No doubt about it, AI is here to stay. AI digital adoption increased by over 60% in 2018. This trend is expected to continue as this technology becomes an even more critical tool in the business world. As a forward-looking company, there is simply no hiding from the reality that you will need to embrace the advancements in AI and educate the stakeholders involved. From an internal perspective, getting everyone up to speed on AI needs to be a crucial part of your employee training program.
Companies that fail to embrace AI and use it to guide their strategies in the modern digital age will soon fall behind. To put it bluntly, refusing (or not being able) to keep up with the rapidly advancing business world will surely lead to the downfall of your company. So, how can you help to prepare your business to embrace AI and make this transition into digital adoption as smooth and strategic as possible?
Start with the Important Stuff
Executive leaders agree that one of the top benefits of AI is to optimize internal business operations and support data-driven decision making, according to research conducted by Deloitte (and reported by Harvard Business Review).
AI can help to provide insights that link datasets to actionable decisions, so it should be used by the departments that rely on analytics most heavily. For example, marketing teams can use it for strategic content placement and audience targeting; sales teams can benefit from smart customer analysis, and executives can use AI for better business planning and identifying opportunities.
By first implementing AI in the most important areas of your business, your team will start to see what a big difference it makes. This will make achieving digital adoption of AI much easier throughout the entire organization, as employees become more comfortable using it in other areas.
Be Sure Your Onboarding is Up to Par
The only way that digital adoption can truly occur is with a strategic training approach that ensures everyone is using the systems to their fullest potential. Since this technology is constantly changing and improving, employees must keep their training and knowledge up-to-date so that they are making the most of their platforms that include AI.
It is also important that each training course and approach is personalized so that employees are not overwhelmed with information that is actually irrelevant to them.
Start Integrating Gradually
Once your organization has incorporated AI into the most obvious channels (as discussed before), it will be time to start integrating it throughout the company. But rather than turning every single department on its head and forcing new practices on everyone, it is much easier to do things little by little.
You don’t need to have an entire overhaul of the way everything in your company is done to start down the path of digital adoption. Make small steps by using it incrementally in the ways that will provide the highest value, and then take bigger steps to integrate it more extensively.
Make it a Daily Task
Don’t just save AI for the big things; if true digital adoption is going to happen in your company, it needs to be something that everyone uses. Find ways to incorporate AI into the day-to-day so that your entire organization becomes more comfortable and familiar with how it can be used.
Again, look at the areas that could benefit the most from AI on a day to day basis. Perhaps an AI personal assistant would help department heads stay more organized with tasks like scheduling and sending email follow-ups. Or, maybe an AI conversational tool could eliminate some of the workloads for the customer service and sales team. Find little ways to make AI a bigger part of your business’s daily practices, then integrate more technology as your team learns how to use it for their benefit.
Empower Leadership
It is important to have clear leaders when businesses are undergoing this type of change, especially if there are some who are resistant to AI digital adoption. Chief Information Officers should take the reins here to explain how useful this type of technology can be to a business, not only as a whole, but to each individual.
Since CIOs are specifically in charge of managing the business’s information and data, they will be able to provide the most actionable applications through AI assistance. They should also help employees understand that this technology will make their lives easier as well. After all, AI can automate time-consuming tasks to help employees be more productive. It can also ensure that their efforts are optimized for the highest returns, and increase the profitability of the company.
Managers, CEOs, and heads of departments should also be encouraged to stay alert on the nuances of this technology. Since this type of technology is constantly evolving and progressing, there is always some new way that AI can be used. In order for true AI digital adoption to occur, employees will need guidance and support, so leaders will need to take the ball and run with it.
Over to You
Artificial Intelligence is taking on a bigger and bigger role in the business world, as well as in our everyday lives. Nearly every industry can benefit from this technology, and it is certainly on track to becoming one of the most influential technological advances in the modern age.
Year after year, AI has become more influential over the way that businesses are run and more teams are making it a top priority to integrate it into their organizations. If your business is ready to dive into AI digital adoption, it is necessary that things are done correctly and strategically. Be sure that the systems are in place to support employees as they use this new technology and integrate it in ways that will make significant impacts.
