3 ways to create tangible AI results in 2024

This article was initially published in Fast Company

This year, business conversations around AI should shift from abstract to applicable.

Generative AI was certainly the buzzword of 2023, but many organizations are still just marveling at the potential for this technology as opposed to truly driving business efficiencies and accomplishing strategic goals with it.

According to Deloitte, nearly half (48%) of organizations believe it will take up to three years to see substantial transformation or ROI from AI. While this may be true, I also believe that drawing throughlines between AI investment and impact on goals achieved is a critical missing piece in these early days.

So, how can you utilize this technology to achieve KPIs, and then demonstrate the tangible impact? Here are my three suggestions for impactful usage and more results in 2024.??

1. TAP INTO NEW RESOURCES

Keep your finger on the pulse of new tools and new features. We’ve all heard of and used ChatGPT, but that is just one of many tools available. For example, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is directly embedded with applications like Microsoft Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and Office. Other tools, such as Bing AI and Claude, are not directly embedded, but can be especially useful for unique features and for gaining different perspectives. For example, Claude allows users to upload PDFs for analysis, helping to mitigate some word count restrictions other AI solutions have.

According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, an average employee spends 57% of their time using communication apps such as those shared above, and top Teams users spend 7.5 hours a week in meetings. Now, with AI tools such as those mentioned above and others, employees can streamline efficiencies and be even more productive.

Importantly, these tools should never be used for sensitive information. These systems learn and teach themselves based on historical data, which leads me to my next point on data governance and access monitoring.?

2. GOVERN SENSITIVE DATA AND MONITOR ACCESS ?

Productivity should not come at a cost, and it’s important you capitalize on the power of AI without losing control of it, which could cost a lot and set your organization back quite a bit. Almost half (41%) of organizations are only slightly or not prepared for the risks and governance around AI. That leaves them vulnerable to incidents like accidental data deletion, exposure, or breaches. ??

On top of that, only 32% of organizations are keeping a formal inventory of all generative AI implementations happening across their organization—and that does not include shadow IT, where users implement solutions that may not be vetted by their IT teams. Without a granular understanding of what your organization is using to power its work, you cannot possibly protect your business-critical data, and you set yourself up for a costly mistake, as opposed to a revenue-driving investment.

To mitigate this, make sure you have proper usage guidelines and policies in place so it’s easy for employees to do the right thing. Similarly, ensure permissions and access controls are established so that only the right people can view specific information within your organization’s tenant. As a result, your security and privacy teams will achieve their goal of reducing data breaches and avoiding high costs for recovery or ransomware payments.?

3. ENCOURAGE AND REWARD ALL DEPARTMENTS FOR AI USAGE

Unsurprisingly, the level of AI adoption across roles within organizations is not equal. For example, adoption among IT and cybersecurity professionals is high, with nearly half (46%) of all professionals currently utilizing this technology. Marketing, sales, and customer service professionals are not far behind at 41%. On the contrary, only 21% of legal teams and 23% of HR teams are using AI in their work.

There should not be such a divide; instead, all areas of your business should be utilizing AI in ways that serve their goals. For marketing professionals, that may mean a greater volume of assets produced (like case studies, blogs, etc.) that attracted qualified leads. For a customer service employee, it may translate to other KPIs like customer inquiries answered or cases solved.?

If the learning curve is too steep, invest in training and hold your people accountable for education. If the ROI is not clear, show them what effective use cases look like and demonstrate the annual time saved, for example. In fact, three out of four C-suite executives believe that if they don’t scale AI in the next five years, they risk going out of business entirely—and to me, scaling does not just mean the entire IT team is using this technology, it’s everyone in the business.??

Ultimately, business conversations around AI should shift from abstract to applicable this year. By tapping into all available resources, making sure your usage of AI is secure, and encouraging all departments within your organization to find and apply the right use cases for them, you’ll be on your way to a successful 2024.?