Design your data strategy to harness the power of AI
Delaying the creation and implementation of an artificial intelligence strategy could risk losing a competitive advantage
The massive hype that surrounded AI in 2023 has evolved into the sometimes elusive search to cut through the noise and identify how to integrate truly beneficial applications of artificial intelligence into business systems. Across industries, it’s now commonplace to see AI tools in use, from the basic generative AI (GenAI) chatbots that welcome customers and answer their questions, to complex data analysis tools that can identify and block suspicious activities.
Approximately half of businesses report plans to incorporate AI into their systems in 2024. However, one perceived blocker for many of these organisations is that they don’t believe their data is “AI-ready.” For data to be AI-ready, it must be trustworthy, secure, accessible and organised. While it’s true that the vast amounts of data collected by many companies may not fully fit that definition, it’s important not to be paralysed by this reality. Delaying the creation and implementation of an artificial intelligence strategy could risk losing competitive advantage, and make it difficult to realise positive ROI on eventual investments.
| Nearform expert insight: | "Every time I talk to an enterprise’s leadership, they are convinced they have particularly bad data. In reality, every large enterprise has ‘bad data’ lying about. Thankfully, the latest cloud-native data platforms' capabilities in handling unstructured data make this problem easier to overcome than ever. Addressing this should be a top priority for every enterprise hoping to maintain a competitive advantage." Cian Clarke, Solutions Principal, Nearform |
With the advice and guidance of an experienced AI and data partner, it’s possible to identify “thin slices” of the business to focus on, and build solid data foundations there first. Nearform refers to this as “continuous improvement”, which means to take an iterative approach to updating data management and other systems to maximise the use of AI. This includes identifying friction points, prioritising and planning methodical changes, and executing to remove and replace obstacles, rather than wholesale “ripping and replacing” of current systems.
| Expert insight: | “Don’t let data hold you back. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard, “I can’t start yet. I don’t have my data sorted out.” I get it; data is the lifeblood of AI, but huge digital transformation projects are costly and can take years to complete. You really don’t want to wait five years to see any return on investment.” Richard Potter, CEO and co-founder, Peak |
| By the numbers: | - Globally, approximately 82% of companies are using or exploring using AI. - 48% of organisations have made corporate data strategy a primary mandate of their Chief Data Officer (CDO) or Chief Data Analytics Officer (CDAO). - 74% of executives believe AI will have a large impact on their businesses in the next 12-18 months. $3.1 trillion is lost annually in the US due to poor data, according to IBM. |
Finding functional areas where the AI journey can begin
Nearform experts recommend starting by bringing together an organisation’s business and technology leaders to collaboratively identify and prioritise “thin slices” of the business to start with, then creating models of the data, desired capabilities and business impact areas. After prototyping and then launching the initial solution, the process of continuous improvement can continue, utilising applied AI solutions and automation to rapidly adapt and scale the solution to other use cases. Over time, it is possible to build a holistic process to develop and operationalise future solutions, and integrate the necessary technology systems for sustainable quality.
Continuous improvement: Developing data and AI strategies concurrently
One major benefit of this approach is that soon after undertaking the process of data quality improvement, a company can begin to benefit from AI tools, which then are able to facilitate the process of further improving data, and expanding applications to automate and modernise additional parts of the business.
There are a series of steps that make up a clear data and AI strategy, and it all begins with “Where is the data?” The key actions are:
Build solid foundations: Transform disparate data into customer clarity, safeguarding governance.
Unlock data: Use analytics to understand data through exploration and visualisation, highlighting key trends, correlations and outliers.
Foresee outcomes: Gather insights from the analysis to anticipate future conditions and spot anomalies to make informed, automated actions.
Capitalise on solid foundations: Use machine learning and AI to automate responses, create targeted recommendations, and generate effective, tailored communications.
Leverage generative AI: Utilise the immense capabilities of foundation models, supplemented with the knowledge of your enterprise, to search for relevant information and generate text.
Unlock productivity gains: Teach a model the coding styles and libraries of your enterprise, and unlock developer productivity with the latest generation of AI tooling — more than just ChatGPT and Co-Pilot. Reduce code review cycles, all while still keeping a human in the loop.
Following these best practices and leveraging AI to power continuous improvement can lead to significant benefits including:
33% improvement of legacy business processes
Nearform success stories: Use cases and impact
Nearform customer successes are enabled by tailored AI solutions:
Business leaders may feel the pressure to start AI initiatives “just to follow the crowd”, and to be able to say that their organisation is engaging with state-of-the-art technology. But without a clear, solid plan, and professionals with the experience and expertise to help, AI initiatives are more likely to fail. In fact, around 80% of AI projects are considered failures, almost double the rate of corporate IT project failures in the 2010s. Projects that become part of the successful 20% are likely to be those that follow a clear strategy that includes methodical selection, development, evaluation, adoption and management.
| Nearform case study: | Everstream Analytics (Global supply chain analytics company) |
|---|---|
| Issue: | Everstream’s client base had expanded and with it their in-house data management. This became too much for their existing data system, and made it more challenging to provide the level of service their demanding clients require and opened up new possibilities of risk to the client data. |
| Solution: | Nearform optimised Everstream’s data management system, modernised its architecture and enhanced the platform’s capabilities. Key solutions included: - Creation and deployment of a newly architected data lakehouse - Accelerated access to quality data - Enhanced access to data across client teams - Development of new map visualisation components - Elevated UI for incident and risk management |
| Impact: | Nearform’s solutions created record-breaking growth and momentum for Everstream, in just five months. Improvement areas included: Improved system performance: - 50% drop in database load - 100% fall in production alarms Increased customer engagement: - 342% boost in incident clicks - 241% rise in incident detail clicks - 38% jump in unique user sessions |
| Client insight: | “The Nearform data team has accelerated the development of the Everstream Data Platform by providing a broad set of relevant skills and experience in the areas of ‘big data,’ data lakes, data warehousing and engineering.” John Ripley, Sr. Director – Data Architecture, Everstream |
342%
boost in incident clicks
241%
rise in incident detail clicks
38%
jump in unique user sessions
Starting your data and AI journey with an expert partner
The positive effects of a clear data and AI strategy, planned in partnership with business and technology stakeholders and facilitated by a team of digital transformation experts, can show deep impact throughout an organisation, and faster than many think possible. Nearform teams follow a proven process to explore, identify, build, deploy and scale robust solutions that can rapidly drive business improvements. Contact Nearform today to discuss how we can help your enterprise.
Insight, imagination and expertly engineered solutions to accelerate and sustain progress.
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