Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are no longer words that you hear in fiction books or movies. They are technologies that have disrupted how we conduct business and even everyday life.
It is important for the technologies to match the business scale, and resonate with the needs. however, when it comes to matching the business processes with technology, most people have no clue where to begin. That’s where it is important to understand the needs of the business, the specifications and then plan on the scaling aspect.
A successful business is one which has understood the need for AI and ML for their business and has defined an operational model to achieve the necessary ROI. The idea is to get tangible and impressive benefits with the right collaboration of technologies.
Here, we will take you through all the aspects that need to be considered when you are planning to scale AI and ML for your business.
1. Involving the Stakeholders
Before you begin scaling AI and ML for your business, it is important to identify if there is a need. It is necessary that all the stakeholders involved in your business hold the same point, and understand the need to scale your technologies.
What could be the need for AI or ML and the need to scale these technologies to meet a business objective? Once you have identified the need and the business objective, it becomes easier to get all the stakeholders to understand the need and agree with the purpose.
To identify how you can meet the desired objective, you should have a defined plan that takes into consideration segmentation, recommendation, and other user data. Make sure you have all the data accessible for the machine to properly define it into the algorithm.
2. Get the Right Data
More than data being accessible, it is important that you access the correct data. The two technologies being discussed here are all about identifying the right data sets that can help create the algorithm, which will allow the machines to predict and recommend. However, if the data set and past learning are not correct or ably defined, then the technologies will not be able to help you identify or predict the future. You should ideally align the stakeholders with the data scientists so that you can define the right dataset for the objective and problem you have defined earlier. You will not only get an in-depth understanding of the company and their perspectives but also will be able to understand what data will help accomplish what kind of objectives.
3. Defining the Business Objectives
Whether you are investing in new technology or, identifying methods to scale the existing technology, you should be able to work towards a defined objective. The main reason why the technologies fail could be attributed to the fact that you have grand expectations but, no defined objective or goal. As a result, you have identified no metrics that can measure the success of the applied technologies.
When you know what you aim to achieve with the application of these technologies, you have the right metrics on your hand, and it will help determine the success.
For instance, if you want to detect the number of frauds, then you would have the metrics for this problem, and you would also have the KPIs defined for measuring the instance. This will help you work your technologies towards achieving that instance. It will also give you a direction that you should move towards to achieve successful implementation.
4. Move from Silos
Data has always operated in silos, making it even more difficult to access the data with ease. We all know how important data is to AI and ML. you need to move away from silos to the collaborative movement of data. The two technologies need more convergence than most others, as they are interdependent on the different segments and concepts for the work they perform.
From the data scientists and project managers, deeply involved in the project, to the stakeholders, everyone should understand the collaborative approach AI and ML take. The data lake approach should be considered by most organizations, if they want to achieve the success they are aiming for with the technologies considered.
The move away from silos will benefit the companies as it will help the systems be more transparent, and enhance cross-pollination of the data systems for better results.
5. Willingness to Make the Move
Scaling the technologies cannot be done if your business is not yet ready to accept the technologies and move ahead with it. it is important that the business processes are agile. The reason being, agile processes can ensure quicker application of data-driven approaches and increase the speed of development. In short, the agile your process is, the easier it is for your business to scale these technologies. Apart from being agile, your data and algorithms should be focused on the objective. When you have these elements ready, you know your business is ready to scale to the next level. the most important factor that showcases the readiness would be the idea of moving ahead with AI and ML. If the stakeholders are ready to commit to these technologies, it shows organizational readiness in more than one way.
6. Invest in the Right Tools and Infrastructure
The last criteria that you need to consider before scaling the business would be the tools and infrastructure that will help scale the technologies effectively. You need to know the tools that can help you get the edge with AI and ML and can help you attain your objectives.
The infrastructure and setup should be friendly for AI and ML development. You could opt for a hybrid-cloud approach that will get you the necessary agility and speed in the development and retrieval of the data.
Summing Up
The organizations should train their key people, who will be handling the AI and ML-based projects in the respective technologies. Proper training will help them understand how effective the two technologies will be for the company, and how to handle them for the efficient management of the organization.
You should invest a lot of time and effort into data management and proper data storage methods so that you can use the correct data for your needs.
It is important that every business identify the tech needs, and understand how to efficiently scale the technology for better business outcomes.
Images
Image courtesy of freepik.com