Is AI Right for My Business? Five Questions & Answers

Author: Krista LaRiviere, COO RTOWN Digital & CBH Agency Partners

Let’s face it, there’s no escaping it. AI is here, and it is here to stay. The business landscape, as we know it, has forever changed.

If you are like most business leaders, AI is creating more questions than answers. To help, we’ve compiled a list of five questions we are continually hearing in conversations with CEOs and marketing leaders.

Should we be using AI in our business?
Which tools and technologies should we be using?
Which functional areas of the business should we be using AI for?
Are there any risks in using AI?
As a business leader, what should I do next?

Before we jump into answering these questions, let’s start at the very beginning. What exactly is AI? And what is Generative AI?

Artificial intelligence is not new. As a field, it has been around for over 70 years and has been evolving over time. Demiss Hassabis, Co-Founder & CEO of Deepmind, which was acquired by Google in 2014, defines AI as “the science of making machines smart”.

Put another way, AI is the process of programming a computer to make decisions for itself.

It is an extension of the human brain. It hears, talks, writes, sees, moves, and understands logically and accurately. Additionally, it is important to note artificial intelligence is an umbrella term for machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), natural language generation (NLG), natural language processing (NLP), image recognition, and neural networks.

Generative AI consists of systems used to generate output in the form of text, images, video, audio, and code. These systems are the tools we subscribe to and use such as Grammarly, ChatGPT, Copilot, Anthropic Claude, etc.

Hype has increased in the past few years with the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022, which has resulted in increased end user adoption rates as well as aggressive investment into tools and technologies, not unlike the early 2000’s Dot Com Boom (then bust). It can be argued the AI market is officially in what Gartner coins the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’.

But back to those five questions. Let’s answer them!

Question #1 - Should we be using AI in our business?

Answer #1 - Yes and no.

I like to think of AI as a ‘fool rush-in’ scenario.

With thousands of Generative AI tools on the market for businesses to subscribe to, my advice is don’t be tempted to start with a specific tool and expect it to improve your business in some unidentified way. Instead, like all great business approaches, start with strategy. Ask yourself this question - What are our business goals and objectives? How can AI technologies be integrated into currently successful business processes to help our team more effectively achieve those goals and objectives?

Look for “AI exposed tasks”; simple tasks repetitive in nature.

So, yes, your business should be using AI if you:

have stated goals and objectives your team is working towards;
can integrate a particular trusted technology investment into a currently successful business process; and
can identify a clear outcome (i.e., decrease in expenses, increase in revenue, increase in customer satisfaction, etc.).

Or no, your business should not be using AI if you can’t accomplish the above. Do not rush in until the business strategy is sound, otherwise you will simply be performing random acts of artificial intelligence and wasting your time and money.

Question #2 - Which tools and technologies should we be using?

Answer #2 - The Marketing AI Institute recently published its 2024 State of AI Marketing report. They surveyed 1,800 marketing and business professionals and found that 36% of respondents now have AI “infused into their daily workflows,” up 7% over the same period last year. Surprisingly (or not), 81% of respondents do not have an AI Roadmap (plan) within their organization.

And with literally 1000s of AI tools to choose from for sales, marketing, and customer service alone, where do you even start?

Start by identifying a use case related to your business goals and objectives. For example, improve response time to prospects and customers by 25%. Next, identify tools to support the use case. A common tool for achieving results is the implementation of an AI Chatbot. Another is the adoption of ChatGPT or Writer to generate content marketing ideas.

Regardless of the identified use case, research the business and the team behind the tool. Ask yourself these questions:

How long has the AI tool been in the market?
Do they have happy customers and case studies?
How long will the implementation take and will it cost money?
Do they have investors?
Does the management team have a track record of business success? (Find the business and the team on LinkedIn.)

Identifying a use case, selecting an appropriate tool, successfully implementing the tool and measuring results all take time. If your team is already occupied, consider working with a service provider to help.

Question #3 - Which functional areas of my business should we be using AI for?

Answer #3 - AI options exist for all functional areas of business including: accounting, human resources, operations, sales, marketing, and customer service.

Since we are marketing and sales focused here at RTOWN, we’ll keep the conversation on these functional areas. If you are already using a sales CRM or marketing platform such as Hubspot or Salesforce.com, you don’t have to look too far to find AI functionality. Most, if not all, vendors are helping their customers leverage the benefits of AI by building Generative AI capabilities into their technology stacks.

Be sure to talk with your team to understand if they already use AI and which tools they use.

One important element to consider for the successful use of AI is data. The output produced by Generative AI tools is only as good as the inputs—your data. Whether sales data, marketing data, or other “garbage in will be garbage out” data.

Question #4 - Are there risks in using AI?

Answer #4 - Yes.

As business leaders, we must always be aware of and acknowledge lurking risks to the business. AI poses multiple risks. It is important to consider these risks in the context of not being aware your team is already using AI tools.

This is not an exhaustive list:

Security—According to eSentire, a Canadian Cybersecurity company, “Generative AI technologies have made many improvements to cybersecurity. However, at the same time, GenAI is creating a new attack surface and lowering the barrier for entry for amateur cybercriminals.” We need to understand the security risks of employees using GenAI tools.
Copyright - The output produced by GenAI tools may or may not be owned by your company. Copyright rules vary from country to country. In the United States, outputs created by Generative AI cannot be copyrighted. In Canada, it is a little less straightforward. A human must produce copyrighted content. However, it is a gray area as to whether the inputs created by the human and fed to the GenAI system are enough. Read Who Owns AI-Generated creations and why should you care by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
Facts - GenAI tools may not get the facts correct. Fact-checking is a must!

Question #5 - As a business leader, what should I do next?

Answer #5 - Get started!

Discuss - Meet with your leadership team and discuss AI openly. Brainstorm its positive and negative uses within the business, expected outcomes, and use cases.
Strategy - Ensure your business strategy is solid and the leadership team has bought in and is executing.
Roadmap - Develop an AI Roadmap to ensure resources are efficiently aligned and executed.
Policies - Set organizational policies for AI usage to protect the business.
Risks - Understand copyright laws by country and GenAI vendor security pitfalls.

Artificial intelligence isn’t so artificial, and it is here to stay. It can become your competitive advantage. Embrace it wisely, tie all investments back to financial statements, and understand risks. As business leaders, we must evolve our businesses and business models responsibly with AI.

Team RTOWN would be happy to answer any questions you have about AI, GenAI, and its application to your business. Contact Us today