Artificial Intelligence or AI has been the buzzword of the decade. Try browsing the internet, and you will see a tremendous amount of articles showcasing different AI applications and tools that are either being shared or sold to the market. But with all this available information and news about how the industry is capitalizing AI, there is one crucial business question to ask – What’s AI for us?
Every time I hear people requiring AI for their business, it always makes me wonder what they truly mean. AI is a relatively huge topic, and categorizing a particular need to just wanting to have AI is a bit inappropriate. AI is not a blanket answer to all your business problems, but instead, if implemented the wrong way, it will do more damage to your business.
AI is a by-product of different data practices, business processes, and should be rooted to solve a specific business problem. You cannot just jump into building AI capabilities without a firm understanding of your business pains that you want to solve.
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AI requires a certain level of maturity to accomplish and do wonders. Some people will say that they were able to build a sophisticated AI model, well kudos to them. But the real question is, was it able to deliver a solution that is valuable for the business. Does the total effort to deliver and run this AI model commensurates the value it will provide? Can this model be operationalized, or is it a one-off thing? These are just a few questions that any organization should consider before embarking on this journey.
The funny thing here is that, with all the hullabaloo about AI, some of the most common business problems do not even require AI. Humans, in general, have a terrible inclination to over complicate things. This attitude often leads to lost opportunities and sunk investments. Remember the KISS design principle; it applies to this as well.
So, does your business need AI? The short answer is, YES. But do you need it NOW? That is for you to assess.