"Over 40 per cent of businesses believe that the model they're using today will cease to exist in five years," says Clare Barclay, chief operating officer of Microsoft UK. "All sorts of technology, AI included, is changing the shape of the business landscape."
Data from Microsoft's Maximising the AI Opportunity report shows that early adopters of enterprise AI have already seen a five per cent improvement in productivity, performance and business outcomes compared to those that have yet to explore this exciting new field.
The AI tools they're working with include chatbots for first-line customer support and sales, forecasting and data simulation algorithms, and automation functions such as process simulation for science and manufacturing, allowing production lines to be made more efficient.
The report combines survey data from 4,000 employees and 1,000 business leaders at enterprises with expert guidance, all to help shed light on the rise of artificial intelligence and help businesses approach AI in an informed, ethical and cost-effective manner.
The state of the tech
Upskilling your human workforce to be technically literate will play an important role in training and working with AI
How can technology play a role in helping businesses solve problems? Machines can analyse data but human skills remain critical for interpreting artifical intelligence
More than half of UK businesses don't have an AI strategy in place. But the data increasingly tells us that they should. Although many companies are concerned about the future of their business models, only half of them are looking at anything to do with AI.
Part of that reticence comes from a lack of understanding of what AI entails, Barclay suggests: "Technological disruption isn't new, but what's different with AI is the pace of change. Every year there are more advancements, and businesses are struggling to keep up with that."
But the tech that so many leaders are cautious of could save their business model and help them survive in the long term. Better yet, organisations that have adopted ethical, rather than purely functional, approaches to artificial intelligence outperform their rivals by an average of nine per cent.
What does AI do for business?
Data and digital development are transforming the agrifood sector, helping farmers find new ways to raise productivity
AI technologies can support staff in many different sectors, from medical research and clerical document filing, to driving optimisation for logistics firms.
Detailed in the Maximising the AI Opportunity report, Newcastle City Council has begun introducing AI systems to assist residents. Digital transformation programme manager, Jenny Nelson says: "Our WasteBot has turned the process of applying to take household waste to the tip, which could take up to two weeks, into a 90-second task."
Meanwhile, in the food and agriculture sector, Agrimetrics is using AI tools to analyse vast data sets to identify vulnerabilities in the world's interconnected food supply networks, and protect against supply collapses in the face of natural disasters and shifting weather patterns.
That can range from broad analysis of complex systems, to putting very specific data into the hands of farmers.
"One thing we're working on at the moment is a very simple application – with a fairly sophisticated model behind it – which can give advice to farmers on whether it's safe or not to plough an agrochemical into a field," says chief scientific officer and co-founder Richard Tiffin.
"It requires information about the soil, the weather conditions over the recent past, the weather conditions coming up, the type of crop that's in the field, the chemical that's going to go onto the field. And all of that has to be processed in quite sophisticated ways to understand whether it's safe or not. But then the insight to the farmer is very simple: green – you can spray – or red, you can't spray."
What does the right approach look like?
With the right application, machine learning can help streamline repetitive tasks, and make manufacturing more cost effective
More than half – 51 per cent – of UK organisations surveyed for the report said they had no AI strategy in place. If that describes your firm, now is the ideal time to start preparing one.
It's important to get cracking so that you're not left behind by the pace of technological development in your sector. But it's also vital to assess where AI could benefit your business and create a concrete plan of how it should be implemented.
Barclay says that the most important thing about AI for business isn't the technology: it's the business problem that you're trying to solve.
"If you start thinking of the really big things, you do nothing," she explains. But by focusing on small improvements, many of Microsoft's AI customers have been hacking their approach to business by first asking "what's the problem you're trying to fix?" and then working with Microsoft and other partners to see how technology could play a role in doing that.
Depending on the organisation, that could be a chatbot or automated telephone system to improve customer communication, robotic process automation to make payroll and invoicing more efficient, or machine learning to help employees with repetitive tasks.
Once you know what you need, it's time to work out how you're going to achieve it. 67 per cent of leaders and 59 per cent of employees say they're open to experimenting with AI, but almost everyone involved is likely to need some training and development to equip them for your organisation's AI future.
Find the employees who are excited to work with AI and nurture that interest, giving them tools, knowledge, and opportunities to experiment with artificial intelligence and have a meaningful influence over the way AI is used to assist in their work.
This approach removes a lot of fear that staff can have around automation, Barclay says. "It gives them a good idea of the things they have to go and do. And by involving employees, you're culturally engaging with them around the things that are going to change, and you're equipping them with new skills."
Getting started
Microsoft UK COO Clare Barclay says there are three simple steps that business leaders can take to guide their organisations along the right path towards the AI future:
- "Be curious. Sitting there and being afraid of what might change but doing nothing is not a path I would recommend. AI can be a big enabler for business, but it's going to take leadership to start by being curious to understand more about it."
- "Pick some small areas where you think you could gain incremental improvements in your business and don't be afraid to try things."
- "Really think about your culture, people and skills. If you don't involve your people and organisation, then you're going to create fear, uncertainty and doubt. This is an opportunity to involve your whole organisation and to think about how your business is going to change for the future."
Microsoft's Maximising the AI Opportunity report is available to download for free here.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
