Understanding the AI gap and how it will advance all of our businesses...

6 months ago I was on a video call with a selection of professionals.?

I was asked the question “so, what do you think about the impact of AI on businesses…is this a? good thing?”.? The marketing professional heard my answer and said“...I'm not convinced”.

AI has been part of our lives for decades, running many aspects of our day to day but, it always seemed in the background, something that was super high tech and exclusively scientific.????

Now it's in our hands, with a few clicks on our smart devices we can enter into a world we've never had access to before…a world that, in the right hands, can make our lives easier, more efficient and expose us to new ideas and concepts.

AI isn't new, our ability to access it is.?

The first artificial intelligence programme was presented at the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence in 1956.

Cut to today, leadership teams around the world and across sectors are grappling with how to secure from, and gain advantage with, the growing and evolving Large Language Models, deep learning algorithms that can perform a huge range of natural language processing tasks, such as Codex, PaLM 2 and ChatGPT.???

I see and hear this in my daily life as a digital professional.? More and more we are brought into conversations on how AI can assist our clients, and the wider commercial world is also looking forward…according to research firm Frost & Sullivan's "Global State of AI, 2022" report:

87% of organisations believe AI and machine learning will help them grow revenue, boost operational efficiency and improve customer experiences.

This study presents the key findings of a survey it conducted among global enterprises on their state of adoption of AI. Respondents were drawn from senior IT decision-makers across multiple verticals, including financial services, healthcare, retail, government, technology, and manufacturing. The major themes the survey explores include the current state of AI deployment, key organisational goals of AI implementation, the demand for specific AI-related technologies, and the main AI deployment models.

So what are these organisations expecting to find?

More accurate and quicker decisions

I'm sure you've heard the term “data driven decisions" before, AI supercharges our decision making capacity and capability.? AI gives us the ability to make more effective and precise decisions.

Putting the data to work

Revenue streams, efficiencies, growth…

Innovation

AI can see things that we may miss.

process improvement, automation, risk management, cost control, research and development…the list goes on.?

I remember when email arrived at my workplace, the shrieks of out roar that this would never work and it wouldn't last “It will never replace letters and faxes”...

I remember when smartphones first came out…the amount of people who thought it was just a fad...

I remember the very first time I realised that Social Media was the access point to my sector's digital commercial twin and how learning how to use social media properly would transform an organisations commercial future…there were many doubters and at first I doubted it, then I studied and learned and decided to devote my professional life to helping organisations become the leading technical and commercial digital influencers in their sectors.

I think back to those initial Social Selling programmes we ran, working with organisational teams who were curious and keen to benefit from all that strategic social media could do for them and at the same time, they were also terrified of being “out there”.?

Fast forward to today and it's more like the norm.? Organisations are understanding that social media is the key access point to their sector's digital twin and want their teams to be the leading technical and commercial digital influencers in their sectors…because they know it's transformational.? We used to run 1 programme back then, now we have 6…

'An introduction to Digtial B2B Influence' to set the scene

‘Digital Influence’ for leadership teams

‘Social Selling’ for sales teams

‘Creating digital demand’ for marketing teams

‘Digital B2B Influence’ for cross functional team

‘Digital advocacy’ for recruitment teams

When we first started doing this we couldn't find a single organisation who had deeply strategised their digital commercial approach, now it's commonplace.

The world moves on, things evolve.? I see the growing accessibility and value of AI as a current business imperative and predict that in 2 years AI will be alive and well in the strategies of most boards and leadership teams across sectors, across the globe.

There are some key takeaways:

Move now.?

Just like the organisations that were early in adopting social media, those that adapt quickly and embrace AI will lead the way.?

Start the internal conversation.?

Whether you like it or not, whether you know about it or not…it's highly likely your people are already using AI at work already.? Address it, talk about it, set guidelines for how it can be used within the business.?

Sit the wider, cross discipline team down and have an open discussion to determine whether AI can enhance your business revenue, boost productivity and efficiency, offer better customer experiences or reduce costs.?

We are a modern business and we have an AI stack of 10 tools that we use daily…and we are scouring for the next, newest, most advantageous for us as we grow, its normal business.

In closing, my answer to the question at the start of this article was simple:

“I see the widening accessibility and applicability of AI as the natural evolution of life, it's the next step in our development as humans and professionals.? Some of the business benefits are known and other are yet to be discovered but one thing is for sure…AI isn't a toy or a fad and it isn't going away, it has become and will become more ingrained in our commercial lives, those who get hold of this now and stick with it while it grows and evolves will win”.

Eric Doyle (F.ISP) The OGV Studio

Eric Doyle is the Managing Director of The OGV STUDIO, a company that provides strategic Digital Media consultancy, training and delivery services.? Eric is a fellow of the Institute of Sales Professionals.

Digital balance - The OGV Studio