By now, it’s generally accepted that artificial intelligence (AI) applied to your business can transform for the better the way organizations work. One key AI improvement we’re looking at this year is augmented intelligence.
With this implementation of AI, we’re seeing brands now looking even beyond the improved efficiency automation offers. They’re seeking AI processes that add intelligence to their business decisions. This requires close collaboration between humans and machines, which brings its own cultural necessities. Augmented intelligence is an exciting opportunity for accelerating organizations and empowering employees.
Prepping for augmented intelligence
When mentioning brands evidencing this trend, I’m referring to our new report: How Companies Can Prepare for the Era of Augmented Intelligence. In it, we discuss the results of our research based on 300 US decision makers. We looked at different AI obstacles, as well as levels of enthusiasm about AI going into 2020.
Whether brands have a clear roadmap for their investment in augmented intelligence or not quite yet, still 93% believe in AI’s ability to make an immediate improvement in their businesses. They’re looking at this urgently because it matters more now than ever for brands to stay relevant. 72% of respondents report that their organizations are struggling to become more digitally mature or that they feel outdated compared to competitors.
Another finding that rose to the surface was that becoming an AI-driven organization is a process. For instance, 90% of respondents agree that using technology to automate routine tasks/ processes would make their organizations more open to using artificial intelligence for decision-making purposes in the future. And this rings true with the fact that embracing AI is ultimately a question of cultural shift. With more exposure and understanding comes more trust, by customers and employees alike.
A roadmap to an AI-Driven Culture
Now, you might be wondering…what does that process of integrating AI into our brand truly look like? That’s where the White paper can take you in more depth, but suffice it to say that these are the 4 key pit stops on the roadmap to a culture driven by augmented and artificial intelligence.
- Reframe: Make sure you get buy-in at the top of your organization. Then work to reframe AI as a long-term business initiative. It isn’t a sprint; it’s more like a marathon.
- Envision: While you envision how AI supports your company’s purpose, define common metrics of success across the whole business.
- Build: Define the ideal relationship between humans and AI, and start to build that reality. Leaders need to help employees get comfortable surrendering some control in decision making. They also have to engage their teams through education and training.
- Grow: Start small and scale up your automation initiatives. Convince your teams that the investment and training is worthwhile with tangible results from small projects that grow. Encourage and foster a culture that values incremental improvement.
Better together
In the end, it’s important to remember that your AI journey can’t succeed in a silo. In order to achieve strong results, all departments must work together. This makes it a matter of culture, which without the reframing and envisioning mentioned above stands a good chance of not working. And if a project bites off more than it can chew in the first initiative, it’s much harder to prove to people the merit of the investment.
Having a strong vision for how AI and humans should work together will help prevent implementation mistakes and build employees’ trust in AI. This leads not just to greater efficiency but also more founded and forward-looking decisions. I think we could all benefit from moving in that direction in 2020.
