The global economic climate has created opportunities for many big businesses to prosper but on the other hand, has left its adverse effect on many small and medium-sized firms. The scope for improvements with the help of AI is vast and varied in different sectors of business. Large- scale businesses are spending highly to improve the contributions of AI and to reap the maximum benefits out of their investment as they have understood the potential of AI to conquer the industry by leveraging this innovation.
Big businesses have plenty of benefits when it comes to AI. They have more data (a crucial driver for success), more expertise, more potential for growth, and more venture capital. Fortunately, Small-Medium Businesses can use AI suppliers and consultancy companies to incorporate AI without recruiting huge teams or incurring huge amounts of investment.
According to the Vistage report, Small-Medium Businesses use AI mainly in the following four areas:
1. Business Operations: Any business that sells a product or service can apply AI to make better products and market them faster. The customers are heavily dependent on technology and with the help of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the companies are better able to understand the needs of the customers and offer personalized products for the customers. When the software is launched in the market, the incoming reports about the utilization of the software can be helpful in determining the relative value that it can create for the users.
Manufacturers use AI to improve the efficiency of the whole production cycle, including predictive monitoring, inventory control, and supply chain management. Vendors emphasizing on the business operation include LeanDNA, Noodle.ai, and Petuum. They design the software to assist the company in their marketing work.
2. Customer engagement: Businesses across the globe are trying to get new clients and at the same time retain the existing customers. Since AI may help selling teams concentrate on highly potential customers rather than wasting their time deciding who are their target customers, this can help the business expand in the minimum amount of time. Therefore, AI will improve the performance of the sales rep and improve his efficiency by recommending the next appropriate step to push the prospect into a potential customer.
A client expects a business to offer a seamless and clear experience. Gathering real-time data and creating assumptions on what consumers are going to buy and what they are expected to order next will improve the quality of service and the customers’ overall experience with the brand. Software developers focusing on consumer experience include Salesforce, Pointillist, and InsideView.
3. Talent acquisition: Many Small-Medium Businesses treat their workers as their most important asset. As the company aspires to hire the right prospects, but AI helps to improve their performance and maintain the best employees. AI can scan volumes of data set and scrutinize the skills needed for the job and identify the right applicant needed for the job faster than humans would do.
In the workplace, AI will help to plan a mobile workforce and ensure the presence of the right person, at the right place for the right job. AI can detect and predetermine any turnover risk and define the workflow to boost the retention rate for the company. Talent recruitment firms include Perfect, Skedulo, and Presidio.
4. Finance: According to McKinsey, the CFO will be the one to derive the greatest benefit from AI, because it can become a good forecaster of events rather than a just a mere reporter of information. AI will also help to enhance decision-making, such as irregular credit card charges, investing, and underwriting. AI will benefit from transaction-level data to produce real-time income, spending, and cash flow predictions.
In certain cases, if a business wants to reduce expenses by shutting down a few stores, it is important for the management to know which shops to shut and which to keep intact, to actually cut off the expenses and gain maximum benefit. Modern indicators make it easier to forecast what’s going to happen to the shoppers in a single shop in the region-if the management decides to close the shop.
Hence, it is highly predictable that even the Medium and small businesses can benefit highly by implementing AI for important decision-making purposes and various other tasks, which can be hefty for human beings and can take a number of days to get a result. AI not only improves efficiency but also enhances the entire decision-making process.
