10 Key Opportunities & Implications of AI for Your Business

Australian businesses are starting to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI).

• Every AI-related initiative resulted in an average incremental revenue of AUD $361,315.
• Eight in ten decision-makers are expecting to see revenue growth from their AI investments in 2023.
• The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation describes the AI ecosystem as “rapidly transforming” and “where businesses are generating significant new revenue streams and efficiencies using AI technology.”

But what do those mean to you?

Implications of AI for Business

Forbes Advisor found majority of business owners believe AI will positively impact these:

1. Customer relationships
2. Productivity
3. Sales
4. Cost savings
5. Response times

“We’ve never seen a technology move as fast as AI has to impact society and technology. This is by far the fastest moving technology that we’ve ever tracked in terms of its impact and we’re just getting started,” echoed Paul Daugherty, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Accenture. With such acceleration, 75% of executives are apprehensive that they might go out of business within five years unless they scale AI in their business.

AI Opportunities for Your Business

We have seen much of generative AI apps like ChatGPT, but there is so much more to AI. Consider these other opportunities that could benefit your business.

1. Responsive Customer Interactions

Sales and marketing leaders feel that AI has been the biggest game-changer when it comes to improving customer experience. With automated chatbots, customers can now have a 24/7 responsive channel, plus it frees up your human resources for more complex tasks. In fact, 85% of customer service interactions are now responded to by chatbots.

2. Unbiased & Objective Decisions

AI can help analyse large amounts of data to provide insights, helping businesses make informed, data-driven decisions. Data centre services provider AirTrunk is looking to use AI in finding suitable locations for data centres.

3. Savvy Business Foresight

Predictive analytics helps business to see future trends and behaviours. This enables them to be proactive and stay ahead of the competition. For example, Snack producer Frito-Lay has been turning to AI-powered analytics to leverage their data for predicting store openings and shifts in demand.

4. Personalised Experience

According to Semrush, 71% of marketers believe that AI is useful for personalisation. AI can in fact personalise customer experiences by analysing individual behaviours and patterns. One key benefit of this is increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Bill Gates said, “A decade from now, we won’t think of those businesses as separate, because the AI will know you so well that when you’re buying gifts or planning trips, it won’t care if Amazon has the best price, if someone else has a better price — you won’t even need to think about it.”

5. Operations Efficiency Boost

AI is useful for automating routine tasks, improving efficiency and productivity. More than half of businesses now apply AI to improve their production processes or process automation. Others use AI for:

• Search engine optimisation tasks
• Data aggregation
• Generating ideas, plans, presentations, reports, and website copy
• Streamlining internal communications
• Writing code

6. Real-Time Assistance

Provide 24/7 help to customers and to staff with AI tools, improving communication and efficiency on both sides. Cynthia Scott of Zip Co also cites the possible use of real-time generated scripts for call centre workers. AI apps can also assist your team in real-time. Microsoft Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 so staff can use it while working in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook. It can provide post-meeting recaps, help with drafting documents and presentations, and project status updates, among others.

7. Smart Security Safeguards

Fraud detection and cyber security services now use AI for:

• Finding patterns in data
• Spotting new cyber threats
• Battling bots
• Predicting data breach risks
• Improving endpoint safety

8. Supply Chain Upgrades

AI also figures in supply chain optimisation, by predicting demand and optimising delivery routes. The use of AI has led to a 44% decrease in costs for the supply chain management industry in 2019. Thoughtworks CTO Dr. Rebecca Parsons shared with Harvard Business Review how “supply chain planning addressing disruptions in the supply chain can benefit [from AI] in two ways” – by directly handling the easy problems and by providing support in more complex cases.

9. Spot-on Talent Acquisition

The recruitment process is significantly improved with help from AI:

• Tap a larger talent pool and crawl millions of profiles when sourcing for candidates.
• Screen resumes and objectively score applicants without bias.
• Post highly targeted job ads to yield better results.
• AI can also help predict candidates’ job-fit.
• Automate other recruitments tasks, such as doing offer letter templates, background checks, and onboarding paperwork.

10. Customer-Centric Products

AI helps in developing new products by analysing market trends, customer feedback, and competitive analysis. The Lottery Corporation CEO Sue van der Merwe noted: “AI is actually not necessarily about offering more products. It’s about offering the right products.” Other areas where AI can help are:

• Generating ideas for new products or product improvements
• Automating or enhancing production processes
• Optimising the product development cycle

Emerging Business AI Assistant: Copilot

In addition to the above opportunities, Microsoft has recently introduced its AI everyday assistant, Copilot, which is now available to businesses of all sizes. How can it help you?

(*Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now generally available for small businesses with Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Business Standard, Office 365 E3 or E5 subscriptions with no minimum seat requirement.) While it’s tempting to try the myriad of AI apps flooding the market, here are some of the key reasons why you should use Copilot:

• Copilot offers a broad range of data for companies that want comprehensive search results combined with customisation options.
• As they’re part of the Microsoft ecosystem, they are a trusted source and allow for seamless integration with their other apps.
• Microsoft has a track record and commitment to enterprise-grade security.
• Your business data isn’t leaving your technology ecosystem, minimising your risk of data breaches.

Use AI Strategically

Like it or not, AI is revolutionising the way businesses operate. If you want to keep your edge or gain the lead, you must adopt AI wisely. Plan well for AI adoption in your organisation so you can strategically use the right AI tools for your needs. If you want to explore beyond AI and discover IT solutions that can help your business, book a free consultation with ADITS’ specialists. We can help you find the right technology to achieve your goals.