.png)
Demand for AI innovation in the workplace is growing with the rise of ever-more impressive solutions like generative AI bots, and advanced machine learning algorithms. Countless business leaders have already begun to recognise the potential benefits of these tools, for streamlining workflows, reducing operational costs, and unlocking access to valuable data.
Even employees are beginning to see the bright side of bringing AI into their workflows. While some staff members initially feared AI tools would render them redundant, now 73% of workers say they hope their company will start implementing more AI solutions soon.
However, there’s more to implementing AI into the workforce than simply investing in the latest apps or ChatGPT subscriptions. Business leaders need a defined strategy for how they’re going to define which AI tools and apps to use, implement them into processes, and minimise risks with the right usage policies. Failure to plan effectively could not only harm the return on investment you achieve with AI but also put you at risk of significant fines for security and compliance issues.
So, how do you respond to a growing demand for AI tools in the workplace effectively?
According to the Harvard Business Review, up to 44% of all working hours across numerous industries have the potential to be impacted by generative AI. This suggests AI could have a significant impact on a lot of workplace processes – but not all of them.
Before you start trying to infuse intelligence into every task in an employee's workflow (or allowing them to do the same), it’s important to assess where AI will drive the best results.
Start by breaking down the tasks involved in each employee’s role. For instance, a marketing executive might spend their days building GTM strategies, evaluating the results of marketing campaigns, creating content, and interacting with colleagues. Some of the tasks these employees do will require a specific level of expertise, knowledge, or creativity only a human being can provide.
Typically, recurring, and simple tasks, like summarising information from a report, could be candidates for full automation with generative AI. Other tasks, that require collaboration, creative reasoning, and human judgement, may be able to be “augmented” by AI, but not managed completely.
There are also tasks where generative AI might not deliver any value at all.
Next, once you’ve identified potential tasks where AI could deliver benefits to your team, you can begin to assess the options available to you. Right now, around 49% of companies use ChatGPT, and a further 30% plan to use it in the future. ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for augmenting and automating various tasks, from creating marketing briefs to designing sales pitch scripts.
However, it has its limitations. For instance, the free version of the app can only access data to a certain point in history, and can’t browse the internet. It also doesn’t come with the same data protections as the enterprise version or the same security features.
When analysing your options think about:
While AI tools hold incredible potential for today’s employees, they come with a multitude of risks to consider. Some AI tools store data from interactions with users and access it to improve their abilities in the future, which could lead to compliance issues. Other tools frequently suffer from AI hallucinations, which can mean the responses you get aren’t entirely accurate.
Plus, there’s always a risk that the models you choose could exhibit certain biases. For instance, an AI tool used for recruitment that’s trained on a small set of data could unknowingly prioritise applicants of a certain age or nationality, based on the information it’s been fed.
There’s also a risk involved in relying too heavily on AI tools. For instance, in the marketing landscape, many companies have used generative AI tools to create content and scale their content marketing strategy. However, now Google is updating its algorithms with a focus on eliminating mass-generated AI content from the search engine result pages. If your employees use AI for all of their content creation processes, your online visibility could suffer.
Based on your knowledge of which tools you’re going to use (and what you’re going to use them for), as well as your understanding of the risks associated with these systems, start creating policies. A comprehensive AI use policy will help to ensure your employees are using the technology available to them in a way that’s ethical, safe, and secure.
When building out your policy:
It’s also worth outlining how you’ll deal with the improper use of AI in your workplace, and how employees can raise any concerns they have with their tools with management personnel.
Once you have your policies, share them with your team members, and make sure you answer any questions they might have, clearing up confusion about your approach to AI implementation. From there, you can begin to roll out training strategies that ensure your staff members can get the most value out of the resources you implement.
Create training strategies that guide your employees through how their workplace processes will change with the use of AI, making sure you highlight the benefits of the new technology. Make sure they have the foundational skills they need to interact with AI apps and bots.
For instance, if you’re using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help your GTM teams create customer segments and profiles, teach them the basics of prompt engineering. Ensure they know how to communicate clearly and concisely with bots, and how to edit and optimise the responses they get.
You can also implement training that covers the importance of using AI ethically and securely. Teach employees to be wary of AI bias and hallucinations, and make sure they know when and how they should share data with the tools they’re using.
Finally, it’s important to remember that AI, like your team, is constantly evolving. If you’re going to be embedding this technology into your workflows, you need to keep a close eye on how it’s impacting your team’s productivity, creativity, and performance.
Based on your initial goals when you began implementing AI tools, set key metrics and KPIs you want to monitor. For instance, if you want to make your sales team more efficient, you can monitor how quickly they complete the prospecting process effectively with the help of AI tools. If you’re hoping to scale content production for your marketing strategy, monitor how much content is produced in a specific time period.
Pay close attention to any negative side-effects of AI implementation too. For instance, if the quantity of content your marketing team produces increases, but its quality decreases, this will show through in your customer engagement levels, search engine rankings, and conversion rates.
Based on the data you gather, connect with your teams, and collaboratively look for ways to refine and optimise the way they leverage AI.
AI, particularly generative AI, and large language models, has the potential to transform every part of the modern workplace. As these tools continue to demonstrate an excellent ability to improve productivity, efficiency, and creativity, adoption will only continue to grow.
However, there are many risks involved in augmenting your teams with AI. To ensure you can access the benefits, and avoid the threats, make sure you have the right strategy in place.
.png)
.png)
.png)
