How Best to Implement AI Into Your Business Strategy

AI’s potential to revolutionise the business landscape is an incredibly exciting prospect and one that many organisations are looking to take advantage of. For businesses looking to implement a winning AI strategy, they must look beyond the hype and focus on a solution that is best suited to their organisation, from both a brand and profit standpoint. So what steps should you take to successfully implement AI into your business strategy? Keep reading to find out. 

Understand your business goals

The first step to a sound AI business strategy is understanding your goals and the results you are looking to achieve with your usage of AI. The impact of AI in your business strategy depends on your brand’s offering and how this applies to your industry sector. 

Are you a retail brand looking to enhance the customer experience with the use of reactive AI chatbots? Or perhaps a healthcare organisation using AI data analytics to diagnose patients faster? Regardless of your sector and proposed usages for AI platforms, having clear KPIs to begin with will save you both time and money in the long run and help crystallise the direction you want to take for your business. 

For a real-world example, read our case study regarding an AI-focused project we carried out with the UAE Government. 

Choose the right solution

Identifying what area of your business would benefit from AI is the first step to implementing it effectively. Once you understand how, and if AI can improve the efficiency of your business processes, you are primed to choose the solution to best fit your organisation. 

First, consider your overall goals: are you looking to automate processes, increase efficiency or save on cost? Once you have ascertained the answer to this question, the next step is finding the right AI solution to fix the problem and identify realistic opportunities within your organisation for implementation. 

Know the risks and build a strong team

Every emerging technology comes with an associated risk, and AI is no different. 85% of cybersecurity professionals attribute 2023’s rise in attacks to an increased reliance on AI across the globe. But this doesn’t mean that you should shy away from utilising these platforms; understanding the key risks associated with AI is how to avoid major pitfalls down the road. Getting it wrong and having to rethink your strategy is much more costly and time-consuming than doing it right the first time.  

It is also important to consider that your security stance is only as strong as the team that is using it. With this in mind, for any AI solution to truly work, the technical capabilities of your team need to be heavily considered. Ensuring that your team is properly trained and knowledgeable in the new technology is half the battle to ensuring it is a success. 

Ensure correct handling and protection of data

In an increasingly data-driven world, protecting said data is high on the global agenda. Organisations who fall victim to data breaches will experience very severe consequences to both their reputation and bottom line.  

Conducting a data protection impact assessment is the first step to safeguarding you and your customers’ sensitive data. This will help you evaluate the potential issues that may present and protect against breaches in individuals’ privacy. Plus, correctly harnessing your data through a well-implemented data analytics strategy will help you not only swerve these risks but also reach your full potential. 

Understand the laws and regulations your business operates within

This may seem obvious, but having a comprehensive understanding of the regulations and laws that your organisation must adhere to is essential when incorporating not just AI but any emerging technology into your business. 

At MDRx, compliance underpins everything we do. When designing AI solutions, we take a holistic approach to understanding not only the law but also the regulatory and ethical frameworks our clients operate within. Read our blog on the relationship between AI and regulatory compliance for a deeper insight into this essential relationship. 

Measure your impact

How will you know whether your AI implementation has been successful if you are not accurately measuring your impact? Having a clear plan to measure whether your AI strategy and implementation is working, be it driving growth or cutting costs, is essential for you to understand whether it is a solid return on investment.  

Test your AI

There is no point in launching a full-scale AI solution for your business without being sure that it works correctly, (and that you definitely need it!). Testing your AI on a smaller scale will help you evaluate its impact and effectiveness without launching it into the real world. From this, you will be able to gather important feedback and insightful data to ensure that it is the right solution for your business and better grasp how it can be applied to achieve the results that you are seeking. 

Look to the future 

AI will continue to evolve at lightning speed, so it’s important that you are not just focused on its usage now, but also look ahead to what the coming weeks, months and years hold in store. Being in the know on how AI will develop gives you the edge over the competition and enables your enterprise to strategically innovate with both the present and future firmly in mind. 

When all is said and done, AI is an extremely powerful tool that continues to evolve and expand its capabilities. When it comes to AI in business strategy, being able to understand, harness, and adapt to AI’s increasing capabilities will undoubtedly define the success and longevity of organisations across the world.  

How MDRx can help

At MDRx, we are world-leading consultants in emerging technologies. Our team of Strategists, Software Engineers and Data Scientists are here to create AI strategies and build AI systems to meet our clients’ unique needs across a multitude of global industries. 

Backed by the 1500-person strong law firm Mishcon de Reya, which acts for 30% of all UK AI startups, we take a compliance-by-design approach, giving you peace of mind every step of the way. 

If you are looking for impactful AI solutions for your business, then get in touch now.