“The vast majority of respondents to a recent survey say data is the foundation for making optimal business decisions, delivering better results for customers, and growing their business.”
Without a doubt, business leaders are aware of the value of using data insights to drive growth and improve efficiencies. MIT Technology Review Insights and Pure Storage, recently published a global report, The Artificial Intelligence Imperative: Unlocking Data Insights to Fuel Business Growth and Innovation, featuring responses from over 2300 business leaders from around the world. Over 85% of respondents confirmed: data insights drive better decision making.
And, while almost all respondents agreed that data was crucial for growth and innovation, they struggled with storing, analyzing and interpreting huge amounts of data. Not to mention that all of that analyzing and interpreting of the data has to be done quickly in order to get data insights that give a company the ability to pivot and respond promptly to changes.
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Confronting the Challenges of Data Analysis
Acting on the insights provided by data analysis can allow companies to innovate faster and respond creatively to customer needs, making them more competitive than companies that don’t have the capacity to analyze or interpret data quickly. At this stage, what many companies lack is a dedicated budget to invest in achieving those insights and, perhaps more importantly, the professional talent required to make creating and implementing a data processing strategy a reality. In the survey, 40% of those responding stated they faced issues retaining talent in data analytics professions. This is probably even more true with SMEs, and not so much with big corporations, like Google, Amazon, Netflix, etc.
Now, we get to the interesting part, AI-based solutions. MIT Technology Review proposes turning to AI, more specifically, AI for data processing and recommendation engines. Next-generation technologies like AI allow business leaders to focus on making strong strategic decisions. By implementing new and efficient ways of processing, analyzing, and interpreting data run by AI systems, more and more companies can focus on their core offerings and save valuable time. The number one benefit from AI driven strategies might just be improved efficiency, especially in processes.
In fact, looking to the future:
- 83% believe AI is set to change the way we process and interpret data
- Nearly 80% are in the process of exploring new technologies to harness AI capabilities
The Future Is Bright for AI
It’s also important with next-generation technology to understand that any one solution is not a golden key, and placing too much emphasis on one single efficiency can mitigate the benefits that might have been achieved. The same solutions won’t work for every industry and companies with less money to invest in new technologies will have to be creative and learn fast. In fact, applying a dedicated budget to AI solutions was the biggest concern listed amongst the survey respondents. Followed closely by data infrastructure – meaning the process of building the correct infrastructure within the organization to support AI technologies.
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Understanding possible issues upfront can help businesses avoid some of them, and learn from those who have gone before. Clearly, the future is AI and business leaders and individuals alike are excited to discover what is possible with AI, as the potential seems endless. Preparing early and introducing these topics to your company right now, while the technology is still young is the best way to stay ahead of the curve. Lucky for us, it has never been easier to access resources and guidance, especially in the realm of next-generation technology.
