Chayan Mukhopadhyay is the Co-founder & CEO of Qandle, an All-In-One HR Platform. He started his career with American Express and eventually went on to establish his own firm catering to the most effective HR services in this tech-savvy world. As the CEO of the company, he focuses on raising the brand as per the team’s ambition and mission. He is presently steering the overall Business and Product development of the brand and has served over 400 clients receiving funds worth USD 1,200,000.
Competitive advantage refers to a company’s ability to offer something significant and something which the market values, more effectively than its competitors. Many business tasks are easier to complete with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning software, which can provide automated services with significantly reduced error margins.
The nature and scope of entrepreneurial activities are changing as a result of these digital technologies. The ability to automate tasks that require significant human input and effort is a unique feature of digitization. Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) enable businesses to process large amounts of unstructured data using sophisticated, adaptive algorithms and perform tasks that would normally require a lot of human intelligence and time. As per a recent Gartner study, 10% of enterprises that incorporate Machine Learning (ML) or Artificial Intelligence (AI) engineering best practices will raise at least three times the value from their AI and ML initiatives as compared to the 90% of enterprises that do not.
India, with its ever growing entrepreneurial mindset, skilled workforce, and appropriate educational resources, has enormous potential to unleash AI and ML’s true capabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for the widespread adoption of these technologies. This is supported by the recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report on India Artificial Intelligence Market 2021, which forecasts India’s AI market to reach USD 7.8 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 20.2 percent, up from USD 3.1 billion in 2020. Furthermore, the AI services market is expected to outpace the overall AI market growth in India by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 35.8 percent. AI is becoming an increasingly important part of our daily lives, with far-reaching implications in everything we do. Although the potential is immense, and newer applications of these technologies are coming up everyday, here are some ways in which, we think, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can help entrepreneurs gain a competitive advantage.
Better Customer Understanding – Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can be used by businesses to better understand, segment, and connect with customers. Customers can communicate with businesses in a variety of ways in today’s connected world.
For example, Internet of Things (IoT) products, enabled by Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, need to understand user behavior in order to perform as expected. Sensors and chips connected to physical objects present a huge opportunity for collecting and analyzing valuable actionable data. Based on historical data, this type of analysis employs data, algorithms, and various techniques to determine the likelihood of a particular type of behavior and demand. Entrepreneurs use that data to make more informed and better decisions.
In other industries as well, not all customers behave the same way, and hence, not all customers can be communicated to, in the same way. AI/ML can help companies segregate their customers into similar clusters who can be then differently targeted to achieve better results.
Deeper and Faster Data Analysis – As the future is data-driven, AI and ML no doubt can help multiple industries. AI and ML enable faster access to analyze large amounts of data than ever before. Companies which invest in these technologies can analyze and organize a variety of information about their products and customers in order to improve their core offerings. For instance, in the finance industry, entrepreneurs can greatly benefit from predicting fraud and identity theft issues, as well as doing sales forecasting. The healthcare industry can profit from test analysis and personalized treatment, advice to patients via assistants/chatbots, and recommendations based on individual health data. Similarly, entrepreneurs in the education industry can use AI and machine learning to revolutionize education delivery based on individual learning needs. By personalizing and customizing content and delivery mechanisms based on individual student’s needs, grading students, reviewing homework, and proposing higher education institutes based on the field of interest, both students and the Ed-tech industry can see positive results.
Actionable Competitive Intelligence – The process of gathering and analyzing information about a company’s current and potential competitors, industry, and business environment is known as competitive intelligence. AI has made market intelligence, research, and analysis easier than it has ever been. In practice, a firm can monitor much of what the competitors do to grow their business, from product offerings to consumer interests to advertisement strategies. The goal is to discover what works for other businesses in the industry so that the firm can replicate or better the results. Entrepreneurs can easily gather intelligence, monitor, and recognize what their rivals are doing and what makes them successful by leveraging artificial intelligence solutions which specifically help with analyzing competitive data and provide actionable intelligence.
Save Time and Reduce Costs – Since the outbreak of the pandemic, many businesses have seen a significant increase in customer inquiries, especially those related to future cancellations, unforeseen circumstances etc. As a result, escalations have increased, resulting in higher service costs. Al and ML technological boom can enable entrepreneurs to achieve cost savings as well as essential productivity by automating repetitive tasks. According to a Forbes report, AI can save the average Fortune 500 company $4.7 million per year through automation. Businesses can use Machine Learning to respond to the most frequently asked questions of customers, speed up different operational processes, free up employees’ time, and boost productivity. AI and ML can automate mundane tasks, allowing employees to focus on more important strategic responsibilities.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are not just for global tech behemoths and industry leaders, it is for any forward-thinking company that wants to grow and maintain a competitive edge. As the AI and ML landscape is redefining the terms on which companies will compete, entrepreneurs must determine which digital tools and automated systems are best for their business to stay relevant and competitive.