Since our world evolved into the digital age and artificial intelligence went mainstream, using AI is no longer a luxury. Indeed, it is a necessity if you want your business to thrive.
This is where AI strategy consulting comes in. AI strategy consulting gives businesses the framework they need to use artificial intelligence to reach their company’s goals.
This article explores the world of AI strategy consulting. You will discover its components, benefits, and how to choose the right AI strategy consultant for your firm.
What Is AI Strategy Consulting?
AI strategy consulting or technology consulting is a process where a company receives expert advice, planning, and support to use artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations. The goal is to bridge the gap between the technical nature of AI and the practical ways a company can use it to achieve its goals.
AI comprises numerous technologies like machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and robotics. As such, businesses can have a hard time identifying the right tools and deploying them. Moreover, it could be difficult to adapt their business strategy to AI-driven changes that happen with time.
With effective consultation, companies can overcome these challenges. Below is an overview of the core components of end-to-end AI strategy consulting services:
- AI readiness and maturity assessment: The consultant speaks with the business leaders to understand their current data infrastructure. They then conduct a comprehensive AI readiness assessment to know the gaps to be addressed. The test includes things like data quality review, identification of existing technologies, and employee readiness for adoption.
- Developing an AI vision: Based on the previous assessment, the expert creates an AI vision that aligns with the company’s goals. This stage serves as the foundation and roadmap for all artificial intelligence-related activities.
- Data strategy: AI depends heavily on high-quality data to give accurate insights and predictions. As such, tech consultants would design a robust data management practice that ensures data quality, availability, and security.
- Selecting the right AI technologies: Strategy experts select AI tools based on your company’s unique needs, infrastructure, and budget.
- Implementation and integration support: They modify the firm’s existing workflows and train employees to ensure a seamless AI transition.
- Change management: The consulting service patiently guides the company through the cultural and operational shifts that come with using artificial intelligence.
- Continuous monitoring and optimisation: After implementation, consultants monitor the performance of the AI systems. They also ensure that the technology evolves to suit the firm’s changing needs.
Benefits of AI Strategy Consulting Services
While you can choose to deploy AI by yourself for your company, partnering with artificial intelligence technology experts comes with numerous benefits. Let’s examine some of them below:
- Accelerated AI Adoption: Without a clear plan, your AI adoption process can be slow and unpredictable. However, an AI tech expert helps you with actionable strategies and achievable plans.
- Better decision-making: AI consultants typically use tools that provide predictive and real-time data analysis. This ensures more informed and timely decision-making.
- Scalable solutions: As your business grows, so do operational needs. Artificial intelligence strategy experts will help build scalable solutions that can evolve as the organisation increases.
- Competitive edge: You can gain a competitive advantage by adopting AI in your business. This is because artificial intelligence enables automation to boost your operational efficiency. Ultimately, you can outpace your competitors by providing more value.
- Ethical AI implementation: Issues like data privacy and bias in algorithms are growing concerns with using AI. By employing these experts, you can be sure that your AI systems are deployed responsibly, ethically, and transparently.
- Cost efficiency: Although implementation of AI could be capital-intensive at the start, you would be cutting down costs significantly in the long run. Since you are optimizing your workflows, you will avoid costly errors that translate to a better return on investment (ROI).
AI Strategy Consulting in Action
AI technology consulting has helped many industries, and the results speak for themselves. Here is a highlight of some companies that have benefitted from AI consulting services.
Zartis Case Study
Zartis’ client is a top-class digital billing insights solutions company. Our objective was to use AI to offer smarter customer engagement features. The dedicated AI strategy consultants at Zartis brainstormed with their clients to create a roadmap that ensured smooth AI adoption. To that end, we delivered:
AS-IS report
To build a custom AI strategy, our AI team starts with an analysis of the client’s current tech stack and processes. At this stage, we also identify potential use cases for AI, and work with client’s in-house team through a series of workshops to produce an AS-IS report that is as accurate as possible.
TO-BE report
Utilizing the findings in the AS-IS report, the TO-BE report focused on the design of a strategic AI adoption plan, including specific recommendations as well as an implementation roadmap – including process or systems improvements to get the most out of the AI initiatives.
A custom AI strategy
Zartis AI consultants developed a custom AI strategy and adoption plan, uniquely addressing the client’s needs and business requirements. As a technology provider for digital service providers a highly competitive AI strategy that enables innovation in product and feature development was devised.
Starting with small adjustments that will generate quick wins for the client, our experts delivered suggestions on where to start and how to go about utilising AI-powered technologies within different products and business lines.
How To Choose the Right AI Strategy Consultant
The consultant you partner with determines the long-term success of your AI adoption plan. However, the reality of the availability of many consulting firms could make it difficult to make a choice. Keep reading to know how to select the expert that best suits your business.
1. Industry Expertise
Different businesses have their unique challenges that must be taken into account when designing their AI solutions. For example, using artificial intelligence in healthcare would focus on things like improving diagnostics and managing patient data. On the other hand, tech consulting in finance would emphasise issues such as fraud detection and risk management.
You need to verify that your strategy consultant has deep industry expertise. This would ensure that your AI implementation will deliver the result you want. Feel free to ask your consultant to provide their success stories from businesses within your industry to confirm their experience. Certifications and membership in industry-specific bodies are other pointers to a tech expert’s credibility.
2. Proven Track Record
Artificial intelligence solutions are generally technical and expensive. As such, the last thing you want is to entrust your company into the hands of people you can’t vouch for. Partnering with a consultant with a track record of success gives you confidence that they will deliver tangible results.
Look for detailed case studies that reveal your potential consultant’s approach from conception to execution. If they have maintained long-term relationships with past clients, then that’s a green flag. It proves that they can deliver continuous AI improvements as your business evolves.
3. Technological Expertise
AI is not a one-size-fits-all solution because it is made up of a range of technologies, including ML, NLP, computer vision, robotics, and more. Your ideal consultant should have an in-depth understanding of these aspects. Thus, they will know how to leverage them for your business.
AI relies heavily on data, so you should ask about their experience with large-scale data systems. You can confirm the AI frameworks and tools they work with. Also, they should have certifications from cloud services like Google AI, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or Microsoft Azure.
4. Customisation Capability
A good AI strategist knows that customisation is the key to providing a solution that will make a business thrive. Quick fixes may address an immediate need, but they will fail in the long term. Your consultant should take time to understand your business challenges to tailor their recommendations.
If they suggest a solution without thoroughly assessing your company, it’s a red flag. Ask them how they tweak their strategies to suit different clients. Furthermore, verify that your AI strategy consultant’s approach is flexible and compatible with your workflow.
5. Commitment to Ethical AI
When a technology consultant prioritises ethical AI, it shows their commitment to using the tools in a fair, transparent, and accountable manner. Ethical AI ensures that the tool is designed in a way that respects user privacy. This is especially important for industries like healthcare, finance, and government.
Be sure that your tech expert has a clear way to identify potential biases in AI models. You can also ask how they prevent unfair disadvantages for certain user groups. Additionally, take your time to understand how their AI solutions handle sensitive data.
Conclusion
Partnering with the right AI tech expert will help your company achieve growth and efficiency. Since AI is here to stay, it’s best to invest in it so your business stays ahead of its competitors.
Whether you are in the retail, healthcare, finance, or other sectors, you can get started with Zartis today. Our trusted AI strategy consultants will help you develop a custom artificial intelligence strategy that will transform your business for the better.
