Why educate your company about artificial intelligence?

AI, a new strategic advantage to improve company performance

Why educate your company about artificial intelligence? Far from being a mere tool, artificial intelligence is now a vital strategic advantage that improves a company’s performance. For senior management, AI has the potential to become a new strategic resource for rapid and better-informed decision-making, based on data and in-depth analysis.

How AI optimizes performance and strengthens the competitiveness of companies that understand the technology

Artificial intelligence provides a major advantage in terms of optimizing operational performance through the automation of complex processes, far beyond traditional automation.

Let’s take the claims handling process of a health insurance company as an example. This process comprises several stages, including checking the customer’s personal file and analyzing their request, and can lead to various measures, such as recovering missing documents and estimating the amount to be reimbursed. Generative AI can fully automate this process, because the tool interprets requests, has knowledge of contracts, is familiar with procedures and can resolve issues at each stage of the process in a logical way. The result? More accurate, more reliable and considerably faster management that improves customer satisfaction.

Automation is just one of the advantages offered by AI. Through predictive analysis, it can anticipate customer needs and improve competitiveness. As part of the claims handling process, predictive analysis can, for example, identify a customer who frequently claims reimbursements for alternative medical care. In this case, AI can suggest a customized insurance policy with better reimbursement for alternative medicine. By combining this ability to anticipate with the automation of tasks including report generation, AI enhances competitiveness and improves the customer experience.

Ultimately, this combination leads to optimized performance, better management of internal processes and increased customization of services in a constantly changing environment.

Educating senior management about artificial intelligence to improve strategic decision-making

Generative AI is a valuable strategic asset in the decision-making process. Senior management can rely on AI systems to rapidly provide precise and actionable insights. The large-scale data mining of internal data (sales history, stock, marketing performance indicators, turnover rate, etc.) and external data (global events, new environmental regulations, etc.), provides precise analysis and recommendations, based on real information. By cross-referencing this data, AI helps identify trends and detect opportunities that humans couldn’t spot in such a short space of time. 

These tools help make companies more agile as they can make decisions that are based on data and are better aligned with market realities. They offer invaluable support to senior management when it comes to anticipating future challenges and maximizing current performance.

Threats posed by a lack of education about AI

Companies that fail to recognize the importance of artificial intelligence are exposed to significant risks, including technological lag, a loss of competitiveness and a growing divide between business and technology. These threats can limit their ability to innovate and adapt to fast-changing market conditions.

Educating your company about AI: the key to avoiding technological lag and staying competitive

Companies that are slow to adopt artificial intelligence risk falling behind in terms of technology. While some organizations have already implemented AI use cases and are reaping the initial benefits, others that are reluctant to take the plunge could soon be left behind. This inertia can lead to reduced competitiveness, particularly in sectors in which agility and innovation are crucial to be able to meet customer expectations and keep pace with market trends. AI makes it possible to adjust strategies in real time, adapting to consumer needs and industry innovations. Companies that leverage its potential therefore enjoy a significant competitive advantage. Conversely, ignoring these technologies can result in significant opportunity costs. Companies risk missing out on new growth opportunities and limiting themselves in comparison with more agile competitors.

In retail, for instance, specifically in e-commerce, generative AI has a wide range of applications, including optimizing marketplace visibility, accelerating launches and fine-tuning delivery routes for greater speed and lower CO2 emissions. Retailers can use these technologies to improve customer satisfaction while increasing their return on investment (ROI).

The digital divide: how education about AI can reconnect business and technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly transforming companies, but a lack of familiarity with this technology can create a digital divide between businesses and tools. Without a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities that AI presents, teams will struggle to integrate these new technologies in their day-to-day processes. This will hamper the adoption of artificial intelligence and, consequently, lead to a technological lag within the organization. What’s more, this unfamiliarity can lead to mistrust among employees, exacerbating internal resistance.

This disconnect is primarily caused by a lack of adequate training, leaving employees out of step with market expectations. A company’s Executive Committee has a key role to play in this digital transformation. By educating senior management first, followed by operational teams, companies can ensure that their business objectives align with technological innovations and can also better anticipate market developments.

Raising senior management’s awareness of AI: key to the digital transformation

Educating a company about artificial intelligence (AI) is not just about implementing cutting-edge technologies. It is vital to understand that the successful adoption of artificial intelligence requires a thorough understanding of its implications, particularly in terms of security, ethics and compliance.

Protecting the company from cyberthreats and ensuring regulatory compliance

AI can strengthen cybersecurity by actively detecting potential threats. By analyzing vast volumes of data in real time, it identifies suspect behavior and enables companies to act before a cyberattack occurs. However, integrating these technologies also presents risks if they are not properly understood. For example, vulnerabilities can appear if the data processed by AI is poorly protected or if the processes for the storage and use of data to train AI models aren’t transparent.

In addition to its role in threat detection, AI must be managed to ensure strict compliance with data protection regulations, including the European Union’s AI Act. This regulatory framework establishes stringent requirements as to how AI systems must process and store data, particularly sensitive data. Companies that fail to manage these aspects are exposed to cyberthreats and also run the risk of financial penalties and reputational damage in the event of non-compliance.

It is therefore vital for senior management to understand that although AI is a powerful tool that can enhance security, it can also lead to a security breach if security protocols are not rigorously enforced. Educating senior management teams about the specific risks associated with AI, including data management and algorithm transparency, is vital to ensure the responsible use of this technology, while maximizing its performance in the fight against cyberthreats.

Identifying relevant use cases

Educating people about artificial intelligence involves more than just understanding the technology and should include an exploration of its practical applications. AI provides a wide range of possibilities in terms of automation, analysis, customization and prediction. By focusing on these capabilities, companies can identify use cases that are suited to their needs. Involving management teams from the earliest stages of a company’s AI transformation is vital to speed up the process and create momentum within the organization.

Senior management must play a key role in this process by launching initiatives to familiarize all teams with AI. Brainstorming sessions, group workshops and AI hackathons can be organized to encourage innovation and identify specific solutions. Executive management must demonstrate leadership to instill this dynamic and ensure the consistent adoption of AI at all levels of the company.

Ensuring an ethical and responsible approach

Despite its benefits, artificial intelligence can unintentionally introduce biases into algorithms. To prevent this, it is vital to ensure that every recommendation produced by AI is justifiable and understandable. Educating people about AI helps identify and correct these biases to ensure ethical and transparent use. This ensures that processes and decisions are managed in a transparent way and align with the company’s objectives.

The education of senior management teams plays a key role in the adoption of AI. By understanding the risks linked to algorithmic bias and the improper use of data, senior management can better manage the use of these technologies. Senior management must ensure that processes using AI are understandable and that automated decisions can be justified at any time. Not only does this strengthen employee trust in this tool, it also ensures that AI is a well-managed strategic resource, rather than a source of biased or misinterpreted decisions.