01 Sep How AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science can revolutionise your small business – The benefits of AI

In the previous blog in the series we explored the power that technology holds in our lives in the modern world, and how our reliance on it is only going to grow as time goes on, more and more employers are becoming aware of what technology is capable of.

This led us to explore AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science – three of the most influential advancements in technology that the world has ever seen. We found that, just because the technology is so innovative, it isn’t out of reach for small business owners. We found that, with these technological aids woven into the fabric of your organisation, you can place never before seen levels of reliance on your tech with the confidence that it will get the job done, often in a more efficient and far more economically viable way than before.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the benefits of AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science and how they can revolutionise your small business.

The benefits of AI to a small business

Accurate decision making

With AI decisions can be made digitally. You can place your full trust in the technology that it will – no matter the circumstances – make the right decision for the business. Unfortunately, with a human team, this is not always the case. It is human nature to look out for our own interests but there are times that this attitude does jeopardise the success of the organisation they work for.

 Improved recruitment process

A lot of smaller businesses don’t have their own HR department – these duties can be time-consuming and very overwhelming. However, this is no longer a problem – now you can place the task of HR on the capable shoulders of your technology, HR is a sector of businesses that is really seeing the benefits of technological solutions. With the help of cutting-edge technology like AI-enabled applicant tracking systems, you can develop job searches and browse CVs to guarantee you pick the very best applicant for the job.

AI will even take the tedious task of interviews off your hands, not with robot run interviews (although I’m sure that isn’t too far in the distant future for some organisations) but with automated questionnaires conducted over the internet – this will let you spend your valuable time only on conducting final interviews with the applicants that are in with a chance of fulfilling the role. This also guarantees an unbiased, objective, selection process based on equal opportunity for all – a good accolade for any business to have in the modern age.

Interaction whilst mobile

Your life is undoubtedly already influenced daily by AI, most predominantly by your Mobile smartphone. Every Smartphone has a very high performing Microchip in it that allows end-users real-time abilities like translation and speech recognition. Using these features correctly allows you to take your business to a whole new level that perhaps you didn’t think was possible – global. Regardless of the preferred language of your customer base, with AI you can still communicate to a very good and – most importantly – professional standard.

Customer Service

The customer experience should be at the very top of operational concerns in any business no matter the industry you are in – and that’s the same for businesses whether they have a staff team of two or 2,000. AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science can revolutionise the way we view customer support, and this is only intended to improve over the coming years. With AI-powered software and Data Science (Sentient analysis technology), effectively responding to the concerns of your customer base will be much easier and achieved to a considerably higher standard. You will be able to handle complaints and queries more effectively with Machine Learning and AI; most of them are script-driven, with chatbot technologies incorporated, which enables you to give quick and accurate answers at the same time as building engagement with your target audience.

Security

The modern world of work has caused the security concerns of your organisation to rise to the very top! Cyber criminals also have access to AI and will use it to cause problems – but you can use it to detect fraud, and software and apps can even learn from situations in order to make your digital environment a much safer place. AI can identify gaps in your security and Machine Learning can interpret the information and algorithms, which will allow for better defensive strategies going into the future. With advanced levels of security you will not only feel better but you can pass that confidence on to your customer base – a guarantee that their data is safe will go a very long way to increasing levels of trust, and, in turn, repeat business.

In the remainder of the article, we will explore Data Science, how it is unrecognisable to what it once was, and what – if used correctly – it can do for your organisation going forward.

Data Science/Analytics and your small business

Data Science translates simply to Analytics. In business, having data that is accurate allows you to make potential business defining strategic decisions. Traditionally, you would always be one step behind, just because you had no way of making live decisions based on real-time events. This was due to your team potentially taking days to gather – and make sense of – the information displayed on spreadsheets.

Recent technological advancements have changed Analytics. We have all used data analytics to adapt our work practices to achieve the most we possibly can with the resources we have at our disposal, but, due to the changes that business owners were forced to make over the last year or so, many purchased a variety of different tools specialising in collaboration and communication – tools like Microsoft Teams. This wasn’t done by choice; the choice was to do that or close their doors.

This rapid change to a different way of working – at such a quick pace – had led to managers being left in the dark. In some cases, they are completely unaware of workplace performance amidst a backdrop of large amounts of traffic.

There are solutions out there that are capable of performing tasks quickly and accurately. Business owners want to get real meaning from their data – they want to give their workforce all the right tools to complete their work to the absolute best standards possible.

Microsoft Teams analytics

The world that you are running your business in – if not navigated as efficiently as possible – is an unforgiving one. Your competition is using the data that they have at their disposal, so it is no good attempting to compete with them if you aren’t doing the same. Collaboration apps are the key example for this, with Microsoft Teams allowing businesses all over the globe to establish and maintain relationships with their clients and colleagues alike – even throughout one of the world’s worst-ever health epidemics, a time that saw colleagues working from different places all over the globe.

Managers need solutions that analyse the volume and quality of all their team and customer interactions, allowing them to then bring it to life and give it purpose within the workflow of their organisations.

Microsoft Teams is one of the most popular applications the world has ever seen. It has gathered a following of over 250 million daily active users, in over 181 countries, and is available in 19 different languages – it was the salvation for so many during the pandemic in providing solutions for connectivity, collaboration, and productivity. That’s great, but now is the time for it to do more – it needs to identify key employee trends, assess customer call quality, aid in team training, and in wellbeing concerns. The data is there – unlocking it is the issue.

You need to provide savvy platforms with ‘high availability’ data capture capabilities that can deliver a complete picture from every single call – each of which can generate an astonishing 600 different pieces of data (all with their own unique points) that can help your business be a success. They need to be quick to deploy, offer real-time data, and, most importantly, be as easy as possible to use, and this will help them to easily become a part of your daily processes.

Gathering not just any but the right intelligence will allow you to make better decisions based on what is best for your organisation, your team, and their prolonged improved performance. A key thing to remember about modern data analytics is that it doesn’t take a tech genius to understand and manage the data you acquire. Anyone – with the right education on the matter – can unlock the details that will guide their business to success.

AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science continue to revolutionise the capabilities of small businesses all over the globe. Businesses are racing to implement some form of AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science in order to speed up the most repetitive of tasks, minimise or even irradicate human error in certain parts of the workflow, increase accuracy, output, and, in turn, the efficiency of your organisation. AI is expected to become a staple part of our everyday lives, even more so than it already is. It is only a matter of time until the possibilities – and availability – of AI become common knowledge and the entire world rushes to implement it, and when it does it will change the world as we know it. You need to get there first and be already reaping the benefits by the time your competition has only just found out what it is.

The future of modern business

Our experienced and knowledgeable team of experts will help your business to embrace the technology that has the power to revolutionise your workplace, ensuring you flourish in the digital age. A correctly implemented and adequately maintained Digital Transformation will enable your team to move into a prosperous future of growth and productivity with technology as a powerful ally. Contact us now and find out how we can help you transform your digital landscape into one that aligns with not only your vision for the future but also the future of computing all over the globe.

Contact us now to find out how we can help you revolutionise your small business!