After years of hype, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) deployment is rising as businesses discover ways to improve efficiency, spark innovation, and reduce operating costs.
By simulating human intelligence, AI is a technology that – when trained properly – can perform human-like functions, such as perceiving, reasoning, learning, and problem-solving. For now, human oversight is required to help AI decide how to address problems they can’t yet solve on their own.
Over time, based on the data AI receives as part of this feedback loop, it can learn how to respond appropriately without human involvement.
Some Companies Are Ready for AI – But Some Aren’t
When it comes to AI’s powerful capabilities, some companies are ready to go all in. Approximately 35% of companies report using AI in business already, with an additional 42% exploring it.
But others remain skeptical. A Forbes Advisor survey reveals 76% of consumers are concerned with AI misinformation.
Ready or not, AI is moving into the picture as it expands at a compound annual growth rate of 37.3% from now to 2030.
How Businesses Are Putting AI to Work
Leaders are using AI to transform business in many ways. No matter the application, usage comes down to automating tasks and improving decision-making.
“Companies aren’t using AI tools to replace employees, but to help them do their jobs more efficiently and with less strain, whether it’s to review and summarize research, review documents, or help employees collaborate on projects," says Peter Rahbar, employment attorney, workplace issues expert, and founder of The Rahbar Group.
Here are four ways that AI is playing out in the business world.
1. Improving Product Recommendations
AI can analyze large data sets to create personalized recommendations and suggestions for customers.
For example, online personal styling service Stitch Fix uses AI to gather client preferences on trends, sizes, and colors that inform the creation of style profiles. Displaying examples of outfits that customers can “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” has helped the company gather between 10 billion and 11 billion data points to help its AI model suggest items that align with what clients want.
“We even have a personal store where AI generates full outfits based on the client’s purchase history,” Krunal Patel, lead engineer at Stitch Fix, explains.
He says that AI not only improves the consumer experience, but also the employee experience.
“It improves the efficiency of our stylists by giving them top items a client may like,” Patel says. “Stylists can quickly curate a box of items for a client, but, because our human experts understand context better than a machine, they can always override suggestions and choose different items. We use that employee feedback to continue to improve our AI.”
2. Completing Critical Work Faster
AI also enables employees to complete administrative tasks faster so they can focus on more critical tasks.
Under the guidance of Labs Leader and Cofounder Adam Somlai-Fischer, presentation software company Prezi uses generative AI to help users find valuable content to create presentations.
CEO Jim Szafranski says the company also launched AI-powered functionality to help users create cinematic presentations by simply sharing a topic or existing content, goals, and the target audience.
“This shaves hours off presentation creation,” he says. “It lets AI do the work for them so they can focus on something other than building out their presentation.”
For Specialty Metals, AI improves lead scoring efforts. According to CEO Dan Fried, the technology helps the company accurately identify its best target customers.
“It considers all the required factors and gives us the probability conversion score for a target customer,” he says. "Eventually, convincing target customers becomes almost effortless.” AI gathers information about prospective customers' social media presence to determine audience segments to prioritize, which helps determine what types of offers or discounts will appeal to them.
3. Upgrading User Experiences
When a customer is interacting with a brand, AI can help make sure the experience is seamless and satisfactory.
As a leading UI/UX agency, ArtVersion has found a way to use AI to evaluate user behavior in the digital landscape as it creates branding, web design, and user experiences for well-known clients.
“AI algorithms allow us to collect and analyze user interaction data asynchronously, effectively mapping out user journeys on our digital platforms,” says Goran Paun, principal and creative director at ArtVersion. “This way, we can identify and understand recurring patterns of user interactions, which can be a telling indicator of the design elements that resonate with users – and those that do not.”
Once the agency pinpoints areas that need improvement, the team refines them in real-time to continuously improve the user experience.
“More companies recognize the potential of AI to analyze vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, leading to insights and efficiencies that significantly improve operations, whether in inventory management, payroll automation, or, in our case, user experience design,” says Paun.
For example, Starbucks relies on an AI-powered chatbot to accelerate the customer experience when ordering food or drinks. It incorporates voice recognition and natural language processing to take customer orders, answer common questions, and suggest new products based on preferences.
4. Monitoring for Manufacturing Defects in Real-Time
In environments where quality control counts, AI can help identify inconsistencies and verify worker performance before products reach customers.
As Nora Salama, cofounder of Appareify, points out, attention to detail in custom-clothing manufacturing is essential, but worker performance plays a major role in quality.
To counteract this, the company implemented smart cameras that use visual inspection AI at critical points in the manufacturing process on the factory floor. With the help of AI, the images are processed so that defects in fabric inspection, label inspection, and packaging are automatically detected before they leave the production line.
“We have been able to effectively automate the quality control process,” she explains, "and we are able to keep errors to a minimum, which also keeps our clients consistently satisfied with their orders.”
The Future of AI Is Here
According to Rahbar, you can approach AI is with consideration and care.
“Employers should enact policies governing the use of AI, including safeguards around the types of company information that can be utilized with these tools. Train employees on proper use and potential risks of using AI tools,” he says. “And, finally, designate leadership positions to make AI decisions for the company and serve as a resource for employees.”
If you look for ways to leverage AI while monitoring and addressing challenges as they arise, you can be ready to deploy the technology as a strategic asset that enhances business and drives innovation, efficiency, and engagement.
