It’s been interesting to see how businesses have approached AI in 2024, especially with the pressure to stay ahead of the game. For B2B Tech companies in particular, the trend has been to incorporate AI into product and service offerings. The “improve with AI” pop up has become the norm, but the question remains: Has AI really been a gift that’s lived up to its promises, making business better, faster, and cheaper?
After all, the premise of using AI is that it can overcome the shortcomings of humans. It can process data much faster and with greater levels of accuracy. It can work 24/7 and doesn’t need annual leave or medical benefits. And most importantly it can scale at a rate that humans can’t even try to keep up with. These are at least the benefits promised, but there’s a but…
It’s a bit like ordering a gift online – one that’s more affordable because it comes in a flatpack for self-assembly. How hard can it be to put together a doll house for your daughter? There are four walls, a roof and instructions. You know what it should look like, even have the tools and some skills, yet it ends up as a midnight frustration on Christmas Eve, because things don’t quite go according to plan. The roof is a little wonky, the walls not that stable, and you’re not too sure what those three leftover brackets were supposed to be for – spares?
In B2B Tech, some companies have experienced a similar scenario with trying to bring AI into their products or services. It’s been about knowing the importance of adopting AI, knowing what it could do. Even knowing what it should do, yet not quite getting it to work as effectively as planned.
The AI doesn’t deliver the outputs it’s supposed to. There are flaws in the data that no one knew existed, and troubleshooting is complicated by the lack of transparency as to how the AI got to a particular output. Companies are now discovering they need more advanced skills and bigger budgets to get it to work.
For most companies, there is no going back. Businesses view AI as part of the future and expect it to become part of what is offered as part of tech products or services. Additionally, many competitors in the industry have been successful in incorporating AI, meaning not joining the ranks will see them being left behind.
Heading into 2025, predictions are that the AI trend will continue with use cases expanding and development maturing. For companies still catching up, AI may have lost some of it’s glitter, but it’s not going to be discarded.
There’ll be a more considered approach, more strategic review of how best to incorporate AI. Now knowing some of the pitfalls and what aspects of the products and services it can and can’t enhance, companies can avoid making the same mistakes twice. AI may not be the shiny gift that magically creates efficiencies, but there’s still an advantage to be had.
