Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a buzzword that’s been common within the business industry for a few years now. As far as the technology goes, it seems like this system of tools is poised to bring even more advantages to companies in the near future. According to a 2021 McKinsey & Company survey, 56% of all respondents reported AI adoption in at least one function of their business, up from 50% in 2020. The share of respondents who reported at least 5% of earnings before interest and taxes attributable to AI also increased to 27% up from 22% in the previous survey. 

The benefits of using AI-fueled applications — to gather data and alleviate employee strain, among other things — are touted as being many. This includes the ability to assume mundane but essential tasks, cutting back on the time and resources companies have traditionally spent on these same measures in the past. Still, understanding the best way to make the most of this technology for your specific business needs and structure makes all the difference. The following are some AI technology adoptions that business owners might want to consider when it comes to using these tools to better their business practices, depending on their overall goals.

AI Usage Case No. 1: Gathering, extracting, and analyzing data

How it helps: Depending on the type of business and long-term objectives, utilizing AI solutions to gather, extract, and analyze data is an easy way to save precious employee resources that could be better utilized elsewhere. Using these tools to answer the “what” and “why” of the intelligence you gather will also help business owners learn more about their users, pivot their business plans, and make strategic hires in departments where they might want to increase focus. On a larger scale, the public data that is produced by AI products is helping businesses better understand upcoming trends, allowing them to capitalize on potential new market value.

For example: Implementing an AI Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system within your existing platform allows the program to read documents like invoices, purchase orders, and receipts, and send the pertinent data straight to your document management systems. It also extracts and underscores the essential data that allows business owners to make educated corporate decisions more quickly.

AI Usage Case No. 2: Providing better customer service 

How it helps: Leveraging AI to improve your contact center’s customer service can help your business offer a frictionless, more connected experience to customers. Although a customer could require help at any given time or day, providing a 24/7 live operator to respond to customers any time they’re in need might not be feasible. On the other hand, instituting a chatbot and enlisting AI-gathered data to supply a “frequently asked” section online likely is. Businesses can also learn more about customer behavior patterns and speed up response times with the use of AI data, which also helps when it comes to building a loyal customer base and offering a seamless customer experience through the utilization of these systems.

For example: Organizations that institute virtual agents and AI chatbots to triage customer complaints and inquiries — whether that’s on websites, messaging apps, mobile apps, or social networking sites — have seen a 70% reduction in customer inquiries by phone, chat, and email, all while customer satisfaction is up 33%. 

AI Usage Case No. 3: Improving meeting takeaways and information gathering 

How it helps: In one of its simplest forms, AI technology can help busy people schedule, stay on task during, and walk away with clear to-dos from meetings.

For example: Whatever your meeting needs, there’s likely an AI assist that can help. For example, the Fellow App takes detailed meeting minutes that are linked to specific calendar events, keeps a record of decisions made during those meetings, and makes it easy to assign next steps and action items once you leave.

AI Usage Case No. 4: Reimagining workflows and roles

How it helps: Many executives and business owners have a common goal of outsourcing or downgrading the number of administrative tasks that bog down their (and their employees’) days. By installing AI systems in strategic places, especially where repetition is involved, employees can free up valuable time to focus on more complex and creative issues, thereby increasing their overall company impact. Case in point: Organizations that have undergone significant changes to workflows or added new roles are almost 1.5 times more likely to achieve outcomes to a high degree, according to Deloitte Insights.

For example: Chatbots don’t just help improve customer service. This type of AI software application is used to handle simple online chat conversations so that human employees can put their talents to work elsewhere.  

General anxiety over machine intelligence and nervousness about the time and financial resources that it takes to implement AI within a business may hold some leaders back from doing so. The truth, though, is that most companies can profit by installing a few strategic AI-assisted applications. The situations listed above are just the tip of the iceberg, but if you’re looking for ways to save time, make your customers and employees happier, or simply get smarter, faster data about your company overall, they’re a good place to start.