AI For Operational Efficiency: 4 Strategies and How to Improve It

Wouldn’t you love to have a business that’s efficient and streamlined? So would most business owners. But, working with multiple departments and a variety of personalities can lead to bottlenecks and other issues that prevent your operation from being as efficient as it could be.

That’s where artificial intelligence comes into play. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help you plan out your days, centralize information, analyze mass amounts of data, and keep your business in the best position to thrive.

AI Applications for Operational Efficiency

There are several ways AI can help your business improve its operational efficiency. Here are some of them:

Automation of Repetitive Tasks

Artificial intelligence’s greatest perk is that it can help you with automating tasks that you’d rather not do yourself. Things like responding to emails to acknowledge you received them or scheduling clients who want to stop in for a meeting, can all be done with artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence can also improve automation on factory floors and in production, so every space from manufacturing to the office can benefit from the machine learning and natural language processing capabilities of this helpful technology.

Examples of Tasks AI Can Automate

Common tasks AI can automate include:

• Identifying when machines need maintenance (predictive maintenance)
• Scheduling meetings
• Performing predictive analytics
• Taking care of administrative tasks
• Helping shape the shopping experience for retail customers

Data Analysis and Decision-Making Support

Artificial intelligence has also found its place in helping with data analytics and decision-making support for organizations. AI technologies can process and analyze data much faster than humans, making it that much easier to get the data-driven information you need to make decisions for your business.

How AI Improves Data Analysis Processes

Data analysis is easier with AI because AI is made up of algorithms that can examine historical trends, current market trends, and consumer data to help you predict product demand. AI can also assist with inventory level optimization and task automation to streamline data analysis processes.

AI-driven Decision-making Tools

AI-driven decision-making tools provide you with much-needed insights faster than ever before. They can quickly analyze data, sending you highlights and key factors to consider as you make decisions within your business.

AI for Workflow Optimization

Streamlining Processes

AI solutions help with operational excellence in a couple of ways:

Identifying Bottlenecks and Inefficiencies

Artificial intelligence identifies bottlenecks and inefficiencies, offering solutions to the team or individual. It can assist in optimizing schedules, which is particularly helpful when teams are spread across time zones.

Implementing AI-Driven Solutions

AI-driven solutions can help your business streamline operations. To implement them, you need to assess your business’s needs, choose the right AI (such as Podium’s AI Employee), and try a pilot or demo run before implementing it across your processes.

Predictive Maintenance

Using AI for Predictive Analytics in Maintenance

Using artificial intelligence with predictive analytics gives you a heads-up when your machinery or equipment needs repairs or maintenance.

Cost-saving Benefits of Proactive Maintenance

Several cost-saving benefits of proactive maintenance include:

• Extending the life of your equipment
• Preventing more costly repairs
• Minimizing downtime

AI-driven Productivity Enhancements

AI can improve productivity inside manufacturing companies and office processes through several methods.

Employee Productivity Tools

Employees can work smarter (not harder) with AI solutions such as:

AI-Powered Assistance for Tasks

With AI-powered assistance, automating repetitive daily processes becomes a breeze and employees can focus on the tasks they really need to get creative with.

Virtual Collaboration Tools

Virtual collaboration tools including group scheduling tools and document collaboration tools, can help employees get more done within a group. Artificial intelligence often works with centralized data, too, so everyone stays up to speed on the latest updates.

Customer Experience Improvements

Personalization Through AI

Artificial intelligence learns quickly, helping it personalize processes based on the needs, preferences, and behaviors of those it’s interacting with. It can make product recommendations, for example, or suggest additional products consumers might like when they check out on your website.

AI Chatbots for Customer Support

Improving customer experience is also simpler with artificial intelligence. AI can use natural language processing to communicate with consumers as chatbots that respond to customer concerns at any time of the day. For example, Podium’s AI Employee can help schedule appointments, answer frequently asked questions, and pass information along to your human employees when necessary.

5 Real-World Examples of AI for Operational Efficiency

AI has already started improving operational efficiency in real-life scenarios.

Software Development and Supercharging Your Development Cycle By Using AI

Artificial intelligence can work as a code-completion partner, helping you finish out your code structure without racking your brain for more information. It can help by making suggestions, writing code independently, and reducing the time you spend on repetitive processes.

Revolutionizing Recruitment and Retention With Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources

Keeping employees can be tough, and recruitment efforts can often be in vain. Using AI in human resources, makes it simpler than ever before to get the insights you need to build a better employee experience. AI can also screen resumes, schedule interviews, engage with candidates as a chatbot, and more.

Operations: Unleashing Efficiency with AI

In operations, it is possible to become more efficient with the use of AI. AI can help with process improvement, troubleshooting, and customer service. It also supports predictive maintenance to keep your equipment up and running.

AI in Finance

AI in finance is used in many ways including optical character recognition (OCR), data entry, data extraction and intelligent classification, matching invoices and verifying invoice details, and more.

From Sneaking Into Your Fridge to Saving Lives

It’s also common to find artificial intelligence in home appliances. Today, AI technologies are in refrigerators, in particular, helping those in the healthcare and food industries keep medications and foods cold and safe for use. Artificial intelligence does more than just manage temperatures; it can also identify when food has gone bad or when test samples might have been exposed to warm air for too long.

Podium’s AI Employee Helps Boost Your Operational Efficiency

Your business won’t run itself, but by streamlining your operations, you can ensure your team gets as much done as possible without burning the candle at both ends. Using AI is one way to take at least some of the stress off your shoulders and place it into the helpful digital hands that are capable of handling everything from managing finances to troubleshooting common problems on the job.

That’s where Podium comes in. With Podium’s AI Employee, you get a tool that sells, schedules, and communicates with customers day and night, all while still sounding like a real person. Respond to leads faster, answer common customer questions, and improve the customer experience with an AI employee that works as hard as you do.

Ready to see how Podium’s AI Employee can help your business? Watch a demo here.