Seven tips for setting up your company’s AI transformation for success.
Street-smart artificial Intelligence insights from Pierce Washington’s Advisory Services team.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere and fast becoming mainstream as more businesses incorporate AI into their corporate strategy. AI is an integral part of the future of online selling and it’s only getting started. Understandably, the benefits of AI in selling are not yet fully understood and there’s still a lot of confusion around AI. Nevertheless, it will soon be a necessity for every B2B company.
So, how does a business safely step into AI for the first time? Here are some tips from our Advisory Services professionals. Following these tips will help ensure that your AI adoption is an efficient and drama-free success that will quickly make your AI investment productive and profitable.
1. Understand that AI is 100% data-
Pulling back the curtain for a moment, AI is fully based on the underlying data. Therefore, AI is only as good as the data it pulls from. This includes details about products, pricing, customers, clients, employees, representatives, brokers, and bots.
One of the most frequently asked questions we get at PW Advisory Services regarding AI adoption is, “Where do we start?” The simple answer is “clean data.” Think of it as the foundation of your company’s revenue transformation and new AI home.
Data is fundamental to all Q2C and CPQ solutions and tools. But it’s even more vital to AI, because AI makes constant decisions about what to share, when, and with whom. For AI to be effective, the data must to be accurate, complete, integrated across systems, and properly channeled to the right audiences at the right time.
AI is “smart,” but it can easily derive the wrong answer. If data and structures are not specifically prepped to support AI, it will not perform correctly. Bad data renders AI basically useless, and worse, it can harm the host business.
It’s pretty common for companies’ data to be disorganized. Even for buttoned-up companies with data that’s well organized for today’s Q2C/CPQ systems, it may not be AI-ready data. The data and overall data architecture used throughout the quote-to-cash process may not be the same for AI. In fact, AI was never even considered when many of these current data models were built.
If you take away nothing else from this article, take this with you. “Clean data” is key to AI success.
- Don’t be afraid of AI.
No wonder AI seems a little scary and risky to some businesses. (Those cute little chatbots can be destructive.) But, despite AI’s inherent potential for spectacular failure, there’s no need to fear it. You simply need to manage it.
Right now, AI is a little like the Internet was when it was brand new. Information was suddenly out there in the ether, seemingly vulnerable and exposed to the world. Remember how that felt? It was exciting and scary at the same time with transformational business opportunities on the one hand, and potential for misuse and abuse on the other hand. The internet may never be perfect, but we’ve successfully harnessed it in ways that continue to evolve business. So, when it comes to AI…we’re going to be OK.
It’s time to put aside the mystery and phobia, and focus on effectively managing AI. Successfully introducing AI into your processes is simply a matter of planning and implementing safeguard measures and policies. Like most things, it’s about due diligence, like you’re doing right now by reading this article.
- Develop a clear AI adoption strategy.
It may seem obvious, but some companies are racing to inject AI capabilities into their selling process without first having a plan in place. They’re hoping for plug-and-play results. Good luck with that because AI isn’t just a “tool.” It’s not like distributing Microsoft Office to your team and everyone immediately begins using it intuitively and productively. If you treat AI as a tool, you’ll run into problems.
Beginning to introduce AI into your business and selling process requires a shift in mindset. Think of AI as an initiative. Plan meticulously for it and future-proof it as best you can. Your AI strategy must ensure that your AI tech is built on top of a solid foundation, one that allows for layering on new tech and capabilities as AI evolves.
Create your strategy pre-AI adoption. Finish the blueprint first before you start building the house…or are tempted to start hanging the curtains.
4. Create a set of AI data policies and a governance board to enforce them.
Tools without rules can be dangerous. So, you need AI policies and governance.
Developing AI policies is similar to developing a process and a set of steps for CPQ, like how to generate a quote. But instead of a process flow, you develop guidelines around data use and access when employing AI. Policies define things like: when to use AI, how to use it, and who uses it, to reduce misuse and abuse. For example, all employees are required to clean client-specific data from AI generated information before sending anything external to the organization.
We will learn and get smarter about using AI over time. Therefore, policies need to morph with the evolving environment. Change is fine. Just make sure your people know and understand your AI policies. Establish an AI governance team to provide explicit guidance and enforcement of your policies to minimize confusion and abuse. Remember to train and retrain as needed.
5. Get (more) serious about data
Data security has always been important. But AI requires an even higher level of security. So that AI, with its fingers in various data silos, doesn’t mistakenly expose confidential information.
Context is key to properly securing your AI-enabled data. It requires that you provide the right bits of contextual information to the right users (or bots, agents, virtual assistants, etc.), so they share things like the right product and pricing information at the right time with the right users. For example, if you’re creating a document related to Sales, AI shouldn’t touch information related to Accounts Receivable.
Human accountability is also vital in AI (and hopefully will be for a long time). Be sure to build the human element into your AI processes; because even if something is AI generated, you are 100% accountable for it.
6. Enlist the help of an AI data specialist, like PW Advisory Services.
We can help you successfully navigate the new artificial intelligence landscape, because we live in the data space every day. Our focus is on complex data integrations, Q2C/CPQ system implementations, and setting up AI and “Total Commerce” transformations for complex B2B companies. We know the leading-edge software and best practices. We’re also a top-tier system integrator and partner of both Salesforce and Oracle.
PW Advisory Services provide a range of ultra-flexible services, from overarching assessments that recommend where you can incorporate AI into your quote-to-cash process to detailed plans with AI-based data strategies that are ready to execute. Additionally, we can lay out a full roadmap for your future AI, so you can go at your own pace. This will allow you to optimally plug in your AI technology and functionality to your Salesforce or Oracle environments.
Even if you are not doing AI this year, now is the time to start planning for it.
When you are ready, PW’s implementation team can take it from there, helping you move your overall data architecture beyond CPQ-subscription based to AI ready. We’ll ensure that your data is “clean” and integrated between Salesforce or Oracle systems. And we’ll build your AI environment for the easiest maintenance going forward.
7. Finally, keep in mind that this is just the beginning of AI.
There has been growing buzz around AI for a few years. But we’re still only on the brink of it and taking our first baby steps into the new reality of artificial intelligence. However, right now the rubber is finally meeting the road, gaining traction and momentum in the mainstream. For example, we’re now seeing some of the first pure AI TV commercials. Think Matthew McConaughey in ridiculous hats and getting sat in the rain (due to the lack of AI-informed customer wants, needs, and preferences).
Everything will keep changing, and fast, because there is no “set-it-and-forget-it” with AI. Customer demand for AI-powered buying will skyrocket. We’ll get more data points. The software will evolve and proliferate and become simpler. How we use AI will improve and expand. There will be many lessons learned in the coming months. Surely, we will have a different conversation about AI next year and the year after that. It’s going to be a wild ride, no doubt.
But again, if your data and AI architecture are set up correctly, you will be well positioned for the changes to come. In fact, it’s going to be a great and exciting time for business and growth, thanks to AI.
Contact PW Advisory Services for an easy, free, and enlightening conversation about AI and your Total Commerce transformation.
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