new age AI capabilities?
• Have our priorities for business changed?

2. Business AI Strategy

Now that you have created the window of AI plans in your overall business strategy, you need to figure out the areas that need an AI haul.

Identify which aspects of your business can benefit from AI. Ask:

• What are the top business priorities?
• Which of those priorities can benefit most from AI
  implementation?
• What problems will AI solve for these priority goals?

You may include AI in your manufacturing or services making it easy with smart products; other business processes such as HR, sales, etc.; or repetitive tasks consuming a significant portion of your resources.

3. Short-term AI Strategy

Short-term priorities are important for business strategists to accomplish results, on time. It is important to put time limits on your goals and connect them with measurable outcomes. Figure out short-term AI goals for your selected business areas. Ask yourself:

• How can we disintegrate the larger AI goals into small
  steps or projects that can lay the groundwork for bigger priorities?

4. Data Strategy

Now that you have AI plans in place, the next big step is to figure where will you source the data to train your AI models/products/services. Review your data strategy. All AI models require a lot of data to work smoothly. Business professionals can use the following questions to review data strategy:

• Do we have the right type of data?
• Do we have enough data for our AI plans?
• Do we need new sources of data or new data collection methods?
• What are the strategic techniques to get more right data?

5. Ethics Strategy

Ethical issues are pertinent to business strategy professionals to understand. Different geographies and people have different ethical and legal rules. It is crucial you ensure that you are in line with those rules. Ethical implications of AI are an important part of debates in the business world today.

Ethics strategy in data and AI include an inquiry with the following questions:

• Are we invading people’s privacy? If so, what are the best ways
  to avoid it?
• What are the legal implications of bringing planned AI
  innovations?
• What are the ways to overcome ethical and legal hurdles such
  as consent from users, etc.?
• What are the best ways to make sure AI is free of bias?

6. Technology Strategy

Do you have the technical infrastructure to bring AI plans to reality? It is important to have a technology strategy in place before you begin. Ask yourself:

• What technologies are required to achieve AI plans?
• Which of the required technologies do we have in place?
• How to bring about the technologies we don’t yet have?

7. Talent Strategy

The right set of skills and capabilities are pertinent to a successful AI plans. Ask yourself:

• Do we have business strategists who understand AI?
• Do we have ML and DL experts?
• What new talents do we require and how can we train existing
  staff?
• How can we raise awareness for AI talent requirements?

8. Implementation Strategy

Implementation plans are important to turn your AI strategy into reality. Business strategy professionals must ask:

• How will our teams deliver AI projects?
• What are the important next steps?
• Who is responsible for each step?

9. Change Management Strategy

As you shift to AI in your organization, it is important to prepare your existing workforce and processes for the injection of a new approach to the same old work. It necessitates asking:

• How will existing teams change with AI?
• How business strategists can communicate with those people and
  effectuate a change?
• How can the process of change be managed most effectively?

After reflecting on these nine areas, a robust AI strategy can be worked out specific to your business needs and organizational environment. Once you are sure, you can set your plans in stone by penning them down in your business policies.