The selection of artificial intelligence for SMEs has become a critical decision for its impact on competitiveness in the current market. According to the BARC & Eckerson Group survey The Future of BI & Analytics: Adopting Generative AI for Analytics: Early Trends, Lessons and Best Practices, only 11% of the companies have fully implemented artificial intelligence. The other respondents stated that they were in the process of implementing it, evaluating options, or just talking about it. It is noteworthy that only 13% of companies do not have any type of AI currently working in their processes.
As can be deduced from the study, there is still a long way to go when it comes to artificial intelligence in companies. It is why we share with you this guide in which you can find tips to overcome the challenge of choosing among all the available options on the market.
As a preliminary step, we recommend you go through a clear definition of the business needs.
Types of AI and its benefits
Our starting point is to present the different types of AI available in the market. With this in mind, you can start to have a clearer picture to make informed strategic decisions.
There are different classifications for artificial intelligence, but for this guide, we will use the next one:
- Machine learning. It emulates the human learning process, allowing computers to learn from training with data. Its uses can range from fraud detection in financial services to customer service through chatbots with personalized answers based on previous interactions.
- Deep learning allows you to analyze images with artificial intelligence. This way, it can identify faces or biometric patterns in images and videos. A very important application is the identification of people for civil authorities as well as the identification of manufacturing parts in the factory quality assurance processes.
- Generative artificial intelligence can create texts, audio, images, or even videos with a quality that makes it harder to differentiate its results from other sources. Some of the more popular models work with a chat interface that receives the prompt (query) and delivers the result in the requested format.
The benefits of artificial intelligence for SMEs are diverse and vary depending on the chosen technology, the digital maturity of the company, and the scope of implementation. Here you can find some of them:
- Automation of routine tasks, for example, fraud detection in financial transactions.
- Creation of analytical summaries of large volumes of data to have a more efficient response and to improve competitiveness. Learn about the advantages of AI in BI in our latest webinar.
- 24/7 customer service through digital agents that respond to chats, e-mails, and other enabled digital channels. It impacts earning customer loyalty since it provides constant support and personalization in the response.
- Enables customization of products and services portfolio. It helps companies to stay relevant to increasingly informed and demanding customers.
How to choose the AI that your SME needs
After seeing the types of AI in the market and some of its applications, we recommend you follow the next steps in your decision process.
Identification of processes
The first step is to examine in detail the current operations to determine which processes are ideal candidates for one or more of the AI applications. An example of this could be the invoicing process in which it is needed to make image recognition with AI to enter the data into the ERP. This increases speed and decreases human error in the scanning process. Explore other processes such as documentation and data management, payment and invoicing processes, administrative tasks or report analysis. When you finish, also identify the relationship between the processes to have a clear picture and to create an achievable action plan.
Make a second check before proceeding since, according to McKinsey’s study “The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year”, AI has the potential to automate between 60% and 70% of the time employees spend on routine tasks.
Available resources analysis
Once the previous step has been completed, it is time to evaluate the existing infrastructure and capabilities, this includes technological resources (current infrastructure, data quality, etc.), human resources (AI experience, willingness to change, abilities, etc.), and lastly financial resources. This last one is crucial since it determines the speed of implementation.
Evaluate the data quality and reliability.
As mentioned above, we emphasize this point since the quality and reliability of AI tools largely depend on the quality of the data used to train them.
If you don’t follow this step correctly, the result of the implementation can be drastically affected and even turn into a waste of time and money.
Definition of objectives
As in any project, it is vital to establish clear and measurable objectives for AI implementation. Objectives should be well-aligned with business strategies and have well-defined KPIs. This way you will be able to have a proper measurement of the project progress from the beginning.
Technical criteria
In this respect, it is important to count on the support of your company’s technical team, since they are the ones who can know in detail what is most convenient for the company’s digital ecosystem.
- Scalability and compatibility: key factors for SME growth. These two aspects ensure that the AI investment is sustainable over time, grows with the company, and adapts to challenges of growth. Your infrastructure team should be heavily involved in this point so you don´t overestimate or underestimate the expected needs.
- Ease of integration and security: Covering this point you can ensure that your digital ecosystem has a secure data flow both inside and outside the organization, depending on the nature of each company. Besides avoiding security breaches, you can rest assured that all the digital ecosystem components can communicate with each other.
- Hardware and software specifications: If you need to acquire new hardware or software for the implementation of AI, do not forget to verify that their technical specifications are compatible with the needs of your digital ecosystem and the AI solution you are implementing.
Return of Investment
Finally, it is worth noting that the investment in artificial intelligence for a business represents a significant financial commitment that requires careful planning. Make sure your budget allocation covers upfront costs such as licenses, implementation, training and infrastructure, and other ongoing expenses such as support and maintenance.
Involve your team
Choosing the right artificial intelligence tools for SMEs is not an easy task, but following the right steps can represent a milestone in the history of each company. Involve your team to make all the steps easier to follow and less resistant to change. Implementing AI in SMEs is not just a technology change but an evolution of mindset. It implies humans working in tandem with artificial intelligence.