Make the right choices and avoid the “use case” strategy.
U.S. companies are aggressively looking to create data and analytics cultures, and increasingly, they’re using generative AI to get the job done.
The emphasis on data is already soaring.
According to a new study from Wavestone (formerly NewVantage Partners) the number of organizations that “established a data and analytics culture” rose from 21% to 43% on a year-to-year basis (January, 2024 study). Meanwhile, the organizations that had “created a data-driven organization” skyrocketed from 24% to 48% over the same time period. (
“This was far more improvement than at any time over the history of the survey,” Wavestone reported.
But is creating a data-driven culture the same as building transformative value? Harvard Business Review recently examined the issue and concluded that, yes, companies can achieve transformational value with their data-driven strategies with Gen AI, although the task takes time and some creative thinking.
“In 2024, many companies will find attractive ROI from GenAI, but only a few will succeed in achieving transformative value from it,” HBR said. “GenAI may appear easy to use, and many cloud service providers are already embedding GenAI capabilities in their offerings.”
Gaining optimal value from GenAI is way more than letting artificial intelligence loose in the workplace, especially with untrained workers. That, HBR says, means “taking advantage of GenAI’s capacity to be customized to your specific needs and its remarkable scalability — while also paying close attention to its potential risks.”
One way to do that is by avoiding the “use-case” trap. “If you use GenAI only in isolated instances, you’ll get only limited value, HBR reported. “Instead, prioritize “patterns” that can scale.”
For example, GenAI’s ability to glean useful information unique to a specific company via unstructured data (like text) “can help nearly every knowledge worker grow capacity and make better decisions,” the report noted.
The report offers three tips to leverage Gen to gain transformational value.
Expand your strategic horizons. To optimize data gathering through Gen AI, HBR advises licensing a private version of one of the many publicly available models from software cloud application providers. You can then deploy an AI factory) to customize it and scale it to meet your unique needs,” HBR stated. “You may also need to reimagine how your business will run when GenAI has made knowledge workers 30% to 40% more productive.”
Champion employee engagement. One of the primary implementation problems in gaining transformative value is getting a company’s leading team members to engage with GenAI to reimagine the way they work. “Provide incentives for innovation,” HBR advises. “When people redefine their roles with AI, reward them with new and greater opportunities.”
Establish goals and give them time to work. As HBR puts it, Gen AI tools can do so much that it can be hard to know where to focus.
That’s why it’s a good idea to establish top-shelf priorities. “Consider a methodology that analyzes the value of a process, its scalability, the hours currently spent on it, and the nature of the data available to support it,” HBR concludes.
Brian O’Connell, a former Wall Street bond trader and best-selling author, is a prominent figure in the finance industry. With a substantial background as an ex-Wall Street trader, he has authored two best-selling books: ‘The 401k Millionaire’ and ‘CNBC’s Creating Wealth’, demonstrating his profound knowledge of finance and investing.
Brian is also a finance and business writer for esteemed national platforms and publications, including CNN, TheStreet.com, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and Fox News.
