Navigating the Changing Business Landscape Enabled by Generative AI
Generative AI is gaining traction at an incredibly fast pace and is poised to disrupt many industries. As a consultant working with multiple organizations, I’ve observed some early trends emerging that are largely driven by an organization’s culture, leadership and approach when it comes to change. Let’s take a look at a few examples:
The Ostriches:
Some organizations are ignoring the potential impact of generative AI and are operating as if it’s just another technology that won’t immediately affect them in a broad sense. They’re focused on continuing their current business model and waiting to see how things play out. Disruption is highly likely for these organizations.
The Explorers:
Other organizations are actively exploring the sea of new tools and offerings available to incorporate AI into their current tasks and business processes. However, this is sometimes being done in a distributed and non-aligned way at the department, function, geography or individual level. With the complexity of the fast-changing landscape, it’s easy to get lost and end up with a proliferation of individual use cases.
The Builders:
Some organizations, particularly technology tool and software companies, are looking at how they can incorporate AI into their suite of products. This is essential for their future survival, assuming their technology won’t be displaced by capabilities built into broader or other technologies and tools.
The Agile:
A few organizations are taking a more holistic view of generative AI. This is being driven from the top down by the executive suite. These organizations realize that the changes enabled by AI are about much more than just the technology. They understand that they need to examine their entire operating structure, product development approach, and go-to-market model to see how they can align and embed AI into a future-state business architecture. They are creating a cross-functional team structure to help drive the transition to ‘the next’. These agile and adaptable organizations are the ones that stand the best chance of success.
Getting Started:
One of the key challenges all organizations face is where to start with generative AI, how to evaluate their organizations for the highest value starting points for AI, and how to update their operating models, processes, and organization structures to most effectively benefit from all generative AI can do for them. This requires careful consideration of an organization’s unique needs and goals. Once AI has been integrated into an organization, there are opportunities to monetize its benefits and manage cost structures more efficiently.
As with any change, Introducing new structures, technologies, roles, and models for work can be a significant challenge. Managing the change associated with AI implementation is key to success. Organizations will need to consider how to best communicate the benefits of AI to their stakeholders, train employees on new technologies, and build buy-in from leadership.
Despite – and because of – these challenges, generative AI has the potential to disrupt nearly every industry, promising both competitive advantage and creative destruction. Organizations that move too slowly may find themselves disrupted in an unrecoverable way.
At Revenue Growth Associates, we specialize in helping organizations navigate the changing business landscape enabled by generative AI. If you’re looking to effectively leverage and apply these technologies, contact us today to learn how we can help you stay competitive in the rapidly evolving technology and business landscape.