To exploit artificial intelligence, we must learn from e-commerce

This article was first published in Børsen

Organisations are forced to deal with new technology waves and the challenges that accelerating growth brings with it. We see technologies creating trends, like mobile computing that boosts online trade, clouds that give access to more computing power and artificial intelligence that extracts value from the vast amounts of data collected constantly and everywhere.

Organisations unable to get and use innovative technology will be outperformed. So, it is necessary to proactively deal with technological trends by learning lessons from the past.

We must learn from the past

Many organisations have been challenged by competitors with a more effective approach to adopting technological trends - Barnes & Noble was surpassed by Amazon. It’s an example of a company taking advantage of technological opportunities – in this case e-commerce – to achieve significant growth through increased access to a global market of private consumers. A growth that has since accelerated and made retail both mobile and flexible. On the other hand, a lack of adoption had negative consequences for many organisations, and there are many indications that artificial intelligence will create just as radical a change as e-commerce did.

Organisations that have not adopted e-commerce have initially seen the impact on sales and marketing opportunities. This has lost revenue in the absence of growing sales channels and new global markets, limited flexibility in pricing and competitiveness, and cut scalability. It has also imposed subsequent unnecessary costs across the organisation.

In addition to the direct negative consequences of failing to adopt new technologies, our experience is that there are knock-on effects. These include a lack of resilience, reduced insight into new market opportunities that can significantly impact the product portfolio, and less competitiveness on delivery time, distribution networks and response times.

Organisations do not need to adopt all new technologies - but it is crucial for them to understand the consequences of not doing so.

Artificial intelligence is a new technological wave that you should not miss

In the same way e-commerce highlighted sales and marketing opportunities, artificial intelligence is enhancing the competitiveness of customer-facing platforms. Artificial intelligence can create better customer experiences by providing tailored products and services, offering 24-hour customer service, or anticipating trends in customer behaviour.

To adopt artificial intelligence, it is crucial that organisations not only look at short-term effects, but consider the long-term effects of not adopting it in relation to readiness, affordability and competitiveness. Organisations should create a culture that sheds light on the potential of artificial intelligence and is geared to the exponential growth of new technologies and emerging technological waves. But how is it done most effectively?

The fact that an organisation develops a neural network or a proof-of-concept does not mean that its business is supported by artificial intelligence. To benefit from the long-term effects of artificial intelligence, it needs a clear vision for systematic data collection, making new demands for interaction between technical and non-technical proficiency profiles, establishing key competencies for managing artificial intelligence across the organisation, proactively seeking automation opportunities and continuously assuring the quality of data across the business.

Similarly, parallels can be drawn to the experience of e-commerce adoption: a business launching an online shop does not mean it’s taking advantage of online trading opportunities. Organisations that have been able to effectively take advantage of long-term effects have had to design the basic principles of the organisation to exploit the capabilities of technology. From achieving crucial new insights into consumer behaviour through A / B testing, to designing business processes that allow faster response times and meet consumer needs among online shoppers.

We believe that departments across the organisation should ask themselves:

• How will artificial intelligence shape our industry?
• How can technology shape our processes - and our competitors?
• How will AI change our way of interacting with customers and the products we offer?
• What new market opportunities will occur?
• And what efficiency potential will fall in the wake of a broad adaptation of this trend?

Only then will you ensure that others do not outperform your organisation.