AI is not “artificial” intelligence, it’s human intelligence

Technology05 Dec 2024

Sponsored by Ingram Micro

by Sanjib Sahoo, EVP, Global Technology and Chief Digital Officer, Ingram Micro

There is a certain amount of fear and anxiety about the emergence of AI and gen AI. Enterprises know they need to competitively embrace AI and its many benefits, including working to streamline operations, enhance productivity and drive revenue through intelligent automation and analysis at scale. But how to approach AI and make the right decisions when it comes to integrating it can be daunting and time-intensive for companies who may not have any significant history in AI strategy and use.

With extensive experience navigating the evolution of AI, and now spearheading the global deployment of our proprietary AI-powered digital experience platform, Ingram Micro has identified four key strategies to implement AI effectively and drive valuable outcomes at scale.

Think of AI as your ally

AI brings scale to human intelligence. It enables us to create the larger datasets we need in analytics – for example, collectively taking the data humans have created and developing a much broader database from which enterprises can gain new insights.

We know the most effective use of AI must start with cleaning up your data. Good data into AI produces algorithms that have true value. Over time we also know that as humans interact with algorithms, machine learning enables this knowledge to be used to improve algorithms.

Generative or gen AI helps us create content and intelligence by looking into large datasets, or language models, and mimicking a human brain. It can help workers perform tasks faster and free up time for other beneficial tasks and more relationship building.

Following in line with that benefit, we often hear that AI and gen AI will eliminate jobs. On the contrary, they will free us up to elevate our skills and our value. The future is in humans and machines working together to take enterprises to a higher level of competitiveness.

As perspective, AI related jobs are becoming one of the hottest growth sectors. McKinsey estimates there was a 111 per cent increase in gen AI-related jobs from 2022 to 2023. From 2019 to 2023 there was robust growth in data scientist, software engineer, data engineering and software developer jobs. Applicants with expertise in gen AI, machine learning and programming languages, McKinsey says, will be well positioned to compete for future jobs.

All of us have had to learn new skills and adapt to technology in our careers. AI is no different. When planning your work future, look at AI as an ally in productivity as well as a new skill set that can open more opportunities and help you retain and attract employees and customers.

Think business first, AI next

AI is a powerful ally in businesses succeeding in digital modernisation. We need to think about the larger context, and how new AI-developed applications will help us modernise our operations and provide better service to our customers. Think speed, scale, service when you’re determining how AI can address specific goals and be applied purposefully.

Remember, AI can also help us to better understand customer behaviour so we can focus on the right audiences to roll out a new technology, solution or service and generate more targeted results. But ultimately, too many organisations try to make AI itself their strategy. This is a recipe for failure. We must first seek to understand the capabilities of AI and then apply them to help solve business outcomes.

Using AI, machine-learning-generated insights and cloud applications does not automatically translate to digital modernisation. However, if we use AI to generate large language models to gain customer insights, and store that data in the cloud, and meet customer demand at speed, we are on the path to digital modernisation.

Think about the reward

AI is often seen as the next must-have, bright, shiny object. But whether you’re a C-suite executive or manager, you must answer one concern: will this technology investment create value?

Value creation holds true for the lure of AI. Who we hire for AI jobs, or what AI application development we invest in – all must be evaluated for business value. Without clear indication of value, AI will become just another fleeting technology and enterprises will lose the opportunity to extract its benefits over the long term.

To achieve value, start with the business problem or opportunity, then determine AI’s role in creating a solution to solve that business challenge now and look forward to more improvements.

A good method is to start with AI on a smaller scale to solve the business problem, then expand incrementally, measuring success along the way. Begin with integrating one capability, then add more as performance and value results indicate. It is about sequencing, without pausing – or even disrupting – current business. Remember, transforming with AI alongside is a journey, not a sprint. There is no stop signs or final destination.

Think about fostering an AI-driven culture

As a growth and productivity partner, whether you’re a data scientist, software developer or sales executive, AI and gen AI can bring the fun of an innovation tool to your day-to-day and save you time while bolstering productivity. Whatever role you’re in we need to cheer AI, not fear AI.

If you are already using AI, or believe in its value, how can we encourage others to see the positive aspects of AI? Think about refining digital modernisation to a new digital AI mindset. We need to encourage all our teams to find ways AI does and will contribute to value creation. It requires developing an operations plan to ensure that an AI solution gets to market in time. It’s about offering training and encouraging innovation in everything we do. When teams can see practical results, AI becomes believable, the art of the possible takes hold, and we begin to challenge ourselves to be better.

We know our customers will begin to expect AI in applications and how we serve them better. Adopting an AI spirit now brings collective power to making AI a valuable element in your enterprise’s future growth. And when AI’s use is aligned with the business goals of the organisation, the future is bright and the sky is the limit.

For more information please visit www.ingrammicro.com