Artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of augmenting and automating decisions or tasks currently performed by humans, which makes it an indispensable tool for digital business transformation. With the help of AI, organisations can hope to reduce labour costs, generate novel business models, and generally streamline processes and improve standards of customer service. Nevertheless, it is important to stay pragmatic in approach, since the vast majority of AI technologies remain in their infancy.
To navigate this issue of AI technology immaturity, CIOs should ensure that applications intended to serve a strategic business purpose — such as maximising revenue or scaling certain services — are designed for strategic effect
Gartner has identified and outlined six design principles to help CIOs evaluate each AI application offering with strategic intent. These are applications intended to help achieve business results, not just operational improvements. It is not necessary for applications to adhere to all six principles. However, designs which show fewer than two principles should be reconsidered.
Design principle no. 1: Anticipate the future
When applied to digital business, AI generates insights which lead directly to business execution. Strategic AI solutions are capable of providing granular insights which can suggest how particular customers or markets will behave in specific situations in the future, and what the business can do to influence their decisions. If an application can deliver proven, trustworthy insights, it will reap the reward of being adopted and relied on by more enterprises to guide future execution systems.
AI can produce more granular insights that are better tailored to individual situations than conventional analytics applications. Therefore, AI applications can reduce false readings — the more trustworthy the insights, the more enterprises are likely to rely on them to guide execution systems.
