AI Agents with Purpose

AI Agents with Purpose?

Have you seen this recent jaw dropping stat by McKinsey? Sixty-five percent of respondents to McKinsey’s recent Global Survey on AI say that their organizations are regularly using gen AI, nearly double the percentage from their previous survey LESS than a year ago. The authors say, “If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI (gen AI), 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology.”??

The Consumerization of AI?

It’s hard to believe that it has been more than a decade since “Hey Siri” revolutionized how the average consumer interacts with their mobile device, providing instant answers to any question. Next came the omnipresent “Alexa,” which familiarized people of all ages with AI in the comfort of their own homes, setting the stage for its adoption in the workplace.??

In 2022, OpenAI changed the game with ChatGPT introducing us all to gen AI, quickly followed by Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini. ChatGPT's success was evidence of AI's growing comfort and acceptance, paving the way for its incorporation into industries.???

I’m reminded back to my earlier enterprise IT days. In the early 2000s, the consumerization of IT changed everything. Personal devices that were being used at home were being increasingly adopted in business environments. This shift empowered employees to use their preferred devices, enhancing productivity and flexibility, changing how and where we work.???

Today, we are witnessing a similar transformation in the workplace, this time, I guess we could call it the consumerization of AI. As evidenced by the McKinsey study, after becoming comfortable with AI at home, enterprises and employees are increasingly ready to fully embrace the power of AI in the workplace.?

AI Agents??

Over the past few months, the phrase AI agents has emerged. While there’s no hard and fast rule defining what an AI agent is – a common understanding is that they are AI that solves problems, makes logical decisions, and independently handles a wide array of tasks.??

WorkFusion has been a pioneer at bringing AI to the enterprise. Our AI Digital Workers were early AI agents that handle a complete decision-centric job role in financial crime compliance. We were also early to the game when it comes to the personification of our AI. Not only do our AI Digital Workers have human names, human faces (actors), and human job roles, as of recently, they also have social media accounts – all in the name of providing our users with the comfort of working side-by-side with AI.??

Now is the Time??

AI, particularly gen AI, is moving fast. If your organization doesn’t have an AI strategy in place, now is the time – because rest assured, your employees are already using it.??

While gen AI is continuing to advance the development and execution of processes, it tends to not be the full solution. AI Agents help give gen AI purpose and direction, simplifying its infusion into business processes. When gen AI is supplemented by an ensemble of people and other AI approaches you get great results, you minimize risk, you don’t overpay, and you don’t wait too long.??