Artificial intelligence can be asked practically any question.
But many corporations are turning to consulting services instead when they have questions about how to employ the technology.
Giving AI advise is becoming a larger portion of the work for many firms. According to a spokesman, PwC is currently assisting about 900 of its top 1,000 consulting customers with integrating AI into their operations.
Part of the reason McKinsey & Company achieved record revenue in 2023 was the surge in generative AI. AI now accounts for about 40% of the work done by the organization. According to Ben Ellencweig, a senior partner who oversees worldwide alliances, acquisitions, and partnerships for McKinsey’s AI division, QuantumBlack, a large portion of that is currently shifting to GenAI.
For its part, a spokesman for Boston Consulting Group stated that the company now receives a fifth of its revenue from AI, with a large portion of that work consisting of advising clients on GenAI.
According to Allison Bailey, the head of BCG’s people and organization practice, the main topic of discussion 18 months ago was “what is GenAI. The question of the day is: How can I use AI to genuinely create value and effect significant change in the way we operate?
Some organizations are asking advisers how to get started, while others concentrate on how AI might change corporate playbooks. The question might be as straightforward as determining the best areas to allocate funds and expertise for AI.
According to Bailey, the “people topics” are essential to the calculation. Companies are interested in learning how to encourage employees to use the technology.
According to Greg Sward, head of strategy at KPMG US for technology, media, and telecommunications, some corporate tech leaders question their level of expertise.
He told that a lot of CIOs are worried that they lack the necessary expertise. In addition, they are concerned about the regulatory landscape and how best to manage technology.
In order to gather their best advice on AI, BI contacted a number of consultancies to discuss the most frequent questions they receive. These are a handful of the themes they found.
Where to start?
Many advisors claim that many businesses are still figuring out how they might use GenAI and AI.
Companies that are new to AI should begin by posing these fundamental queries, according to Jim Rowan, principal of Deloitte Consulting and leader in the AI market activation space.
- What do we want to accomplish with the use of AI?
- Do we have the systems, resources, and expertise necessary to enable deployment?
- Have we talked about issues like data governance, privacy concerns, and possible biases?
If a business can respond to such inquiries, it ought to list the applications that the technology will support. Then, Rowan continued, make sure you’re truly accomplishing your goals by carefully measuring and monitoring its performance.
Vlad Lukic, global head of BCG’s tech & digital advantage practice, says businesses need to manage their data well as well. That is the essential foundation for teaching GenAI. Making sure you have everything under control in terms of data is the first step. He told that this allows for greater seamlessness later on, and that’s where the magic is.
It was informed by Roy Singh, global leader of Bain & Company’s advanced analytics practice, that individuals who are just starting out with AI should concentrate on short-term objectives such as understanding the technology or increasing productivity.
Enhancing employees’ abilities
AI-focused businesses are aware that technology is frequently only one component of the solution. Keeping employees up to date is another element.
PwC’s Chief Products and Technology Officer Joe Atkinson told that rather than hiring AI specialists—who are in great demand—it is imperative to train staff members on generative AI.
It might not be as difficult as it seems to get employees to use the tools. According to Atkinson, practically any employee in a business might use technology to produce goods or services or to work more effectively because it is so widely available.
“It’s important to build excitement for AI adoption and communicate openly,” he stated. Hence, businesses ought to organize hackathons and other similar gatherings, promote innovation, and inform employees about how artificial intelligence (AI) might improve their productivity.
Reinventing your business
Certain organizations will be more impacted by AI advancements than others.
Additionally, businesses in sectors where artificial intelligence is already requiring a rewrite of business models must consider carefully how to transform processes through the use of generative AI.
Bain’s Singh mentioned the grocery industry. He claimed that businesses like Instacart and Carrefour are using AI to “invent the next-generation customer experience,” not only to increase productivity.
According to Atkinson of PwC, most businesses should be adaptable enough to take advantage of new advancements, regardless of how much they may have experimented with AI.
He recommends that businesses use an open architectural approach when developing AI systems, which is a method of creating software that makes it simple to add, update, or replace components.
A return on investment
According to Singh of Bain, businesses frequently ponder what kind of financial advantages and productivity increases they may anticipate from deploying AI.
Still, he claims that businesses are beginning to notice quantifiable benefits from AI, occasionally even significant advancements. This could be in the fields of finance, human resources, or software engineering.
Many businesses, particularly those with a large number of knowledge workers working desk jobs, should expect to see productivity gains of 15% to 20%, according to Singh. It can occasionally be much higher. According to him, firms can see a 50% increase in productivity when AI is able to handle repetitive activities.
That does not imply that each employee will always get their half of the time back. However, someone working in marketing, financial services compliance, or a life sciences regulatory function might eventually receive back the equivalent of a full day’s labor if the time required to execute some tasks is halved.
While significant efficiency benefits may take a corporation two to three years to achieve, Singh noted that the possibility is enormous.
He stated that it’s crucial to have realistic expectations on how novel AI will be for numerous businesses.
Singh remarked, “We should all have the humility to acknowledge that we’re still very early in the adoption cycle.”
