Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key enabler to deliver business value for companies irrespective of their industry sector or size.
By Ian Jansen Van Rensburg
However, executives must examine ways to leverage the high-performance computing capabilities of the technology to unlock the potential their existing data has to drive improved decision-making.
Customers have already started to benefit from this as organisations use AI to deliver new experiences which are better using more innovative value propositions. AI’s potential extends further than just a new product. For example, medical researchers are using the analytical capabilities of AI to find cures for illnesses; financial services providers use it to detect fraud, manufacturers streamline their supply chain, and retailers enlist AI to provide a personalised shopping experience.
Focusing on the basics
While the main function of AI (when combined with the likes of machine learning, robotics, big data, and other elements) is to radically reinvent business processes, there is already inherent value in AI by simply refining what already exists, which is especially the case when analysing data an organisation has at its disposal.
Early adopters of AI have done just this. These started with traditional statistical machine learning and evolved with more advanced techniques for deep learning.
Today, most developers will include AI functionality in modern business applications or services. These will use big data, machine learning, and facial recognition as a platform to better make sense of the data at hand.
By integrating these technologies into existing business intelligence (BI) systems, true data analysis (in real-time) can be unlocked to provide a significant competitive advantage.
As part of this, AI technologies are finding a place in multiple industries in South Africa. For instance, banking and financial services providers are using chatbots or virtual assistants to help customers with routine tasks like scheduling payments and have automated the most frequently asked questions.
This frees up agents to deliver more strategic value by accessing the real-time insights AI provide to guide their daily routines and become more effective.
Furthermore, predictive analytics can reduce the risk of loan defaulters while machine learning identifies patterns of transactions that might indicate fraudulent activity.
Mainstream opportunity
To become truly effective, AI (specifically deep learning apps for data analysis) require hardware acceleration that on-premise environments cannot affordably provide. Without this, most of these AI solutions run slowly.
However, merely investing in dedicated hardware accelerators are cost-prohibitive for most businesses.
This is where technology that enables organisations to share these accelerators securely play a vital role. Client-server architecture can automate this process leaving the company in a position to benefit from advanced AI and analytics in its BI systems.
Ultimately, this will contribute to AI moving from the IT back office into the mainstream where people and machines will collaborate closer than ever. AI will fundamentally redefine how we work or interact with each other.
From robotic process automation to simulations for decision-making, from facial recognition to language translation, AI heralds in the age of digital transformation at a universal level.
Companies that embrace this change and start making use of all the technology at their disposal will be the ones that will be around for the foreseeable future.
Ian Jansen Van Rensburg is the lead technologist at VMware Africa