Impact of AI in Business

Deepti Chafekar, PhDData Science Manager, AppZen

What is AI?AI is defined as the ability of a machine to perform cognitive functions associated with human minds

Activities performed by AI systems can include:

● Learning● Planning● Reasoning● Problem Solving● Language understanding ● Creativity

Aspects of AI● Machine Learning: Use statistical

techniques to give machines the ability to learn from training data

input

● Deep learning: Relies on neural networks to engage in nonlinear reasoning and learning at multiple layers

Computation modelObserved result

Recent Advances in AIComputer Vision: Detect images, faces, objects

Natural Language Processing: Understand and interpret human language

Deep Reinforcement Learning: Learn how to attain complex goal

AI Buzz

Over 154,000 AI patents filed worldwide since 2010 (Forbes)Source:Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/02/25/artificial-intelligence-hype-is-real/#bb3c2f725fab

AI startups raised a record high $9.33 billion VC funding in 2018 (PwC MoneyTree Report)Source:Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2019/02/12/venture-capital-funding-for-artificial-intelligence-startups-hit-record-high-in-2018/#147547e341f7

AI Buzz in Business● 51% of companies expect to increase

their AI investment by 10% next year - Deloitte

● 80% of enterprises have some form of AI in production today - Forbes

● 30% of the companies around the world will be using AI in at least one of their sales processes by 2020 - Gartner

● 24 % of businesses currently implement or plan on using AI - Survey by Tech Pro Research

Source:Deloitte Insights https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/cognitive-technologies/ai-investment-by-country.html

Current State of AI

Image from Apro Software:https://apro-software.com/machine-learning-and-deep-learning/

Project Cyc: Mimic the intelligence of 7-8 year old

Where are we with AI?“Our Intelligence makes us human, and AI is an extension of that quality” - Yann LeCun

Image from Digital Cognizant:https://digitally.cognizant.com/narrow-ai-is-limited-but-humans-can-fill-the-gaps-codex4162/

● AI is an extension of our intelligence, it is not a general intelligence yet● Use AI to solve narrow problems ● Not every problem can be solved by data and AI

AI building blocks for business

● Business process automation● Business Analytics● Customer Relations Management● Hiring

Image from https://lhyatesconsulting.com/tips-building-lasting-business/

AI in Business Process Automation

Image from Appian https://www.appian.com/blog/rpa-thing-care/

“Companies can automate at least 30% of their activities” - McKinsey Global Research

AI in business process automation Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

● Use specialized computer programs to automate standardize, repeatable, rule driven business processes

● Labor intensive tasks: processing invoice, claims, receipts, data entry, filling forms can be automated

Image from: https://medium.com/@cigen_rpa/8-real-world-use-cases-for-robotic-process-automation-rpa-in-telecom-850b6815bab7

AI in business process automationBenefits of RPA

● Improved speed and accuracy● Reduce human errors● Increased Employee productivity● Reliability and Consistency● Compliance

AI in business process automationKey Solution Providers

AI in business process automation

● Audit expense reports, contracts, invoices● Automates spend approvals● Reduces spend● Streamline process● Detects Compliance

○ Detect Disbarred Vendors

● Detects fraud○ Duplicate Charges○ Blacklisted Merchants○ Upgrades

AI in Business Analytics

“AI is powering modern decision making by providing descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics”

Image from OSP: https://www.osplabs.com/ai-business-intelligence-analytics/

AI in Business AnalyticsDescriptive

● Smart analysis: AI feeds on big data○ Analyze trends, patterns over time○ Detect anomalies ○ Understand relationships and trends

● Real time insights for faster decision making○ Faster computing, faster models

● Reduce data overload○ Clustering and grouping of data to make it manageable

● Search based capabilities

AI in Business AnalyticsPredictive

● Future forecasts based on past trends, seasonality● Understand cause and effect

Prescriptive

● Recommend actions and recommendations● Propose viable solutions in a calculated manner

AI in Business AnalyticsKey Solution Providers

AI in Business Analytics

● Integrate data from multiple sources● Analyze trends across different data

sources● Analyze Relationships● Root Cause Analysis

Challenges to adoption● Fear● ROI is not clear● Lack of Strategic approach● Lack of Training● Lack of Infrastructure● Budget Costs● Lack of talent

How to align with AI● Understand Business Problem and find AI tools to solve it● Pilot and train with AI tools● Understand limitations of AI and tools to set expectations● Patience, it is a process● No AI without good data, keep data clean● Constant KPI’s and market strategy, improve existing processes

Closing Notes“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change” - Albert Einstein

● Human + AI working together to enable change● Solve narrow problems with AI with divide and conquer● Success of AI is not in mimicking humans but in solving small problems to make huge impact● AI is not to replace humans, but to help us realize our own potential

Questions?