The growth of AI in the last two years has been nothing short of spectacular. According to new research from Google Cloud, more than six in ten large companies worldwide are using generative AI, and 74% of those are already seeing sizable returns on investment.
However, the hype surrounding AI makes it difficult for CIOs to sort the wheat from the chaff. It’s easy enough to follow the herd, but the solution still needs to be tailored to the unique needs of the enterprise. 74% of companies may be seeing a return on investment. However, there’s an obvious corollary; 26 percent of companies haven’t sought the right advice when implementing AI solutions and those companies are regretting that decision when measuring the ROI of their AI efforts.
One man who has set out to change this is Jeff Roberts, Founder and CEO of Innovation Vista.
Roberts is a passionate champion of the integration of an organization’s data and AI strategies, and a visionary when it comes to how AI will revolutionize organizational productivity. According to Roberts, the evolution of AI can broadly be compared to the ever-increasing processing power of old-school CPUs.
According to Roberts, “Moore’s Law states that the number of components on a single chip doubles every two years at minimal cost. Remarkably, this has held true since 1965.
“If we look at LLMs (Large Language Models), which are at the foundation of offerings from AI leaders like Open AI, the developers of ChatGPT, the evolution of AI solutions is pretty much following Moore’s Law. We’re now approaching a point where they mimic, to a greater or lesser degree, some capabilities of the human mind. We’re not there yet – but it’s almost inevitable.”
Facing up to the Challenges
AI is a giant leap forward in handling Big Data, and the insights provided by the lightning-quick AI systems mean that using AI can provide some actionable data insights to organizations – and a distinct competitive advantage.
However, many small and medium-sized enterprises don’t have a CIO, and they can’t afford to retain one on a full-time basis. This can hamstring organizational efforts to leverage the power of data and AI. Rushing into AI implementation without the correct strategy is likely going to end in tears.
Roberts and Innovation Vista have found a ready market as external advisors (basically CIOs on call) who have built a track record of preventing technology-based tantrums. In fact, so successful has Roberts and Innovation Vista been that they have contributed to over $2.4 billion in client revenue and cost savings since the establishment of the company in 2019.
“We bring an impact-focused approach to our AI strategy consulting. AI isn’t a simple cut-and-paste solution that is going to magically solve all the challenges faced by an organization.
“It’s essential to weigh up the ROI and the applicability of AI within a unique set of business circumstances. Recent advances in licensed AI platforms, combined with the affordability of hyper scaling cloud infrastructure, offer powerful opportunities. However, just because AI can be applied to a particular problem doesn’t mean it should be. This is where our expertise and strategic approach to prioritizing AI projects sets us apart.”
Small and mid-sized businesses are clamoring for more opportunities to interact with the C-level IT consultants at Innovation Vista. It’s a result of a strategy that, according to Roberts, goes beyond efficiency to focus on monetizing IT, driving revenue, increasing market share, and providing clients with a competitive advantage.
The Data/AI Symbiosis
Roberts often brings clients a dose of reality when it comes to the utility value of AI. The reality is that AI is only as good as the data it works with.
“Data is the food for AI models. and the advice we give to clients is often about what is and isn’t possible given the quality of the data they have, and how much it’s going to cost to get outputs that provide value to the organization.
“Often our input is around how to enrich the data itself so that it can provide a return on investment. For startups, or those who have been in the C-Suite their entire careers the quality of data and how to improve it is something they have never examined.
“There’s a symbiotic relationship between data and AI – and we can tease out the value of both assets by starting at the very foundations of a data strategy. Once we’re heading in the right direction, clients begin to understand the systems and the roles of data and analytics.”
The Fallacy of Long-Term Thinking
Innovation Vista and Roberts himself are often at pains to explain to clients just how fast AI is evolving, what that means for their data strategy, and what sort of AI solution will best suit their needs.
According to Roberts the approach that Innovation Vista takes could be classified as triage, treat the most urgent problems first, with the tools you have at hand.
“We tell clients that we can’t predict further than the medium term; really no one can. The evolution of AI is happening so quickly that you need to focus on the here and now, not get sidetracked with what is going to be possible in five years.
“Of course, the systems should be developed to grow with the business, but it’s important to realize that another truly disruptive AI development is probably going to reach the market at some point during your five-year strategic plan. But it’s worth saying that you’d better have a plan right now and you’d better have the right people on board to make sure that the foundations are built to last.”
For executives, startup founders and even mature businesses, the promise (and peril) of AI should be clear. But sometimes it requires a fresh set of eyes and ideas to implement an AI and data strategy that offers an exceptional ROI. Failure to go into an AI implementation without a synergistic approach to data and AI solutions can have severely negative impacts on the organization’s bottom line.
Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware.
Ai, if ‘done right’ can provide incredible value to an organization. To learn more about why Jeff Roberts is today recognized as one of the foremost experts on AI strategy, visit his LinkedIn page, and the Innovation Vista webpage or take some time to enjoy unique insights into the rapidly evolving world of business AI on the Innovation Vista YouTube channel.
