Why businesses need mainstream support to deploy AI in their operations
Those of you that know me will be aware I’m a proud northerner.
Been there (The Hacienda), got that (webbed feet), and bought the t-shirt (my favourite being the ACR:MCR tee, grey marl, day-glo orange print. I digress).
Possibly the best job I ever had - before larking around enthusiastically about AI - was supporting Manchester’s creative community and I’ll bang the drum about The North’s myriad charms to anyone that will listen. Just don’t talk to me about football, right?
But I read something that genuinely made me feel a bit worried recently about the North’s economic future, care of digital sector trade publication, Prolific North.
And yes, of course, it’s all about AI.
A stat that stopped me in my tracks
According to a new research paper by ANS (in association with YouGov), 37% of businesses in London are currently incorporating AI into some of their business practices…compared to just 18% of businesses in the North.
18%?
Crikey.
As a trusted colleague pointed out, the ratio is likely skewed by the dominance of larger companies headquartered in London; where AI initiatives might be mandated and deployed from a centralised business unit.
Which, in many ways, starts to make that stat even more sobering. Because companies that are ahead of the curve with integrating AI into their operations are ultimately going to see returns grow at a far faster rate than those not doing.
So, if 82% of companies in the North aren’t embedding AI in their operations…why exactly is that?
If I were to hazard a guess, based on two years of working with organisations of all sizes around AI, I’d maintain that training and knowledge on how to apply the tools in their operations simply aren’t available at scale.
Well, except with those I’ve worked with. (Cheeky wink emoji).
I often talk about the Sausage Blog conundrum when it comes to AI deployment. It’s full of sweeping generalisations, but it chimes with what I hear and experience in the field, so humour me.
It goes a bit like this:
Board in a medium sized business (let’s say they’re a sausage factory) starts to feel strategic pressure to ‘do’ AI
MD hasn’t really used it much, so passes task to marketing, ‘because it’s digital…’
Marketing Director uses it to write a blog…about sausages…to ‘…see how it performs’
The AI-authored sausage blog isn’t very good. Funnily enough
Marketing director reports back to board about the ropey nature of the sausage blog
A prevailing view of AI is formed: it’s not very good
❌ AI removed from board agenda
Where it’s going wrong with AI
Now, I’m a systems and process nerd. I’ve built and run successful businesses - and advised 100s - and for me, when we tidy up the backend to take the grunt out of our operations, we free up capacity in our people so they can get on delivering the value stuff they’re actually good at.
What are the pain points and the time killers? What are the operational activities we regularly repeat from scratch that really should be automated?
AI is a dream when used to support precisely those kinds of tasks.
But here’s the rub.
Unless someone’s guided you through these tools, in context to your business, you’re likely fumbling around applying it to the lowest hanging operational fruit you can find (or sausages) then judging the results of a phenomenally advanced and rapidly developing set of technologies based on the outputs…of - frankly - an offaly unfair assessment. Apologies.
I appreciate this might sound like me banging my own drum (guilty as charged), but let’s be clear: If companies outside London - and SMEs in particular - are going to close this worrying AI gap, AI support needs hard-wiring into the public sector business support infrastructure. Believe me, I’d be saying this if it wasn’t my field.
Of course, we can’t fix the whole system overnight. But if you want to get your own house (or sausage factory) in order, I can help.
If you’re serious about getting ahead
If you’re curious about AI, and want practical help making it work for your business, why not talk to me about THE AI ADVANTAGE: a range of workshops and services designed to fit where you’re at, whether that’s leadership strategy, team training, solving a real-world business challenge, or getting ongoing guidance.
Or all of the above.
Clients have called my sessions "the best workshops I’ve ever been on” and they’re designed to immerse you and your team in how to get the most of the tools, and how they can fit into your day-to-day operations.
Interested? Let’s have that chat, one-to-one.