It cannot be denied that Artificial Intelligence has been one of the biggest topics of 2024, with many different commentators and outlets having an opinion on the prospects for using AI in your business.
Of course, we would agree that it needs to be investigated, especially if you’re looking for opportunities for gaining a competitive edge. But as always, there are some considerations.
In this blog, we look at three questions to think about to get you started on your AI journey.
What could AI do in my business?
This is a huge question, and one that probably deserves far more words than just this blog!
But before we start the conversation, it’s worth being clear on what we are talking about. Generative AI is perhaps the thing that most people are familiar with right now. This is where you pose a question, and the AI engine uses that prompt to either answer a question, or perhaps create an image etc.
Machine learning, is where large subsets of data are used to enable a machine to ‘learn’. For example, ChatGPT has been learning based on huge sets of data which have been taken from Google.
Most of the bigger ERP systems are now able to use some form of Generative AI or machine learning to assist with analysis of reporting and planning. An easy use case to imagine is that of Accounts Payable.
Most of the ERPs have automation around the receipt of AP Payments, meaning that some of the processing of Purchase Invoices can be part of a workflow. For example, the invoices could be matched automatically, and then any exceptions can be forwarded to the relevant person who can then manually intervene. This is, of course, nothing new.
Where machine learning can add to this is that it can start to look at where the exceptions are happening. Perhaps looking across the supplier’s overall performance (keeping to promised dates, price changes over time, etc.) and offer suggestions on vendors who may not be performing as well as you would like. Giving you more information to make more robust business decisions.
However, this is just scratching the surface. As we generate more data in our business, machine learning can be used to gain insights on even more than just the purchasing process. It could be used to spot trends that may take a human day of work to see, such as forecasting and planning trends. And then there’s the possibility of adding in external data to consider – weather patterns, the oil price, high street footfall, etc., etc.
With businesses needing to be increasingly more competitive, these sorts of easily defined, yet otherwise very complex scenarios can be the game changers.
How can AI help me if I am selling a physical product?
We’re probably all very much aware of this part of AI right now. How many of us use Amazon to make purchases, be that books, tools, or well literally anything!
When you look at the home page on either your desktop or an app, the recommendations that are made are fueled by your purchasing habits, which then uses AI to give more accurate recommendations based on the shopping habits of other Amazon users.
OK, that might work well for books or toiletries, but what about other less obvious things?
Several of the main software vendors are showcasing AI in ever more sophisticated business use cases. A great one we’ve seen recently is where a supplier of warehouse equipment is using AI to help their service team recommend when parts need replacing. Meaning that they’re able to fix things in a timelier fashion and undoubtedly increase their customer satisfaction scores to boot.
We have also seen examples where AI is being used to optimise supply chains. This is incredibly important when the costs of materials or components may be increasing, or there are delays due to events out of the supplier’s control.
Having this sort of information at your fingertips, can, again, give you a more competitive edge.
What are the downsides of AI?
Artificial Intelligence does not come without a downside. For one, the amount of data that Machine Learning needs to be able to get up to the same level as a human can be phenomenal. Which is why we have only just started to see the advances in generative AI.
In most cases you would need to pay for the use of data, and there must be a real use case to make this beneficial. Most businesses can’t afford to buy into this and then not use it to its full potential! However, if you’re in the market now for a new ERP, but you’re not ready for AI, this must be part of your considerations going forward.
There is also another consideration, from an environmental standpoint, that AI uses a lot of processing power, and so whilst it may be able to complete tasks quicker than a human counterpart, the energy costs can make it less of a green choice. If sustainability is important to you, then this will be an aspect you want to consider.
There are also some healthy debates about intellectual property and more besides. However, we don’t think these downsides should put you off looking at if AI could be part of your business going forward.
There are so many ways that you can use Artificial Intelligence within your business. So, it can feel incredibly confusing. It may be that you look at starting out even more simply than AI and look at how you can start to use automation in your business, with examples like the Purchase Receipt automation. Just because something is there doesn’t mean you need to leap in right away to use it!
This has just scratched the surface of what is a huge topic, so we will be writing more about AI in future blogs. However, if this is something that you want to investigate as part of your digital transformation, then please get in touch! We can work with you to assess what options are right for you and your business.