Pushing for AI? How to Manage AI Investments to Get a Good ROI?

December 5, 2018

It’s almost the end of 2018 and everywhere you look there’s news of artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizing different industries, whether it’s by curing deadly diseases or replacing manual labor. But it’s not all hype. The growing number of AI startup acquisitions is nothing short of remarkable, and corporate giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, […]

It’s almost the end of 2018 and everywhere you look there’s news of artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizing different industries, whether it’s by curing deadly diseases or replacing manual labor. But it’s not all hype.

The growing number of AI startup acquisitions is nothing short of remarkable, and corporate giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, are spending millions of dollars on AI research and development. It makes sense that these heavy hitters are at the forefront of the change. But they are not the only ones who stand to profit and increase their ROI from AI.

Other companies too can harness the power of AI innovation, but it is not simple. A gap exists between AI research and delivering actual tangible business outcomes. However, the right AI strategy can help organizations set up the cheapest, most effective method of harnessing machine learning and AI, and reap ROI benefits.

 

Derive Optimization Paths Across Customer Journeys

Your AI budget may range from less than a million to over a $100 million annually; in both cases, the goal is to make performance and outcomes more predictable. The output of your organization enjoys a lot of visibility, and employees count on the decision makers to take charge and deliver. But, to achieve the goals, smart decisions must be made frequently throughout the whole customer journey.

The unlimited scale of data in a pre-AI environment has prohibited us from seeing opportunities and acting on them, but if the results have to be predictable, our pipeline of insights must also be predictable. And with AI, it is going to be. From billions of rows of data, insights must be created, and the AI bots work to identify what affects performance. At the same time, they give us an idea of why it’s happening and what can be done to prevent it. Companies are presented with these choices to flip the switch to “always on” optimization.

 

Training is Key

To draw value from AI, your organization must train the employees in new skills and create a comprehensive plan to show how investing in such technologies can produce ROI or fulfill certain business goals. While the process of integrating AI into the existing business model encounters strategic problems without a one-size-fits-all solution, organizations can allot dedicated teams to market these initiatives quickly, extract key learnings, and optimize the same to deliver best value and impact. AI can’t just be added to the existing product roadmap of your business; the teams must work together from the start, otherwise, it will lead to costly tech investments that cut into profits rather than building ROI.

Organizations can win at AI by establishing a thorough, strategic set of objectives and handing the execution over to data and technology professionals. When you assign the responsibility of AI deployment to an experienced data executive and arm the person with organizational support and strategic business goals, your business gets empowered by the talent, mindset, and tools needed to execute and define these initiatives successfully.

 

Organize Data Efficiently

Data

Thanks to AI, businesses now have access to self-organized data that imitate their way of thinking regarding business. A company that wishes to measures and monitor its goals or contrast performances will require data from numerous sources to line up by product, region, or teams. You should be able to drill from the topmost level of every ROI, loyalty KPI, or growth to the level underneath. You must be able to do this for every campaign, channel, audience, customer segment, and program.

 

Nurture the Right People in Your Organization

Organization People

Since the goal of every business differs for AI deployments, it gets difficult to outsource initiatives. But you must adopt the current teams to the task. They are familiar with the ins and outs of your business and possess both the vision and experience to know where you’re coming from and where you have to go. While the complexity of these systems indicates that you’ll have to hire dedicated AI experts for moving your company in the right direction and filling the gaps in knowledge. So, it’s time for businesses to think about the acquisition and retention of talent needed to successfully gain ROI from AI.

While the number of AI professionals is limited, and there is fierce demand for their skills, hiring top talent must be a priority along with the focus on establishing a culture that gives them a reason to stay. But at the same time, you should not forget that initiatives like these are a team sport that requires both new blood and experienced individuals. Thus, you should invest in maintaining your existing talent pool so you’re able to set, implement, and enhance your AI plans without any hassle.

 

Centralize Company Data Throughout the Different Touch Points

Industry professionals have access to thousands of solutions nowadays. AI can help businesses by providing a panoramic view of the customer touchpoints in a single platform for a more holistic business view, reports, multiple systems, and dashboards. Smart AI is capable of moving your business into the world of unified intelligence, where the organization adds the data of their choice to the picture. Having every data in a single position forms the initial step towards merging the various teams into one cohesive unit rapidly, efficiently, and keeping the skillset of the team in mind.

 

 Locate the Right Partner

Right Partner

AI transforms the industry landscape with different apps, but there are advanced computer networks that still find it difficult to keep up with the abilities of average human beings in areas like analytical capability and context. For these systems to work, they require advanced predictive analytics that are capable of rapidly understanding large data volumes. Also, you have to find a scalable and flexible end-to-end data and analytics partner – someone who can dig into the past and look at the future. Take your pick carefully, since you will have to rely on the expertise of that company in the future.

 

Until a few years ago, harnessing the power of AI was the strategy followed by only the business leaders, while others considered it a futuristic idea. They adopted a “wait and see” plan, but that is no longer feasible. As AI develops in leaps and bounds, companies need to invest in their own AI offerings and manage them properly to amass the desired ROI.

By Team FileCloud