How to leverage

AI into your existing

investments
A guide for organisations ready to leverage
AI to maximize business outcomes.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionised
industries and improved the lives of countless
people across the globe.

Despite the rapid adoption of AI, some people still harbour doubts
about the technology, ranging from concerns about job replacement to
fears of AI world domination. Nonetheless, the impact that AI has had
on the world is undeniable.

Today, we are living in a time where AI is attainable to all — no hardware

required. You can easily find a variety of photo-generating apps ready
for instant use in the app store on your phone. Additionally, you can log
into your Spotify account from your computer, phone, or television and
explore an extensive selection of music recommendations using OpenAI
technology.1 AI is no longer only for tech-savvy professionals and
companies with deep pockets — it's within reach for everyone.

In this ebook, we'll explore trends in AI implementation and ways to

leverage AI within your existing infrastructure. We'll cover the following:

01 Top reasons why organisations are jumping on the AI train 03

02 Which industries are leading in AI-implementation 06

03 How to begin your AI journey 08

04 How to identify value 09

05 Your to-do list 11

Let's get started!

01 Top reasons why
organisations are jumping
on the AI train
AI has many applications, particularly in the business world, where its popularity is
on the rise. Organisations seeking to fully leverage and maximise AI can benefit from
understanding how these technologies can be suitable for specific tasks, establishing
a project list based on their business requirements, and implementing strategies for
expanding its use throughout the company. Sounds straightforward, right?

The truth is, this is where many organisations encounter AI streamlines back-office administrative
challenges — identifying the reasons for using AI. & financial processes
Companies know that implementing AI can provide them
Companies use process automation to automate
with a competitive edge, but they struggle to determine
processes. One way they accomplish this is by using
how to use it and which problems to solve.
robotic process automation (RPA), which are code robots
In a study in the Harvard Business Review, 152 AI that automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such
projects were analyzed within the business domain, as record updates and data transfers, from multiple IT
revealing that AI can address three business needs: systems. This type of AI is well-suited for environments
process automation, cognitive insight, and cognitive with multiple back-end systems.
engagement.2 Let’s delve deeper into why these business
needs are pivotal to AI success.

EXAMPLE
When NASA launched an RPA pilot on a shared
server for HR and three other business areas,
all were successful. For HR, 86% of transactions
were completed without human assistance.
NASA is presently incorporating additional
RPA bots with advanced intelligence levels
organisation-wide.

RPAs are code robots that act like

humans, inputting and consuming
information from multiple IT systems.

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AI searches for patterns to predict
outcomes and interpret significance
Powered by deep learning, cognitive insight analytics
take a vast amount of a company’s data to search for
patterns to enhance analytical capabilities. Machine-
learning includes deep learning, which imitates the brain
by achieving tasks like speech and image recognition.
Although data curation can be time-consuming, machine
learning can recognise probable matches between
databases and across formats.

Here are three ways machine learning models surpass

traditional analytics:

1. More data-intensive and detailed

2. Better trained on a specific part of the data set

3. Get more intelligent over time by using new data for

making predictions and refining categorization

EXAMPLE
In its first year, GE saved $80 million by using
cognitive insight to merge supplier data, remove
redundancies, and renegotiate contracts
previously handled at the business unit level.

Cognitive insight ranks second among

common types of AI used for business
purposes, according to the Harvard
Business Review.2

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AI improves engagement with employees AI can transform businesses with profitable
and customers innovations & enhanced efficiency
Cognitive engagement engages employees and When considering the business needs that AI can help to
customers using natural language processing chatbots, address, two themes emerge.
intelligent agents, and machine learning. Generative AI
1. Investing in AI impacts an organisation’s bottom line.
platforms like ChatGPT and Jasper fit into this category.
From cost savings to opening new revenue streams,
Cognitive engagement involves:
infusing AI into your business leads to nice dividends.
→ The use of intelligent agents that offer 24/7 customer 2. AI is not replacing jobs, it’s improving them. AI opens
service doors to more opportunities. In the examples above,
→ Product and service recommendation systems for AI is used as an extra set of eyes or to automate
retailers that increase personalisation, engagement, mundane tasks to free up workers' time to tackle
and sales bigger person-to-person challenges, such as solving
→ Recommendation systems for healthcare treatment escalated customer problems.
that help providers develop personalised care plans
based on each patient's unique health status and past
medical history

Cognitive engagement is still being tested. Organisations

using it are primarily looking to implement it for routine
communications while transitioning customer-support
personnel to more complex activities such as handling
escalating customer issues, conducting extended
unstructured dialogues, or reaching out to customers
before they call in with problems.

EXAMPLE
SEBank in Sweden employed Amelia, a realistic
intelligent-agent avatar, to provide IT support to
its employees as an internal helpdesk. SEBank
is currently testing Amelia's performance and
customer response by making it available to
customers on a limited basis.

While Harvard Business Review

reported that this type of AI is the
least common, we're betting it'll make
a huge impact in the coming years.

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02 Industries leading the
AI-implementation race
A 2022 MIT Technology Review Insights report revealed that retail and manufacturing
industries are more ambitious than other industries about becoming AI-driven.3

Industries where AI leaders are most numerous

Retail/Consumer Goods

28%
Automotives/Manufacturing

28%
Life Science and Healthcare

20%
Media/Entertainment

19%
Telecommunications

18%
Power and Utilities

18%
Oil and Gas

18%
Financial Services

14%
Technology

8%
Logistics/Transport

7%
Government / Public Sector

7%

Source: MIT Technology Review Insights Survey, 2022; 600 CIOs, CTOs, CDAOs, and other senior data and technology executives from 14 different industries
distributed among North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

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The report also provided insight into how leaders view We turned to AI for additional examples
the adoption of AI, including successfully scaling AI: of how AI can add value, and here's what
we found:

Predictive maintenance
AI algorithms analyse sensor data from machines in
real-time to identify patterns and detect anomalies
that could indicate potential failures before they
occur, helping companies prevent costly unplanned
downtime and optimise maintenance schedules.

Quality control
AI-powered image recognition systems can
quickly analyse images of manufactured products
to identify defects and anomalies that human
inspectors might miss, thereby reducing the
likelihood of faulty products making it to market
and saving time and money for manufacturers.

78% of executive respondents Supply chain optimisation

said that scaling AI and machine AI can be used to optimise supply chain
management, improving the accuracy of demand
learning use cases to create
forecasting, reducing inventory costs, and
business value is a top priority.
optimising delivery routes.

Process optimisation
AI algorithms can analyse production data to
Creating business value in manufacturing and industrial identify opportunities for process optimisation, such
settings is most commonly linked to improving efficiency, as reducing waste or improving energy efficiency.
productivity, and quality control.

The manufacturing industry has been trailblazing process

Asset tracking & management
AI-powered asset tracking and management
optimisation since the industrial revolution in the late 18
systems can monitor equipment and inventory
and 19 centuries, so it’s no surprise that they continue to
in real-time, optimising resource allocation and
lead the way.
reducing the risk of lost or stolen assets.
Source: ChatGPT

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03 How to begin your
AI journey
We’ve introduced the steps at a high level — from identifying and understanding
technologies that are suitable for specific tasks, to establishing a project list
based on business requirements, to implementing strategies for expanding its
use throughout the company. Here are steps in more detail that you can take
toward leveraging AI for your business:

Here are steps in more detail that you can 3. Implement strategies for expanding its use
take toward leveraging AI for your business: throughout your company.
To ensure organisational success, detailed plans
1. Identify and understand the technologies for achieving goals, scaling up, and implementing
that are suitable for specific tasks. automation are crucial. Collaboration between
This is a crucial step for helping to identify the AI technology experts and process owners is essential, as is
combination that best suits your needs — process integrating cognitive technologies with existing systems
automation, cognitive insight, or cognitive engagement. and processes. Scaling up with these technologies
Each AI has its own strengths and weaknesses, and requires addressing specific task limitations. Therefore,
organisations must familiarise themselves with them to discussing scaling considerations with IT leaders
understand which type will suit their use case(s). We before or during the pilot phase ensures successful
recommend categorising your organisation’s problem implementation across the company.
types. For example, is your use case associated with
person-to-person engagement? Or is it a data problem
with too many bottlenecks? If it’s an engagement problem,
cognitive engagement might be the solution. If it’s a data
problem, you may fare well with cognitive insight.

2. Establish a project list based on business

requirements.
Business requirements will vary from industry to industry.
One type of AI that's suitable to solve problems in the
automotive industry may not be suitable for the financial
industry. For example, rule-based expert systems and
robotic process automation are transparent in how they
do their work, but neither is capable of learning and
improving. On the other hand, deep learning is great
at learning from large volumes of labeled data, but it’s
almost impossible to understand how it creates the
models it does. The problem of the "black box" can arise
in heavily regulated industries, such as financial services,
because regulators require an explanation for why
decisions are made in a particular way.

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04 How to identify value
Rather than dive into the details regarding the financial and accounting equations to
measure value — such as return on investment (ROI), internal rate of return (IRR), and
net present value (NPV) — this section will focus on determining common business
areas where value uplift can be measured.

A critical part of identifying and prioritising your AI project Direct benefits of AI may include:
list is evaluating the value uplift of each project. The upfront
cost of developing products for new AI use cases can be Cost savings: Reduce rework costs with the
high, and your organisation may have limited resources same resources or reduce resources while
to take on new projects. That’s why it is vital to prioritise maintaining rework costs.
opportunities that get the most bang for your buck. Several Increased productivity: Increase throughput
months or even years may be needed for use cases to with the current resources or reduce resources
deliver the payoffs. In fact, many new AI projects fail to while maintaining current throughput. In
meet expectations because of the following reasons: combination with robotic process automation,
→ Cost overrun small teams can effectively utilise generative
AI, time-series prediction, and computer vision
→ Over-optimistic forecast of benefits
technologies to do more with fewer resources.
→ Inability to hire the right talent or find the right
external solution provider New products and services: Create new
→ Inability to incorporate the AI solution into business products and services in areas that were
workflows previously infeasible in the absence of AI
using emerging technologies, such as large
→ Inability to prioritise scarce resources, such as data
language models.
scientists, appropriately
Improved quality: Use automated or assisted
Therefore, it is important to ensure the upfront investment defect recognition to efficiently reduce errors.
can justify the longer-term benefits and deliver the right AI-assisted additive manufacturing can be
ROI over time. The benefits of AI projects and products used to help workers make fewer errors when
can be both direct and indirect. assembling electronic or mechanical devices,
industrial food preparation, and similar use cases.

Increased working capital: Improve cash

flow using state-of-the-art financial risk
management.

Faster decision-making: Expedite decision-

making, enhance operational efficiency, agility,
and competitiveness; Adapt to evolving market
dynamics, seize emerging opportunities, and
address risks for improved performance and
increased value.

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Indirect benefits may include: As you mature on your AI journey, you will want to
estimate value uplift before starting a project, then
Enhancing customer satisfaction: As you measure actual uplift after implementation.
reduce error rates and rework costs, your
customers will start to notice. The improved
quality of your products and services can
lead to enhanced customer satisfaction and EXAMPLE
improvement to your company’s reputation. An electronics manufacturer has an ongoing
quality issue with one of its product lines. They
Attracting new talent: This can lead to a loss of
have identified an AI solution that will help them
motivation and, ultimately, turnover. Investing
inspect items as they come off the production
in new and emerging technologies like AI have
line and measure the following:
a secondary benefit of attracting and retaining
talent. Staffing challenges remain high, and → Rework cost of each error, including labor,
attracting and retaining talent is critical to materials, and customer complaint remediation
company success. A lack of investment in → Gross revenue loss from customer attrition
technology can signal to tech workers and → Percent of the market that could be captured if
others that the company is not committed to the error rate improved
their success.

Identifying what to measure before and after

implementing AI solutions will be a driving factor in your
organisation’s future, so you must invest time in this
part of the process — and we’re sure that chief financial
officers everywhere will rejoice to see your value plans.

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05 Your to-do list
To embark on an effective AI journey, follow these steps to identify opportunities,
select technology, and create a pilot launch plan. Having an internal champion and
redesigning workflows systematically are essential to a successful implementation.

1. Identify opportunities 4. Select a technology

Assess areas of the business that could benefit the Consider the AI tools at your disposal and match them up with
most from AI and start to categorise them, focusing your use cases to evaluate whether or not they can solve it in
on bottlenecks, scaling challenges, and the people a value-generating way. Revisit the first part of the article that
and systems used today. Try to pinpoint areas of outlines the three types of cognitive technologies companies
opportunity with the goal of developing a project are implementing today — process automation, cognitive
portfolio, and do so with a small internal working group insight, and cognitive engagement — to identify how to match
or a consulting company. use cases properly. And if you find yourself overwhelmed or
feel you need a bit of guidance, you can reach out to a 3rd
2. Assign an internal AI champion party organization to help you in the ideation phase.
Having an internal champion that leads your
organisation’s working group on the AI journey is essential 5. Create a pilot launch plan
to maintaining momentum and ensuring a successful Applying AI capabilities organisation-wide will have its set
pilot launch. This person will serve as a liaison between of challenges. To identify them quickly, create pilot projects
your organisation and third-party vendors and a project that will allow for simultaneous testing of various value-
manager and hype person for the team. generating technologies at once. If multiple pilots will run
at once, make sure they each have an internal leader who
3. Determine the use case oversees its performance to serve as the point of contact

Once you establish your project list, conduct a deep dive for everyone involved in its testing. The internal leaders

into each one to figure out which ones have the potential should have a set of criteria to look out for that will serve

to create value and contribute to business success with nicely when your organisation’s working group evaluates

the help of AI. Develop some key questions that center performance to determine which pilots will move forward in

around how critical the use case is to your business company-wide adoption.
and the difficulties associated with addressing it with
AI — from technical and organisational standpoints. Also, 6. Document the new process
consider whether your use case(s) is beneficial in the To ensure that machines and humans work together
short- and long-term. Your list of questions can serve as effectively, it's important to redesign workflows
an internal ranking that will guide you to a solid decision systematically. This will help them complement each
of which use case(s) to focus on.
other's strengths and compensate for weaknesses.
Additionally, it will help with the company-wide rollout.

AI isn't going away anytime soon, and its potential remains largely untapped. As time goes on the technology
continues to evolve and improve, its implementation will be as easy to attain as downloading an image-creating
application to your phone.

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Aicadium is ready to take
on the challenge with you
If your use case involves safety, productivity, or change
detection in visuals, we’d love to explore them with you.
Contact us for a demo today.

Sources
1. Meet Your DJ: Spotify Debuts a New AI DJ, Right in Your Pocket, 2023, Spotify
2. Artificial Intelligence for the Real World: 3 Things AI Can Already Do For Your Company, 2018, Harvard Business Review
3. CIO vision 2025: Bridging the gap between BI and AI, 2022, MIT Technology Review Insights