How To Create an Effective AI Business Strategy in 4 Steps

Imagine your team is less distracted by tedious tasks and has newfound time, energy, and focus to apply their creativity and knowledge to solve real-world problems. That’s the promise of AI. It can crunch data at a rapid clip, identify trends you might overlook, and help you do more than you thought possible. AI frees you up to create the Next Big Thing. Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t a threat—it’s here to be an extra set of hands and help your team shine when the work piles up.

Some business leaders are leery of implementing AI because of fear of the unknown. However, you can’t do what you did yesterday and expect the same results today. With that in mind, it’s important to embrace the latest technologies. In 2024, that means AI and all of its use cases.

AI applications can make a positive difference for businesses of all sizes. It has the power to help teams work smarter and not harder, saving time and money. However, incorporating AI into your strategy is the bare minimum. To harness its full potential, you need to put a great deal of thought and consideration into an AI business strategy. After all, a poorly executed approach can be disastrous and cost you time and money in the end. You likely don’t know what you don’t know, so take great care in evaluating a proposed AI strategy from all angles.

What is an AI strategy?

An AI strategy sets the tone for how your company will use AI to grow and scale. It helps you identify and thoughtfully understand your business challenges and risks to determine the best course of action using AI solutions. A winning AI strategy offers a foundation and baseline that allows you to use AI to your advantage and minimize threats.

8 Benefits of a Successful AI Strategy

Put simply, a well-defined AI strategy is good for business, both in terms of reputation and longevity. These are a few of the advantages of adopting AI solutions can present to businesses in nearly all industries:

Enhanced Data Analytics

AI is known for its ability to take a lot of data and help determine next steps. An AI strategy can help you make better business decisions with greater confidence. Consider a few examples of how AI can act as a forecasting tool. Business leaders can use AI applications and related insights to get in front of equipment failures and target consumers with messaging that grabs them at the right time.

Deeper Customer Insights

We’re now in the era of customization, and it’s up to businesses to determine what that means to them. A sound AI strategy can help you bridge the gap between customer needs, preferences, and frustrations. You can use AI to deliver a more personalized experience, which helps you keep customers around for a longer time.

Improved Decision-Making for Competitive Advantage

Numbers can tell a story and prompt sustainable change. The ability to pivot based on new information coming in can mean the difference between success and failure for your business. By looking at certain data points, you might be inclined to refine processes that minimize threats and help you gain market share.

Detailed Competition Analysis

AI can provide a window into your competition that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Taking inventory of competitor marketing strategies, online reputation, and product mix, AI can present an objective view of what you’re up against. Applying what you’ve learned about market conditions can help you elevate your stature and get ahead, all things being equal.

Personalized Marketing

Stale and generic marketing campaigns don’t cut it today. Customers want their specific needs to be reflected in your messaging and products. Adopting customer segmentation and personalization tools can help you hit the mark, leading to more favorable quarterly earnings and longer-term success.

This benefit is clearly shown in McKinsey’s Next in Personalization Report, which speaks to the value of personalized campaigns. McKinsey indicated that U.S. companies could produce $1 trillion in value as one outcome. Perhaps equally as impressive, they found that organizations generate 40% more revenue when leading with personalization. The takeaway: personalized marketing can pay for itself.

Process Automation

There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes at most businesses. Some tasks, especially ones that are mundane or are repetitive, are sources of dread and can leave staff bored and uninspired. Over time, this is a recipe for burnout and turnover. AI solutions can come to the rescue by identifying processes or procedures that might be creating bottlenecks or causing inefficiencies. Automation is a win on several fronts.

Less bogged down by repetitive tasks, staff can focus their time and energy on work that requires a human touch and is more lucrative. This is a win-win. Team members feel more fulfilled, and customers can get answers faster and on their own terms.

Optimized Supply Chain

Supply chains aren’t what they were pre-COVID. There are more variables and externalities now than ever, making it harder for business leaders to stay on top of demand. Fortunately, an AI strategy can help business leaders better forecast trends and avoid common inventory-related pitfalls. Plus, AI is an asset in that it can find the best delivery route, saving time and money on transportation costs.

Financial Analysis with Machine Learning

Financial analysis should enter into the equation when determining the best way to move forward. Machine learning can be essential in this effort, since it can sift through silos of data. Related data reporting can underline trends and patterns that might have otherwise been dismissed. This advantage can result in better investment decisions and a leg up on the competition. Data wins over emotional or blind decision-making any day.

How to Build a Strong AI Strategy

An AI strategy that gets results is centered around thoughtful planning, execution, and evaluation. Keep these steps in mind as you build yours:

Get to Know the Technology

Take the time to get familiar with AI technologies and how they might align with your goals. A few of the most common ones include machine learning and natural language processing. Both can help your business reach new heights.

Conduct Due Diligence

Look at your business operations through an objective lens. This approach is the best way to identify how AI can enhance processes and procedures. At the same time, be mindful of potential obstacles that could thwart AI implementation. Set up safeguards to protect your business in the event something goes wrong.

Define Clear Objectives

Begin with the end in mind by understanding what problems you’re trying to solve by implementing AI. You might be concerned about customer service speed and efficiency. Maybe your creative team has vowed to create marketing emails with higher open rates. Gaining a deeper understanding of customer behavior will support these efforts. Being goal-oriented helps give you a baseline for gauging the success of an AI implementation project.

Identify Potential Partners and Vendors

You likely don’t have the resources to handle all of this internally. Put in the time to look up partners and vendors who can fulfill your needs. Leave the technical stuff to the experts so you’re not distracted and risk losing your position in the marketplace.

If you’re serious about an AI business strategy, then you need a solution like Podium’s all-in-one platform to get the job done. Podium’s AI Employee offers a glimpse into the future of elevating the customer experience. This tool handles tasks such as selling, scheduling, and communicating with customers around the clock. It’s like having an extra person on the team—no cubicle needed.

By investing in this solution, you can expect to do things like:

• Craft personalized experiences by using a data strategy to make customers feel like VIPs.
• Automate repetitive tasks so your team can focus on problem-solving.
• Generate AI insights to make changes that positively shape the customer experience.

An AI business strategy can be your secret weapon. Watch a demo and see why businesses trust Podium to increase sales revenue and optimize their team’s productivity.