6 Tips for Easier AI Adoption
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the hottest buzzword in business today, but it can still be a challenging technology to adopt. From the processes you put into place to your choice of technology providers, there are many factors that contribute to AI adoption.
The goal is to find an adoptive strategy that allows your organization to maximize the efficiencies created by AI tools. This reduces the strain on your human assets and increases the ability of your business to rapidly scale without having to expend significant financial resources.
Some essential tips to ease the process of AI adoption include:
1 – Find an AI Tool Specific to Your Industry
When looking for a tool to help you with AI adoption, be sure to find one that is specific to your industry. The AI tools available are designed for different industries, so taking the time to research which ones would work best for your firm will make the process much easier.
Working with a vendor that takes the time to better understand your unique pain points and organizational challenges goes a long way to ensuring your AI solution is catered to your needs.
This way, when it comes time to integrate these tools, they are already configured to immediately impact your KPIs and goal achievement.
2 – Focus on Addressing the Specific Business Problem the AI will Solve
You can’t just jump into AI and expect it to solve your problems. You must first have a specific business problem you want to solve with the help of artificial intelligence.
Your team needs to take a moment and define:
What are your goals?
Do they align with your company’s growth strategy?
How much will it cost if they don’t align?
What benefits do you expect from implementing AI into your business?
These are all questions you should ask yourself before making any decisions regarding artificial intelligence. Not only will they help inform the processes you hope to automate or make more efficient, but they will also help you define the type of AI tools you should be pursuing.
3 – Prepare Your Data Ahead of Time for Smooth Onboarding
Preparing your data ahead of time is critical to a successful AI adoption. To get the most out of an AI solution, you need to make sure that the data is:
· In the right format. If the data isn't formatted correctly, then it won't be able to be used and could even cause errors in how it's processed.
· Cleaned up. Your business' data will likely come from many different sources and may not always be clean or complete. Before using an AI solution on any new dataset, take some time cleaning up any missing values or outliers so that they are consistent.
· Secure. Data is the lifeblood of a modern business. Without security, you risk a competitor undercutting those benefits. Secure your data as you integrate various AI enhancements.
4 – Get your Entire Team Involved to Speed Up Adoption
For AI to be fully embraced by the entire company, your team must be on board. This means getting them excited about the benefits of using AI and ensuring that they understand how it can help their individual roles and responsibilities.
This includes explaining how it will streamline their work and improve productivity, as well as providing an opportunity for growth within their role (which has been shown to increase employee satisfaction).
5 – Calculate Your Long-Term ROI
Calculating ROI is critical for AI adoption. It helps you determine whether the time, money, and effort you put in will be worth it in the end. This is especially true regarding AI because of its potential long-term impact on your business.
Vendors may make a lot of promises, but there should be underlying facts about the expected efficiencies and benefits AI tools will bring to your company. You can then use this data to create projections that align with your financial goals. In general, AI should lower your operational expenses, so you have more room to grow or leverage capital reinvestment.
6 – Be Clear How You’ll Integrate Data-Driven Decisions from the AI
The next step is to be clear about how you’ll integrate data-driven decisions from AI into your business. If you don't know what data your AI is using, how it's analyzing it, and how those results will be used by the business, there's a good chance it won't be adopted.
It's also essential to get buy-in from leaders throughout the organization. Employees will understand why they should use this innovative technology in their jobs by creating transparency around what makes an AI work and why it can provide insights that humans can't. This helps them see its potential value.
Without buy-in from leadership at all levels of an organization, adoption won't happen as quickly or effectively as possible.
Conclusion
If you want to be successful with AI, start small. You don’t have to go all-in on the technology right away. Instead, identify one specific area of your business that needs improvement and work on that first.
From there, build up your experience with AI in other areas of your business until you feel comfortable implementing it throughout every corner of your organization. Little by little, you will see how these automations, analytics, and efficiencies can transform your daily operations.