Artificial intelligence is no longer a novelty idea among science fiction enthusiasts. It is now a real-life technology integrated into almost every industry and sector. Many businesses use AI-driven automation to optimise their operational processes, increasing productivity and profitability. Since companies are becoming more competitive in the modern age, the first ones to utilise AI-powered solutions will be the ones on top.
Let’s explore the top 5 ways AI optimises business processes in the 21st century, focusing on business processes automation and how AI technologies are revolutionizing various aspects of operations.
1) Streamline Workflows
Most business operations involve repetitive tasks that require speed and precision. Humans are not robots, so they often make mistakes when performing these tasks. Mistakes cost companies time and money because they reduce their productivity.
AI-driven automation is changing this for the better. Companies that have introduced AI-powered robotic process automation into their organisations are seeing significant improvements in their business operations. The AI robots use advanced algorithms to conduct repetitive tasks quickly and precisely, according to specific rules laid out for them.
Some examples of repetitive tasks that you can automate and streamline with AI include:
- Invoicing
- Data Entry
- Email Communications
- Expense Management
- Appointment Scheduling
- Screening resumes
- Social Media Posting
- Security Management
- Payroll Management
- Virtual Assistants
You would be amazed at how much time a company can save when AI conducts these time-consuming, mundane tasks through automated data processing and intelligent document processing. It allows employees to devote more time to critical tasks requiring intelligence and skill. The better use of employee time will help improve the quality of your business processes and ensure a more productive and successful company.
2) Reduce Costs
AI-driven automation optimises business processes by reducing the labor costs of repetitive tasks, decision-making, and resource allocation. These were jobs once performed by paid human beings, but not so much anymore. More companies are finding ways to allow AI to do most of these jobs. That way, they don’t have to pay employees to do them.
AI robots don’t require hourly wages or an annual salary, so you can have them perform all these labor-inducing tasks for free. The only expense is the upfront cost of purchasing the AI technology and the software that runs it. After that, the AI will perform free labor for as long as it lasts, leading to significant cost reduction and improved operational efficiency.
3) Improve Decision-Making
AI-driven automation optimises business processes by reducing the labor costs of repetitive tasks, decision-making, and resource allocation. These were jobs once performed by paid human beings, but not so much anymore. More companies are finding ways to allow AI to do most of these jobs. That way, they don’t have to pay employees to do them.
AI robots don’t require hourly wages or an annual salary, so you can have them perform all these labor-inducing tasks for free. The only expense is the upfront cost of purchasing the AI technology and the software that runs it. After that, the AI will perform free labor for as long as it lasts, leading to significant cost reduction and improved operational efficiency.
3) Improve Decision-Making
AI is enabling business leaders to make better decisions across various aspects of their business operations. These decisions are based on enormous amounts of data collected by the AI during a company’s business practices. The AI analyses the data collected to look for patterns and meaningful insights using machine learning and deep learning techniques. Based on the AI’s analytical data results, it will make informative data-driven decisions with strategy in mind, enhancing business intelligence.
The AI looks for the following types of patterns and trends in the business processes:
- Seasonal peaks
- Market demands
- Customer behavior
- Operational efficiencies
- Low-selling and high-selling products
- Customer engagement
Human decision-makers used to spend days and weeks manually scanning through information like this to identify patterns and develop logical strategies. Now, you can depend on AI-driven insights to quickly scan through this historical data to create relevant strategies and decisions in the present.
The best AI-based decisions are demand planning and forecasting. For example, if you can learn which products will sell the most at a particular time in the future, you can stock up on those products beforehand. Meanwhile, you can avoid stocking up on other items that are predicted not to sell so much.
These decisions, powered by predictive analytics, allow you to reduce wasteful spending and make better investments in your inventory. If done successfully, it will significantly help boost your company’s profits all year round.
4) Better Customer Service
Most business leaders will tell you that good customer service is the key to a successful business. Unfortunately, a customer support representative is one of the most challenging jobs because it requires you to accurately answer all kinds of questions for hours per day. In many cases, the customers are angry and rude, too.
AI chatbots are now relieving companies of this burden by automatically communicating with customers and answering their questions. When a customer types a question or comment into a Live Chat window, the AI chatbot will analyse the content using natural language processing and immediately respond with an accurate and intelligent answer.
AI chatbots are great because they offer immediate answers without having to look them up or confer with their superiors the way human agents do. Plus, AI chatbots don’t have hurt feelings when dealing with rude customers. The lack of emotion from the chatbots is undoubtedly a plus when dealing with customers all day.
All the data collected from AI interactions with customers can help gauge customer sentiment and determine their most common problems and demands. Then, personalised offers and recommendations are made to them to resolve those problems and satisfy those demands, ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience.
5) Scalability
Small businesses often have difficulty scaling up their operations because they cannot afford to hire more employees to take them to the next level. That is how small businesses become stuck in the same routine without growing and reaching for the stars.
AI-driven automation solutions enable small businesses to overcome this obstacle. Since AI can perform many repetitive tasks at no additional cost, companies can quickly scale up their operations. They don’t need to hire more employees or allocate more resources.
In some cases, these AI-powered solutions and increased scalability can give businesses a competitive advantage over others that don’t utilise AI-driven automation. Perhaps your business can also gain a similar competitive advantage in its industry by implementing process optimization through AI.
Conclusion
Of course, adopting AI into your company will have its challenges. The two biggest hurdles are high upfront costs and human workforce displacement. If you don’t want to lay off all your employees, you must train them to do other jobs, which could cost additional time and money.
Do you need help incorporating AI-driven business processes into your company? Bluehub is a digital supply chain consultancy firm with expertise in systems integrations and supply chain optimization. The consultants can evaluate all your business processes and devise plans to automate and improve them with AI integration, helping you leverage the full potential of AI-driven automation in your operations.
