BUSINESS STRATEGY
What should businesses do to make their AI work : humans first
Whether you have already introduced AI or are just investigating , you need a ‘ humans first ’ approach . It is the quality of your team and customer relationships that matter , and AI has all the potential to help enhance these , and to also destroy them !
Ultimately , your profits will be delivered by your customers so take the time to deeply consider how your AI will impact how your customers think about your brand . After all , we know from bitter personal chatbot experience that it is really yelling out to us , “ This business cares so little about me that it wants to waste a lot of my time so only the determined and desperate eventually get through to a human .”
At the investigation phase , make sure any proposed implementation is treated with a healthy dose of scepticism about the ability of the technology to deliver what is being promised , the unbudgeted on-costs , proposed ROI and , most importantly , what are you risking in terms of human capital and customer service if it is poorly designed and implemented .
If AI is already in place , to get its benefits you may have to re-engineer , but make sure to do this with the involvement of those who are expected to deliver the productivity gains . To successfully implement an AI capability that will drive true competitive advantage , the investment in change management must be your priority , supporting your people so that they understand the reasoning for the change and will ultimately be prepared to own and deliver the productivity improvement targets sought by the business .
Your people need to see how the integration of AI into their working life will make them more effective and successful , not subservient to the machine , with them being able to employ it as a trusted co-pilot to enhance business performance while making the working day better for every employee : the opposite of the experience of too many workers and customers so far . x
Paul Ducie , Partner at Oliver Wight EAME www . intelligentcxo . com
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