Navigating the future: Most common use cases

Navigating the transformative impact of data and AI is crucial for any business looking to thrive today. For AI to genuinely impact customers and business performance, it must be integrated and fully aligned with the company’s value proposition. Over half of all companies now report adopting AI in at least one business function, with use cases such as contact center automation in operations (26%) and personalization in marketing and sales (23%) among the most common use cases. However, it's predominantly large companies that are ahead, benefiting from their substantial resources, robust infrastructure, and greater capacity to manage risk. Small and mid-size companies often find themselves at a disadvantage due to these limitations.

To remain competitive, small and mid-size companies must strategically accelerate their AI adoption, focusing on areas that promise high impact. Leveraging their agility and the increasing availability AI tools and platforms can offer them significant competitive edges in use case areas such as customer acquisition (22%), sales (17%), and customer service (17%). This approach not only helps overcome resource and infrastructure constraints but also allows these smaller entities to quickly adapt and innovate, ensuring their AI implementations drive their core business objectives and enhance their overall market position.

Strategic Alignment with Company Value Proposition

Integrating AI is more than just adopting new technologies - it's about fundamentally enhancing a company’s strategic edge. To truly leverage AI, it should expand a company’s value proposition and amplify the core business strategies. In many cases, this may lead to AI-based enhancements of products (22%) and creation of new products (19%). This ensures AI initiatives support and drive key business objectives, rather than just serving as a technological display.

Building & Acquiring Talent

The success of AI doesn’t just depend on systems and software - it’s heavily reliant on the people behind the technology. As the demand for skilled data experts continues to outstrip supply, it’s vital for companies to not only recruit new talent, but also to invest in upskilling their existing workforce to leverage data and AI. Developing data and AI literacy across the organization can significantly enhance decision-making processes and is essential to realizing the potential benefits to customers and business performance.

Professional Development & Coaching

For individuals, especially those in data roles or aspiring to leadership, continuous skill enhancement in line with AI advancements is vital. In a fast evolving landscape, being adept at leveraging data and AI in decision-making is increasingly table stakes. Organizations that support their employees’ growth in these areas are most likely to see improved engagement and retention, fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

For businesses aiming to harness the potential of data and AI, aligning strategies with your company’s value propositions, continuously developing talent, and enhancing AI literacy are not just competitive advantages—they are necessities.