Williams AV

Oct. 8, 2021 - More than a buzzword, artificial intelligence (AI) continues to change organizational operations around the world:

Faster innovation cycles

Higher productivity

Better customer satisfaction

to name a few examples.

Why? What’s the deal with AI? 

AI has become an increasingly powerful mechanism to process lots and lots of data and return highly targeted analysis to enable decision-making. Because of its continued success, some estimates project the AI market to reach $190 billion within the next five years. Others put the figures even higher globally, reaching the trillions by 2030. 

While this technology helps solve many challenges, organization leaders often struggle to understand how they can apply AI within their organizations. While they’ve likely heard of AI, and perhaps some have a vague sense of what it’s all about, some don’t really understand how it can apply to their organization. 

"In my 10 years of working with data science and AI strategies in business, I see executives tend to fall into two camps when it comes to applying AI to their business," said Kartik Hosanagar, Professor of Technology, Digital Business and Marketing at the Wharton School, in an article. "They either don’t understand it but trust it. Or don’t understand it and do not trust it. Both are failed strategies. The key message here is leaders need to understand enough about how AI works to strategically align AI with value creation and make smart investment decisions." 

AI-enabled technology comes in many different forms — we have some available at Williams AV — to help solve all kinds of problems, no matter the industry or organization. But before getting too far ahead, it’s important to take the very first step… know what AI is and how it can help. 

Leaders Must Understand AI to Maximize Its Potential

Artificial intelligence, or AI, takes on many different forms to help solve many different kinds of challenges, but to boil it down, what is it? 

The Brookings Institute puts it this way:

Artificial intelligence algorithms are designed to make decisions, often using real-time data … Using sensors, digital data, or remote inputs, they combine information from a variety of different sources, analyze the material instantly, and act on the insights derived from those data. With massive improvements in storage systems, processing speeds, and analytic techniques, they are capable of tremendous sophistication in analysis and decision-making.

The ability for AI to adapt and continue shaping the way decisions are made and data analyzed make it an especially powerful tool. When applied to core business strategies, Professor Hosanagar says, it can make a tremendous impact. 

Around the world, governments, health care facilities, financial institutions, manufacturers and several others recognize the power that AI can bring as it relates to increasing productivity, automating processes and tasks, and far more. 

For governments, AI can help improve economic development. In the financial industry, it can help root out fraud. Autonomous vehicles can detect traffic jams and take optimal routes based on real-time data. AI can process thousands of images to detect irregularities in patients, in hopes to speed up diagnoses. 

The use cases are seemingly endless and more applications emerge as the technology matures. What this means for organizational leaders is to understand how AI can apply to your business to help solve any number of challenges. It could come in the form of software or hardware, but what’s important to identify is how AI can solve your challenges. 

The Possibilities with AI Seem Endless — Are You Ready? 

While AI has a great deal of potential, it can come with some challenges, but perhaps not what you might think. 

Some of the greatest challenges as it relates to adopting AI technologies aren’t so much with the tech itself, but rather the people who plan to use it. 

Skills gaps or a lack of understanding is credited with tapering the success and scale of AI. What’s more, when AI as a tool isn’t applied strategically and aligned with business goals, it’s harder to meet the full reward of its power. 

This is why it’s crucial to understand the technology, how it can help, and to prepare yourself and your staff for its implementation. And many are. 

In 2021, 86% of CEOs say AI is a commonly used technology at their work, according to Semrush. And more than half of executives say it’s helped their business by improving productivity. 

At Williams AV, we know the benefits of AI all too well. Having several products that are enabled by AI, we understand its power and potential, and in working with our customers, we strive to make the adoption as seamless as possible. 

One example, the Convey Video system uses AI to produce professional live captioning in real-time. It can translate live audio in 109 languages, in more than 153 dialects, to create a more inclusive environment for audiences — and it does so with great accuracy. Thanks to AI, Williams AV can offer several products to help organizations communicate more effectively with their audiences.