From a doctorless medical procedure to automated marketing – what organisation doesn’t want a little bit of AI in its life?
However, that’s the point: just how far and fast do you go? Do you invest big in a strategic, long-term AI-powered strategy aimed at revolutionizing every aspect of what you do? Or do you identify everyday processes which a smaller-scale (less expensive) flavour of AI can instantly transform?
All organisations will differ, of course. But for those at the beginning of their AI journey, taking the latter ‘low hanging fruit’ approach reduces the risks associated with rushing.
They are reduced even further if those organisations and/or their IT service providers choose a delivery partner that not only has the technological solution, but also the expert, consultative smarts to guarantee success.
“It’s a ‘no regrets’ approach to AI that is capable of cutting through the hype and delivering highly impactful, real-world enhancements to the way organisations work – understanding where value can be added and deploying a targeted solution,” says Samantha Middlebrook, Senior Director of Product Marketing at leading global enterprise software provider Upland, whose wide-ranging suite of AI-powered capabilities is the perfect case in point.
“It doesn’t necessarily need to be super-sexy, such as deploying augmented reality to provide a human-less means of customer communication. Instead, ‘no regrets’ AI is all about low effort for maximum return. It’s about addressing specific frustrations within organisations’ internal teams. Is a process fundamentally broken? Are there multiple repetitive tasks? Are your best people being used to carry out mundane activities? How can AI actually help solve those issues in a low-risk and fast way?
“Taking that approach means you can dip your toe in the water, solve a problem, see a return on investment, and then move on to bigger, shinier AI.”
In the case of Upland, it all begins with a series of questions designed to surface the pain points to which AI can be applied. Only then can very specific solutions be tailored.
“If organisations are talking about a universe of possibilities, they are unlikely to be addressing the more granular issues or processes that can be quickly and cost-effectively enhanced with a low-risk AI deployment,” says Middlebrook.
“Instead, they should think more about their business-critical, day-to-day processes and how they can improve the experience for their employees and their customers. It should be, like: ‘This person does this, they have a challenge with that, the impact to our business is this.’ Employees should be asked to identify three things that they do every day which take the longest amount of time. They’re likely to be transactional and repetitive. Those are the things that AI can take on. That’s the stuff of ‘no regrets’ AI.”
Of course, it’s also important for organisations to consider the ‘people’ element of their operations. For example, dropping Generative AI tools into the laps of employees that have been used to working in certain ways for many years can be disruptive in all the wrong ways.
“That scale of cultural change can create upheaval, nervousness, and reduced productivity,” says Middlebrook. “Add to that the general fear mongering that many people indulge in around AI, and it’s easy to see why issues arise. People ask if AI is going to take their job, and that can be hugely unsettling for everyone.”
Conversely, provide people with AI-powered tools that are simple to use and which make doing their jobs easier, and it has the opposite effect. Moreover, teach them how to harness the power of those tools to really accelerate their productivity and you’re into a BIG win, win.
To learn more about how Upland can help your and your customers’ businesses on the AI journey, visit the website.
