Turning generative AI hype into a transformative reality

Generative AI is one of the most impactful technological leaps of our generation. Over the next decade, AI will be a mega-trend, transforming industries, companies, and how we live and work, as generative AI may augment 40% of all working hours.[1]

Moving past the hype to establish practical applications for maximum business impact is challenging for many organizations. It's why we regularly engage with clients in groups and 1:1 settings, like our recent generative AI event in Amsterdam, which hosted various attendees from our key Netherlands customers.

The event inspired discussion and feedback on generative AI's potential for businesses and more. We explored what it takes to get the basics of this technology right, why it's best to think in building blocks, some of today's business use cases, and the importance of responsible AI.

We see generative AI adoption as an evolution of interactions, insights, and intelligence for your business. The 'building interactions' stage is the first of three in your full business transformation – our focus in this blog.

Considerations raised at the event and from the wider market

Businesses considering generative AI have many questions, and rightly so – this is new territory. Governance, cost, risk and compliance, and feasibility are key issues, but the scope goes beyond this.

Internally, many organizations are trying to understand what their long-term AI roadmap will look like. They want to know how IT teams and their business counterparts will fit into the transformation process and whether additional skill sets are required. Additionally, organizations want to know how Azure OpenAI compares to other large language models (LLMs), including open-source models, and how to build ChatGPT-like other applications.

When considering generative AI, build vs. buy is important for organizations. Software vendors are working the technology into their products, but you don't have to wait for them. Instead, you can start building your solutions with data from your in-use systems. However, you must have a solid data platform – that includes access management – in place before getting started.

At Avanade, we're on our generative AI journey. It's disruptive, but we've embraced the challenges of rethinking privacy, best-fit architectures, governance, and responsible AI use. This helps us provide our clients with the advice to make informed decisions for their businesses.

Some key takeaways from the event

AI is no longer a niche technology available only to select technical roles, so it's easy to see a future where AI is present in every business application and process.

While AI isn't new, the way generative AI self-evolves is. We see it as a form of democratized augmented intelligence. AI systems are augmenting human decision-making while continuously learning from interactions with humans and their environment. Even though humans are still required for monitoring, generative AI has experienced exponential growth and awareness across numerous industries in recent months.

Just look at the figures – more than 62% of today's working hours are language tasks, and generative AI has the power to automate up to an incredible 65% of this work.[1]

AI will impact major business capabilities across critical aspects of the employee and customer journeys.

Yes, generative AI is transformative, but don't think of it as an organization-wide replacement of your systems, applications, or processes. Instead, see it as a collection of modular building blocks you can select as part of wider or more specific business needs. Your long-term success will depend on integrating AI as an extension of your team and building a strong foundation with industry best practices.

There are hundreds of potential use cases, from initial proof-of-concept projects to large-scale transformative initiatives. However, understanding the elements you need is vital for defining the right use cases for your business. With Avanade as your partner, you can make a smarter initial technology investment – leaving you room to define the right AI governance policies for your business with our support.

Where to start with generative AI?

While there's a fear that sensitive data could leak into an LLM's training data and the public domain, restricting these tools could impact productivity and reduce competitiveness.

As a secure platform, Microsoft Azure OpenAI strikes the balance organizations need when considering these factors. And it's incredibly versatile, too, with numerous possibilities for applying generative AI across the value chain of business processes. That's why you must understand the need for a use case and its business value before using generative AI's immense power for a fit-for-purpose solution. There are multiple use cases, including content generation, summarization and extraction, code generation and semantic search.

Combining search capabilities with LLMs can significantly reduce the time people spend looking for information. With Azure OpenAI, a person can accomplish far more every day. It's why we're helping organizations explore ChatGPT's benefits while taking control of data. Through Azure's OpenAI service, you can access a private, secure version of ChatGPT, ensuring your teams can safely use ChatGPT while your sensitive enterprise data remains ringfenced.

Azure also allows organizations to explore Intelligent Knowledge Search tools and Q&A chatbots powered by their data. Knowledge Search is an AI-powered platform that helps developers build rich search experiences from a company's entire data store. This offers unprecedented insight for improved decision-making and generates more engaging experiences for customers and employees.

Get immersed with Avanade.

With Avanade, you can embrace generative AI and do what matters through a responsible approach to AI use. Our experts are here to inspire, help you learn, explore and build towards realizing generative AI's business value.

Wherever you are on your journey, we're here to help you navigate the future. We have a 2-hour learning session to get you up to speed with generative AI or a more in-depth 2-day workshop to clarify client use cases, explore opportunities and plan your next steps.

Curious and want to learn more? Reach out to the experts for more information and deeper insights, or register for our Responsible Tech Night taking place on September 12 at Microsoft, Schiphol.

Authors: Omit Singh , Director – Digital Advisory, Avanade Netherlands & Sujatha Subramanian , Data & AI Solution Architect – Analytics, Avanade Netherlands

PS: Watch out for our next article, which discusses generative AI's role in accelerating data-driven insights across business processes.

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[1] Source: Accenture Research based on analysis of Occupational Information Network, US Dept. of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.