It is no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications are currently of great interest to our customers. What does AI specifically mean for us? Should we start with small steps or take big leaps right away? Or should we actually rethink our entire operation?
Our customers are particularly interested in the following questions:
- How do we gain sufficient understanding of AI and its possibilities?
- How do we build a solid foundation for utilising AI?
- How do we take the first steps, experiment, learn, and scale the use of AI?
- How do we rethink knowledge work and enhance it with AI?
- How do we design and deliver better digital services with the help of AI?
- How does AI accelerate us towards autonomous machinery and devices?
As AI is being harnessed as a practical resource, it’s worthwhile to consider it comprehensively from various perspectives.
The four lenses of AI transformation
At Gofore, we always approach digital transformation through four lenses: business-wise, ethically-balanced, people-driven, and tech-savvy. Each of these are necessary when implementing the profound changes related to AI within organisations. Let’s take a closer look at these four lenses.
Business-wise means that clear business objectives have been set for the use of AI, and the organisation has the capability to evaluate and prioritise AI use cases based on desired impact. Even though every employee in the organisation could create a fun cat video using AI in five minutes, it’s hardly aligned with the organisation’s strategy. Instead, if the marketing team creates a brand-aligned advertisement using AI in five minutes, it begins to show clear efficiency. If AI is employed to conduct extensive market analyses and evaluate various scenarios to support decision-making, it can provide transformative benefits to the organisation’s strategic work. The business impact multiplies as AI is deployed more widely – various AI assistants enhancing individual work by, for example, an hour per day offer significant productivity gains on a large scale.
Ethically-balanced refers to the ongoing ethical consideration within organisations on how AI is utilised and integrated into everyday activities. It’s important to establish rules and operating principles for the use of data and AI on an ethically sustainable basis. AI solutions and algorithms must be interpreted to ensure their functionality from an ethical perspective as well. For instance, facial recognition solutions could benefit many businesses, but in their current state, they are unethical due to concerns such as privacy infringement, potential misuse, discrimination, and often, even legal aspects.
The third lens is people-driven. AI should inherently assist and serve human needs, both in work and daily life. At the same time, it challenges and alters our mindset and daily routines. It’s crucial to ensure that people receive support in using AI and aren’t left to fend for themselves. Successful organisational changes begin with getting people excited about the new. This is particularly emphasised with AI because its potential uses are limited only by imagination – it’s about a change in mindset that requires support for adoption. Transitioning to AI-assisted work in the workplace might falter, for example, due to improper use of technology, leading to the dismissal of AI tools as a waste of time. This underscores the critical importance of investing in change management to ensure the successful adoption of AI applications.
Lastly, tech-savvy. Technologies are enablers and should be explored through experimentation. Especially with AI, it’s not wise to lock into the first option, as we are in the early stages of radical development cycles. This means that it’s essential to actively monitor technological developments and strive to understand their possibilities, limitations, and risks. With AI, as with other technological innovations, certain principles apply. The technological foundation must be solid when harnessing AI for the organisation’s needs. This involves building sustainable data, architectural, and cloud service capabilities.
Remember to view the world through these four lenses right from the start when harnessing AI for your organisation’s support!
