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How Organizations Can Unlock the Power of AI

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Business users don’t need to be data scientists to understand the valuable insights that AI provides. This article discusses how companies use technology to augment user and business intelligence to harness the power of AI across the organization.

In organizations that have deployed artificial intelligence (AI) technology in one or more parts of their businesses, data scientists are typically tasked with interpreting and extracting meaning from the data. Business users then take these insights and use them to drive decisions that will enhance the customer experience, ranging from satisfaction and engagement to loyalty and retention. According to Salesforce, 80% of customers value the experience a company provides just as much as they appreciate its offerings.

Traditionally, the role of data extraction and analysis and the complex modeling that ensues has fallen on the shoulders of data scientists. But the growing demand for these experts is far outstripping the supply. Findings from job site Indeed indicate that job postings for data scientists have increased by a staggering 256% since 2013.

Business users, such as marketing directors, customer service managers, and the like, can ill afford to wait for a data guru to join their company. They must have the means to collect, analyze, and interpret data in a timely manner and in a way that makes sense to them so that they can make data-driven decisions.

Thankfully, more and more companies are recognizing the benefits of putting the power of AI into the hands of the business users, who understand both the context in which data is being extracted, and the manner in which it’s being used to derive business value.

This grassroots, bottom-up approach is the democratization of data. It is also the foundation for augmented intelligence, which will help progressive companies realize the full potential of their AI investments.

What is Augmented Intelligence?

The concept of augmented intelligence is fairly straightforward: it refers to the ability to add value to an existing knowledge base. Interpreting data in a silo won’t take into account all of the other factors that must be considered before taking action. Technology can augment the intelligence of the user and the business ultimately bringing the power of AI to the people.

For example, an organization may have data to prove that its new product is a hit based on key success metrics such as spiking sales and lower manufacturing costs. But consumer feedback can indicate otherwise: customers may actually dislike the product’s new design and vow to never buy it again.

When data flies in the face of customer sentiment, business users who are most familiar with the data source need access to data science methods and automation capabilities that enable them to visualize and interpret data in a timely and meaningful way. In the case above, the marketing team realized that sales were up because consumers were using coupons to purchase a version of the product they simply didn’t understand. As a result, the company averted a significant spend by canceling the inventory order, and instead focused on other ways to decrease manufacturing costs while keeping customers happy.

AI: Anything but Artificial

Those familiar with their markets and customers know the best sources of data and the best context in which to interpret it. That’s what makes humans irreplaceable when it comes to correlation and decision-making.

Simply put: decision-making is art plus science. If AI handles the heavy lifting — sorting through volumes of data that would take humans far too long to do efficiently — then humans are free to artfully craft solutions to the pressing issues at hand.

For example, AI was used to pinpoint the precise automotive manufacturing facility that, on one particular date, produced and delivered vehicles without resonator caps. In this instance, a customer service team — not data scientists — was able to analyze, categorize, and visualize the critical insights from customers that enabled the auto manufacturer to avert a mass recall.

Using an AI-powered solution that buried the complexity of AI technology behind the screen, the customer service team saved the car company millions of dollars by enabling them to identify and then recall a specific vehicle model manufactured at a particular plant on a particular date. And thanks to some creative thinking, the team was also able to determine that on the date in question, employees were anxious to leave work to because the local university football team was playing in the Sugar Bowl. This correlation would not have occurred without a human touch.

In another instance, a marketing director analyzed mountains of unstructured data from social networks and other channels to gain insights on chalk paint to readily confirm consumer demand and justify the manufacturing of an aerosol version of the product. As for the automotive manufacturer above, the complex AI technology used to deliver critical customer insights in this scenario was hidden from the business user yet delivered the needed results within a few days.

Making AI Accessible to All

While putting the power of AI into the hands of business users is a positive step forward in the democratization of data, it will not negate the need for highly qualified data scientists. Rather, it frees data scientists to focus on broader, mission-critical challenges while business users search for needles of insight in their haystacks of data.

Marketing, product, and customer service managers know that these haystacks hold the keys to improving customer satisfaction and making business decisions that increase revenue or save millions of dollars. This is especially important as customer experience continues to define a company’s success —or lack thereof.

Ultimately, to reap the benefits of AI, you need data science. However, business users don’t need to be data scientists to gain the valuable insights that AI provides. AI is simply a tool that augments users’ capabilities, presenting, in a digestible format, the information needed to make sound decisions. Augmenting the intelligence of the user and the business with comprehensible data is what really brings the power of AI to the people.

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About the Author
Derek Wang is the co-founder and CEO of Stratifyd, Inc., a recognized innovator and global force in the customer analytics industry. After receiving his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina Charlotte, he — along with the company’s two other co-founders — began conducting government-funded research on the ways AI could be used to ingest, analyze, and visualize unstructured data. Throughout this period, Derek found strong use cases while working with Bank of America, Microsoft, and Motorola Solutions. This post-doctorate work was the foundation on which Stratifyd was built.
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