No online business is oblivious to the potential of artificial intelligence. As much as they would like to dive headfirst into using the technology for their own benefit, it could be as much damaging if there is no proper road map to follow. Online businesses can realize the full potential of AI only when they have clearly laid out their business goals. They must identify and narrow down onto the most promising AI opportunities for their business, to gain a competitive edge.
Here in this article, we discuss how online businesses can set strategic AI goals.
Setting Strategic AI Goals for Your Online Business:
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Identify AI Use Cases Specific to Your Business
Online businesses that align their AI strategy to their AI business strategy ensure that they create maximum value for their customers. Firstly, they must jot down their immediate and long term business goals along with the unique challenges that their business faces. Then begins the process of identifying potential solutions for business problems using AI technology. In the end, what they will have would be a hopefully long list of potential AI projects and use cases that can benefit their business. This list will help them explore the multitude of ways in which AI technology would help their organization achieve its strategic business goals. The proposed AI use cases would possibly make the business product more advanced, intelligent or even automated. They could also help the business leverage a deeper understanding of their customers.
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Ranking AI Priorities
No matter how enticing the proposed AI use cases appear from a business perspective, it would be rather unintelligent to pursue all of them at once. Ranking the AI use cases according to their strategic importance to the business paves the way for success. Since the world of AI is fancy, alluring and brimming with affirmative possibilities, it is easy for a hopeful entrepreneur to go astray in the process. In the next point, we discuss why it is vital to link each of the priority AI use cases to the strategic goals of the business.
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Strategic Linking to Business Goals
The top-ranking AI use cases on your priority list often represent the most prominent opportunities that an online business must leverage. Pursuing these priorities can help businesses beat their most significant challenges as well. If a particular AI use case does align with the primary business strategy of your business, there is hardly any point going through the pain to implement it. It’s relatively simple to rank a few short terms; small scale AI projects that are economically viable and easy to implement. This will not only demonstrate the value of AI but also encourage the business stakeholders to sponsor more significant and more advanced projects.
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Define AI Objectives
Just laying out AI objectives can never be enough for online business in a competitive space. There is a need for businesses to scratch beneath the surface and brainstorm on what exactly it is that they are hoping to conquer with the use of AI technology. Is the AI objective targeted at solving a business-critical problem, reduce employee turnover or improve overall outcomes? Businesses must also decide upon the metrics through which they would be willing to measure success. Identifying KPIs for success would help them track progress as they go about trying to achieve their AI objectives.
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AI Approach and the Use of Data
Online business owners must also discuss and weigh various AI approaches such as machine learning, deep learning and computer vision with their AI objectives in perspective. They must also decide the kind of data they would need during the process. It’s best to hire data scientists or professional AI consultants to optimize the use of technology in business operations. With the help of skilled AI engineers, businesses can decide what kind of data they need to meet their AI objectives. Professionals also help you safely navigate the ethical and legal issues involved in context with your AI use cases, for example, consent and data privacy. Decisions like systems, software and hardware to achieve AI objectives also need professional intervention, if you don’t have an inhouse team.
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Implementation and Change Management
Businesses need to define the potential implementation challenges that may serve as a hindrance in the process of achieving the set AI goals. Fore-sighted companies manage AI-related challenges with precision to transform the way they operate.
In the End
As you may have gathered by now, it’s imperative to define the goals for businesses to realize AI-generated benefits. Setting strategic goals involves thinking from the perspective of business stakeholders, customers, and users. Laying out appropriate plans helps businesses create a foundation from which to build AI maturity and helps them navigate the world of existing AI capabilities into solving specific real-world problems and use cases.
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