Artificial intelligence (AI) offers immense potential for companies, bringing significant optimization to automated business processes and enabling far better business decisions. In order for a company to benefit from the possibilities of AI, a solid foundation, which corresponds to an overall concept, must be laid.
This overall concept combines and links the strategic orientation of the company’s goals with a well thought-out IT strategy. With the integration of AI as an efficient means to an end, the business strategy is supported and the business goals can be achieved.
The most important things at a glance
1. Create the right foundation – Ensure that business objectives and IT strategy are aligned in an overall concept.
2. Think right – Think about AI implementation not just in individual departments, but across the enterprise for all processes and as part of the complete automation strategy.
3. Planning right – Plan the AI automation strategy for all processes.
4. Execute correctly – Execute and continuously optimize the AI automation processes.
Strategic alignment of business objectives
The strategic alignment of business goals is absolutely critical with regard to the integration of AI as a key technology. Among the questions that need to be asked in companies are:
- Is the business strategy still aligned with the business objectives? One of the most important questions since applying AI to untimely business strategies or for meaningless business objectives is to be avoided at all costs.
- How do the benefits of AI align with strategic business objectives? How and where does AI specifically help achieve business objectives? What are the most important business objectives in doing so?
- What is the current state, what should the target state be? Filter out the company’s current problems while weighing which ones take priority for identifying the right automation processes.
- What use cases to test? For example, business processes can be provided with intelligence through AI and manual work can be completely automated.
The development of IT strategy for achieving company’s goals
IT strategy is also closely aligned with business strategy and overall business goals. Planning a medium- and long-term IT strategy ensures that the technologies play their important part in achieving the company’s goals. In the IT strategy, it is of great importance that the possibilities of AI and the benefits are holistically considered and planned. Other important elements of IT strategy include the following:
- Transparency of the IT landscape: The IT strategy must provide an overview of the company’s current technological situation. In this way, potential weaknesses can be uncovered and corrected.
- Cloud infrastructure: Cloud technology is perfect for AI. With cloud infrastructure, AI can benefit from huge and necessary amounts of data. The cloud also enables the removal of outdated infrastructure.
- Flexible: The IT strategy must be flexible enough to respond quickly to technological advances or organizational changes.
