Reimagining Businesses with AI

CHAPTER 2Building a Framework for Applying AI

“You don't have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream.”

—Michael Dell

INTRODUCTION

Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a subject is very vast and its applications very wide. In the first chapter, we explored the various branches and flavors of AI. As mentioned in the introduction, as per a recent McKinsey study,⁽¹⁾ by the end of 2030, the impact of AI is expected to be about $13 trillion with over 70% of companies impacted by AI. This means that nobody will be left untouched by the implications of AI. Most businesses and business leaders feel compelled to do something about AI as they have in the past with every new technology hype. They are motivated by the risk of being left out, so they do something. Often these AI initiatives are delegated to the CIO or CDO or other senior technology leaders. If AI is used for its new analytical capabilities to improve some aspects of internal operations or product performance, their impact is limited and the transformational goals are not achieved. To make a bigger impact, business leaders and the C-suite need to sponsor and monitor the efforts themselves. They also need to think in terms of a framework to drive these initiatives and capture the value. The COVID-19 crisis has ensured that digitization is on top of every business leader's agenda and that they are actively exploring advanced analytical techniques like ...