How can your business leverage AI for competitive advantage?

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Cloud Services IT Solutions

08.09.2023

The pace of technological change means that all good digital transformation strategies have to factor in readiness for continuous evolution. Businesses that lag behind their competitors in adopting technological advancements find it harder and harder to catch up. To overcome this challenge, they must completely rethink their approach and consider strategy and planning in tandem. Those making significant changes and implementing the right solutions maximise new opportunities and set the foundations for long-term success.

Now more than ever, this shift in digital transformation approach must encompass artificial intelligence. The increasing capabilities of AI are becoming of greater use to businesses all the time, to the point that the worldwide AI market is estimated to be worth more than $15 trillion by the end of this decade. However, as you’ll learn in this blog, getting an AI deployment right needs careful consideration.

The Barriers to AI Adoption

AI is such a new technology area that many organisations are naturally cautious about adopting it immediately so that they don’t suffer any teething problems or invest in areas that prove to be obsolete in the long term. Deloitte research has found that a lack of budget is the most common reason that businesses avoid adopting AI (cited by 44% of those surveyed), but there are plenty of other practical factors at play as well:

Talent and expertise shortages

AI skills are very specialised, and there aren’t enough experts. McKinsey has found that only 10% of data scientists globally have the right skills, and not being able to access those skills is holding back AI adoption.

Lack of access to quality data

AI platforms need a high standard of data to be properly trained and deliver accurate, meaningful results. Any AI deployment is doomed to failure if data is insufficient in quantity, biased or full of errors.

Regulations and ethics

AI must be deployed in ways that align with diversity and inclusion and human monitoring to ensure that its processes and results are ethical. Connected to this, it’s vital to keep AI platforms and data encrypted so insights can’t inadvertently fall into the wrong hands.

Resistance to change

Fears that AI may replace human effort and cost people their jobs mean that many are unwilling to adopt or actively resist it. Most of this comes from a lack of understanding, which is still an important issue to resolve.

Unlocking Business Advantage from AI

If you can overcome the challenges listed above, you’ll be able to take full advantage of AI, from lower operational costs to better talent retention and acquisition to greater productivity.

You’ll also be able to use AI to support your employees instead of replacing them. Microsoft research has found that 89% of employees using AI-powered tools feel more fulfilled because of the time that AI is saving them; as a result, twice as many business leaders are looking at AI as a means to boost productivity than are planning to reduce headcount with it.

With the proper AI deployment in place, your business will enjoy:

Better decision-making: Using AI to support decision-making makes businesses feel more confident that their choices are correct. Furthermore, they can use AI to set benchmarks and track performance after making decisions so that success – speed, efficiency or revenue – can be accurately quantified.
More efficient operations: AI-powered supply chain management tools can uncover potential improvement areas within an organisation or with other partners and suppliers. It can also automate repetitive tasks that take up large amounts of staff time, eliminating the risk of human error and allowing staff to increase their productivity and add value elsewhere.
Greater agility: AI has the potential to enhance business agility through task automation, insightful analysis, personalised experiences, and collaborative capabilities. By leveraging these advantages, businesses can readily respond to market changes, seize new opportunities, and foster stronger customer relationships.
Deeper insights: AI delivers an unparalleled ability to spot trends and patterns in data and draw meaningful business insights from them, such as new opportunities or previously unforeseen risks.

How SCC can help

If you’re unsure how to approach the deployment of AI within your business and how to create the right adoption strategy, technology and implementation for your specific business use cases, then working with SCC is ideal for you. SCC provides a tailored service that brings together everything you need to succeed with the adoption of AI: professional services, managed services, support, expertise, and access to the leading AI technologies, thanks to our long-standing partnerships. We work closely with you to understand your requirements, determine what you need to get there from a strategic, technology and data perspective, and help you make it happen.

Discover how SCC can help