Unlocking growth: Practical AI strategies for your business

Rapid advancements in AI technology have helped businesses streamline and optimise their operations, driving innovation and growth across industries.

In a recent webinar, SmartCompany asked a panel of experts for tips on getting started with generative AI and how it can enhance current programs and efforts. Here are just a few of the key takeaways from their insight-packed discussion.

Find your AI advocates

David Walsh, Head of Digital, CX and Marketing at pay.com.au, suggests boosting in-house knowledge by finding individuals within your team who are naturally passionate about AI and encouraging them to research and learn more about it.

Many free resources are available to help them do this, including Salesforce’s Trailhead, Google Cloud Skills Boost, Hugging Face, Reddit, and YouTube. And don’t underestimate the power of good, old-fashioned networking.

“There are a lot of talented data scientists and AI enthusiasts across Australia that have been doing this stuff for years—and when you find someone that is really into AI, they love talking about it,” Walsh says.

Interested in learning how to apply AI to your business, register to our in-person event in partnership with Salesforce: Practical AI for small business – Understanding practical application, safety and ethics in the real world.

Choose which chores to chop

Which tasks do you and your team most dislike, find boring, or tend to procrastinate? This is the best place to start when deciding where and how to introduce AI into your business, according to futurist Anders Sörman-Nilsson, founder of Thinque.

Using AI to streamline and support tedious and repetitive tasks instantly increases human effectiveness by allowing people to focus on higher-value activities, he says. 

In doing so, you’ll be boosting productivity and potentially cash flow. You’ll also be getting people familiar with this technology and giving them more time and headspace to think up other innovative uses for it.

For example, Sörman-Nilsson points out that SMEs can repurpose existing content using AI editing tools, reaching diverse audiences through a wide range of content formats, from long-form copy to bite-sized TikTok reels and YouTube shorts.

So, to get the ball rolling, ask your team the following question: “What’s the menial and the mundane that we don’t want to do anymore, and how do we replace it with the more meaningful and the humane?”

Transform customer interactions

One of the biggest potential benefits of AI is that it can help SMEs provide more efficient and personalised customer service without proportional cost increases, explains Rowena Westphalen, Salesforce’s Senior Vice President of Innovation for APAC.

Brands such as Formula 1 is seeing measurable success from  AI-powered chatbots. 

“Formula One is a big user of both Salesforce and AI, deploying automated intelligent chatbots powered by our Data Cloud that’s helping them get first-contact resolution when they engage directly with their consumers,” she says.

“Their fan satisfaction rates have increased from about 70% to about 88%. So, they’re taking cost out of the business by reducing [the load on] their call centre, but they’re also getting a much better customer experience.”

Prioritise ethics to build trust

Small businesses can build customer trust and set themselves apart in a crowded market by prioritising data privacy and ethical AI usage. After all, as Westphalen points out, “Your customer’s private, personal, identifiable information is one of the most strategic assets that you have.”

Building a solid ethical foundation is critical to long-term AI safety and security, so the panel recommends business owners consider and focus on the following:

1. Appointing a Chief Ethical Officer: As AI becomes more integral to businesses, Westphalen says the role of a Chief Ethical Officer will become “pivotal to most organisations”.
2. Employee education and empowerment: Walsh stresses the importance of educating and empowering employees on AI ethics and responsible use. Business leaders can raise awareness and encourage knowledge-sharing by, for example, creating mentoring circles and Slack channels dedicated to discussions about AI.
3. How to balance innovation and ethics: Always ensure how you use and experiment with AI aligns with your organisation’s values and culture, Westphalen says.

A second Renaissance

Because generative AI empowers people to execute ideas much faster, Sörman-Nilsson predicts that we are now entering an era of exciting innovation. He even calls it “a second Renaissance”.

But this sort of transformation won’t happen by default. By prioritising ethics, fostering a culture of innovation, and leveraging available resources—including webinars like this, which are chock-full of actionable expert insights—SMEs can unlock the full potential of AI to optimise their operations and achieve sustained growth.

Read now: Four ways generative AI can improve your customer experience