The vast majority of businesses that have made it through the last two years’ upheavals are looking at a very uncertain future. There’s inflation on the rise, disrupted supply chains, unpredictable economic conditions, and a recruitment crisis in many sectors. Right now, making the right decision is more critical than ever before.
Historically, decision-making has been based on learnings from previous trading patterns, combined with the experience of decision-makers themselves. But the nature of information has changed in the last couple of decades, characterized by data collected in ever-increasing quantities.
While having a wealth of information at hand sounds positive, in practice, there’s simply too much to process for many of us. Additionally, the view of historic data that we’re used to considering no longer provides sufficient insight against a backdrop of extreme volatility.
Source: Peak
For many businesses, Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds the answer. It has the potential to automate insights and use historic data to provide a predictive view. Yet, the majority of businesses investing in AI are struggling to deploy the technology, let alone use it to deliver business value.
This is down to a number of issues, not least the tendency of those developing the technology in-house to start with the data they have and see what’s possible – a time consuming process. Data silos within businesses and technical teams isolated from the commercial users they’re developing applications for completes the picture.
To deliver on a company’s commercial objectives, AI projects must start with an end goal in mind. “What do we need to achieve and how do we do that?” It’s an approach that requires collaboration from both technical and commercial teams.
This business-focused approach is the differentiating factor between Decision Intelligence (DI) and Artificial Intelligence. Decision Intelligence is the application of AI to the commercial decision-making process. It is outcome focused, meaning businesses don’t spend years working on DI applications in the hope they’ll yield something in the end, but build them to deliver on specific commercial outcomes.
Source: Peak
Decision Intelligence is epitomized by category pioneer Peak‘s platform, which can put AI to work for everyone within a business. It delivers insight into complex “what if” scenarios that inform decision making and, since decision-making is universal, it can be used in every department in any sector, optimizing marketing, sales, demand forecasting, diagnostics or supply chain.
DI is how the majority of businesses will adopt AI, and it will change the way the world works in much the same way that the internet did. As its use increases, we’ll see more and more applications for it. Already, early adopters including Nike, PepsiCo, Sika and KFC, are leveraging DI, shifting best-guesses made at a department level to connected, intelligent decisions based on data and made in real-time. Like all good technology, DI levels out competitive markets, allowing data-savvy operators to outperform competitors – even in times of extreme uncertainty.
To discover how your business can leverage Decision Intelligence, visit Peak.
