What is Artificial Intelligence?
The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was devised in 1959 and has emerged as a growing trend in recent years, as various advances have been made in data volumes as well as power and storage improvements for computers. Artificial Intelligence is widely known from Hollywood movies and science fiction novels, which depict AI as robots that take over the world, but this is an idea that does not represent the reality of actual function and mental capacity that current AI systems have.
Instead, it has evolved to provide many specific benefits in various industries, including B2B industry sectors. AI automates data and performs frequent high-volume, computerised tasks without having to take any breaks. It is often used in the form of conversational platforms, bots, and smart machines, such as Siri, an Apple product feature. What makes AI special is the fact that it is constantly learning and adapting using progressive learning algorithms.
How can Artificial Intelligence benefit B2B Companies?
Artificial Intelligence is relevant to both B2B and B2C companies, as it helps companies generate better products, deliver better services, and improve business processes. Using AI to improve business processes is already being done in various sectors which is why B2B companies are advised to implement AI technologies to remain competitive in their specific field.
AI systems are used, among other things, to create fraud detection systems, or to enhance everyday use of platforms such as Google, ensuring that more accurate data is presented by the system over time, as it learns the behaviours of the user. This adapting process is referred to as a deep neural network, which ensures accurate product searches. Artificial intelligence is also used in the medical field to pinpoint cancer on medical imaging by using deep learning and object recognition. Artificial intelligence was used in computed tomography scanners (CT Scanners), for example, that were manufactured/created by Siemens.
By using AI systems, various manufacturing processes have been improved over time, including supply chain management, inventory management, and predictive maintenance. With the adoption of machine learning it is further estimated that errors in the manufacturing process can be decreased by over 50%, saving companies a lot of time and money in the process.
In the sales and marketing process the implementation of AI systems enables companies to analyse data from websites, social media accounts, and contact bases, which helps improve the number of leads generated by the company and the quality thereof. This hyper-personalization of marketing campaigns enables companies, and especially B2B companies, to deliver relevant content at the right time, which increases positive results for companies.
Although the human resource sector is dominated by human action, AI can help optimize and analyse human resource efforts. An example thereof is applying for a job on a digital platform, which utilizes AI systems. Moreover, insights from AI also enable human resource departments to understand employee referrals and analyse employee feedback to make data-driven decisions, which can improve the employee experience within a company.
Lastly, Artificial Intelligence systems can also help companies detect fraud, which therefore proves very useful in a company’s finance department. This is because AI systems use historical data to detect fraud, whilst also automating daily tasks associated with finance and accounting to prevent fraudulent outcomes.
Conclusion
Implementing AI systems in B2B companies helps to improve business processes and make them more efficient. This allows products and services to be produced or delivered faster and better. It can also help your company detect fraud, optimise and analyse staff deployment or run personalised marketing campaigns to promote the B2B company. It can also handle day-to-day tasks in the finance department, saving money and mundane work in the long run. Implementing AI systems in B2B companies is therefore highly beneficial and highly recommended.