The intelligent enterprise is within our reach
At its best, technology is actively democratized. It has enabled millions of people to express themselves and take advantage of new opportunities. The pocket calculator in the late 1970s changed education, academia and accounting in one fell swoop. In the 1990s, the Internet simplified access to the world’s information, and the smartphone in the late 1990s ushered in near-ubiquitous connectivity, putting information at our fingertips and creating new and revolutionary industries.
Each of these essential technologies makes us wonder how work was done and how life was lived before their arrival. In late 2022, we witnessed the latest step change with the explosion of generative AI image, text, and coding tools. Industries are now being disrupted, regulators are in turmoil and everyone is trying to keep up with the dizzying pace of change.
There is a race among technology companies to create lasting differentiation and improve customer value propositions. At SAP, we see AI as part of the movement pushing business toward what we call the Intelligent Enterprise, where insights from business data improve both revenue and profits.
This is the real value of AI for business. It may not be as striking as Midjourney’s art or ChatGPT’s written creations, but actual business solutions are starting to come online that will soon change the way business is done. SAP recently launched Joule, an AI co-pilot that allows business users to ask complex questions with answers pulled from their own company’s data. Substantiating business data reduces the chance of ‘hallucinations’ that generative AI can sometimes spit out. A user might ask, “How do I improve store performance?” and a response would be generated that combines product information, marketing materials, warehouse inventory, purchasing patterns, discounts, and shipping recommendations for each store location.
Of course, there are valid concerns that companies may not use AI ethically or be blind to the biases in the training data and results. That’s why it’s good to see regulations like the EU’s AI Act and the UK government’s AI Safety Summit trying to keep pace with developments. A reliable, responsible approach to new solutions will be essential to building trust as new technology begins to change the world of work. There are signs that the first implementations are also good for the company and employees. More than two-thirds of 1,000 UK businesses surveyed believe AI has improved the quality of employment, according to new data from the Institute for the Future of Work. And to counter initial concerns about the job market, while just under half said AI and automation had eliminated jobs, 67% said new jobs had been created. We are living through the next technological revolution, and unlike the age of smartphones and social media, this time we seem to be in a much better place to understand the potential and the threats.
Walter Sun is SAP’s Global Head of Artificial Intelligence.
We must be proactive in dealing with the pace of technological change
There are some guiding principles we can use when developing AI for business. First, tech companies need to think about their customers’ most critical processes so they can see how and where adding AI will make a competitive difference. Second, they must be able to use actual business data so that the outputs and outcomes are relevant to customer needs. Finally, AI software makers must take AI ethics seriously. A responsible technology industry will always focus on data protection, privacy and sovereignty. It will also always put people and their needs at the center of their products and services.
If we get this right, AI can help transform the industry in the coming years
Supply chains: Companies will be able to make accurate short-term forecasts and avoid supply chain disruption. They will also be able to ensure production accuracy, reduce inventory costs and meet delivery deadlines.
Finances: Teams can control costs and reduce risks. Automating intensive financial processes, such as matching outstanding receivables with incoming bank statements, will improve productivity.
Sale: Customer needs will be better understood and teams will have a clearer focus on the right opportunities to nurture.
Ecommerce: AI will personalize the digital customer experience, increase conversion and improve operational efficiency.
Across countless industries, AI will help companies improve data-driven decision making, allowing everyone in an organization, regardless of analytics expertise, to quickly access and explore trusted insights. Copilots, like Joule, will further democratize the distribution of information by proactively pushing essential knowledge to users that they previously would have had to search or obtain from the Internet themselves.
This new AI era will enrich businesses and increase agility. AI’s potential to handle repetitive tasks so employees and teams have the freedom to focus on the tough questions will soon be a competitive differentiator. We should all be excited as we embark on this journey together.
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