AI is revolutionizing the way we do business, but few are using the power of AI to drive their transformation efforts. What is holding organizations back from leveraging their most-powerful bleeding-edge technology for their most-pressing initiatives?
Artificial intelligence (AI) seems like a natural tool for driving business transformations forward. Its capabilities to surface hidden insights and automatically document change make AI a natural fit for transformation.
You’ll have huge stores of data on your current architecture and target state that AI tools can collate and interpret to ensure you have a clear picture. Not to mention, it can connect the dots between your current and future state, as well as automate the documentation of the transformation process.
AI acts without bias, offering impartial insights that can co-ordinate teams and ensure you’re moving in the right direction. The technology seems primed to unlock a smooth business transformation.
52% of the organizations surveyed by Oxford Economics for our new report agreed. However, only 34% of respondents are actually using AI for business transformation.
What is it that’s holding organizations back from using their newest technology to drive their most-vital projects? Let’s explore further and see how these roadblocks can be overcome.
To find out more about the current state of business transformation and how it’s being impacted by AI, download our latest report, co-authored with Oxford Economics and SAP Signavio:
We say artificial intelligence (AI) can help drive business transformation, but what do we mean by that term? Business transformation is a re-consideration of a concept that’s been around for a long time.
Ever since computers evolved beyond being simple tools to become the landscape in which modern enterprise operates, keeping up with technology has been essential. Yet, changing your business to adapt to the evolution of technology every time new innovations are made is challenging.
We once thought that a simple transformation to put our operations online was all that was needed. These digital transformations, however, failed in 70% of cases, because they failed to see the full scope of the need for change.
A transformation to digital is not just a one-off, but a project to adapt your organization to be able to cope with constant, expansive, iterative change. Not to mention, it can’t just encompass your technology, but needs to adapt all your business operations to the needs of evolving tech.
This is why we’ve come to talk about holistic business transformation and it needs to be both informed and carefully recorded. This is where AI comes in.
Artificial intelligence (AI) drives business transformation by ingesting the huge amount of architecture data that you’re holding on your organization and processing it for you to surface the insight you need. This allows you to plan out your transformation strategy with complete information.
Before you can plan out the route to get where you’re going, you first need to know where you are. The more accurately you can understand your current IT landscape, the better your plan for moving forward from it will be.
AI agents can research your landscape for you, trawling through more data than a human being could ever take in to surface key insights. You can then use those insights to build an informed vision for a perfected, but achievable, target state.
AI can then help you plan your course from your current to your future state in timely, achievable steps. Not to mention, it can automatically document the steps you’re taking and track your key performance indicators (KPIs).
AI is a vital tool for business transformation across any industry. The question is then, however, what’s holding 66% of organizations back from including AI in their business transformation toolset.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool for business transformation, but few organizations are leveraging it for this purpose. What’s holding organizations back?
There’s plenty to worry about when it comes to leveraging AI, from inherent biases and costly hallucinations, through to concerns about environmental damage or the risk of AI replacing human jobs. AI will always need careful human oversight and protective guardrails to be put in place to ensure it works for us and not against us.
With all of these concerns reflected in the media, you may find your employees are hesitant to make use of such a controversial tool. This is particularly the case when there’s a perceived possibility that the tool may well put them out of a job.
On the other hand, your leaders may be concerned that they will lose control of their operations if they involve AI. Equally, AI requires significant investment in resources to implement and leaders may insist on a firm indication of return on investment (ROI), not to mention validation that AI is not just a flash in the pan likely to disappear in a few years’ time.
Dispelling these fears requires hard data and expert knowledge to reveal the true value of AI to your employees. Yet, finding experts in a technology that’s less than five years old can be a huge challenge.
To truly leverage the power of AI to drive vital business transformation, you need to overcome these perceived barriers and the concerns of your stakeholders. That requires the right change management strategy.
Artificial intelligence (AI) could be a vital tool to drive business transformation, if you can overcome the concerns of your stakeholders. In our recent report, co-sponsored by SAP Signavio, Oxford Economics identified five key steps you need to take in order to get past your blockers:
To ensure consistent ethical conduct, you first need to establish a standard to work towards. An AI governance framework is considered a vital document by 97% of the IT experts we surveyed for our SAP LeanIX AI Survey 2024.
Your data is a vital strategic asset to guide and power your transformation. Yet, you need to use the right toolset to ensure your data is of sufficient quality before you start, as AI trained on poor data will only offer poor results.
Undergo a change management process to showcase to your team how AI can enhance their work and spare them unnecessary effort. It should be clear that AI is not a replacement for your human workforce.
Begin with a focused pilot project to prove the value of AI and to create some AI champions to spread the word. Armed with evidence of success, you can begin to scale AI up throughout your organization.
Give your teams hands on experience with AI as an opportunity to upskill themselves for the future, rather than giving the impression that change is happening beyond their control and leaving them behind. As your organization's AI literacy grows, you'll be better positioned to identify and implement AI opportunities across transformation initiatives.
Artificial intelligence (AI) powers business transformation and companies are already seeing the tangible benefits for faster process analysis and more-accurate impact assessment. The opportunities are significant, but success requires a thoughtful approach that balances innovation with responsible implementation.
The question isn't whether to apply AI to your business transformation projects, but how to overcome concerns and challenges to doing so. To find out more about how you can leverage AI for business transformation, download our report: