Introduction: The Impact of AI on Businesses
The evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will reshape the way businesses are created and organised, ushering in the era of the ‘AI Augmented Company‘.
In the short term (1 year) AI tools will be focused on making businesses more efficient without altering their fundamental structure. This will lead to the redundancy of specialised professional functions such as consultants, designers and marketing experts. But the interesting part will start to happen next.
The Native AI Augmented Company
The concept of the AI augmented company represents a radical change in enterprise architecture. It is a new type of business that from its inception makes use of AI in all its functions. They will have hardly any employees but will be able to achieve billions in revenue.
These businesses will operate with connected and automated systems based on various types of AI. This will allow them to transcend traditional functional silos (marketing, operations, etc.) to give way to intelligent, horizontal processes.
These ‘system-organisations’ will function as an integrated whole, measurable by efficiency and growth metrics. And they will be able to formulate their own business strategies with little human supervision.
Impact of AI on Stablished Businesses
As AI continues to develop and enter all business operations from marketing to management more and more decisions are automated based on data.
Paradoxically due to the democratisation of algorithms brought about by generative AI, the impact of this transformation could be most pronounced in small and medium-sized businesses.
Larger companies, trapped by bureaucratic inertia and their more political dynamics, may be left behind and are likely to seek to control the AI regulatory process in their favour in collusion with governments.
These same large organisations will be able to develop new revenue streams by tapping into the vast amounts of data they generate on a daily basis. This data will be used by a new breed of ‘second-layer’ companies to train AI base models for specific applications.
AI Technology to Enhance Capabilities
On a personal level, it is essential to correctly perceive AI as a tool to expand your capabilities. The same is true for businesses: those that manage to transition to an AI-enhanced version will take the lead.
It is not about automating everything (something quite complex for an established company) but about finding those areas and competitive differences that can be augmented with AI.
So the real challenge of AI is not technical, it is strategic. Open source models and OpenAI’s own offerings and those of other providers make the tools necessary to build your own models available to anyone. Is it worth doing? Only when you have a very technological profile.
The practical solution for most professionals and businesses is to look for a technology partner: you need to choose providers that go beyond just supplying technology, you need know-how.
The Future of AI is Evolution and Collaboration
Contrary to the popular theory of “AI disruption”, the AI augmented company promises a new era of collaboration between humans and technology. Together, they will combine the analytical prowess of AI with human creative thinking to discover innovative business models and management strategies.
A new service industry will emerge to tailor AI to the needs of specific industries. The same thing happened 30 years ago with ERPs when relational database technology took over the market.
At the heart of this transformation are AI Trainers; people competent in customising and overseeing AI models within their organisations. This new role will be a game changer for future work dynamics, and a unique opportunity for many professionals to successfully adapt to an AI-centric environment.
How to Start: Back to Basics
As businesses embark on this journey towards the AI augmented company, it is imperative to go back to basics. The primary goal of a business is invariant: sustainable value creation for customers, employees and shareholders.
Before embarking on any AI augmentation digital transformation project, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of where value is generated. How to successfully systematise processes, and cultivate long-term customer engagement.
The advent of AI augmented companies signals a profound reconfiguration of traditional business organisation and management. As companies transition to the new model, ethical considerations will be paramount in shaping an economic future in which everyone can contribute.
Luis García de la Fuente
https://hal149.comI work in AI and I believe it is an opportunity for everyone. Join me by following my posts or by signing up for HAL149, the custom-trained AI assistant for your company.
