How to successfully approach AI adoption
From executive boardrooms to Parliament, artificial intelligence (AI) is constantly at the top of business and political agendas. With AI’s transformative potential to streamline content creation, inject efficiency and automation across industries and supercharge decision-making, it’s easy to see why businesses are keen to adopt the technology.
Recent NetApp research found that UK businesses have high hopes for the technology: 67% of IT decision-makers view AI as strategically important to their operational success.
However, AI alone is no silver bullet to business challenges and in many cases can be a significant investment. As the intelligent data infrastructure company, we’re aware that the success of AI initiatives is determined largely by the quality of implementation and the data that underpins it. But, how can businesses ensure their deployments are set up for success?
More haste, less speed
The excitement around AI has led to a lack of clarity in best-practise and approaches across organisations. Today, AI seemingly features on nearly every product roadmap or business plan. It’s easy to see how businesses feel pressured to rush to deploy new products or solutions given the vast benefits on offer; however, a slower and more considered approach is critical to success.
With just 31% of IT leaders confident that their business is well-equipped to adopt AI, and nearly a quarter believing there is an inadequate understanding of the technology within their businesses, it’s clear businesses need to approach AI more strategically. Speed is not the answer, and rushed AI deployments may even risk damaging customer trust.
Instead, businesses must start their AI implementation journey by developing a clear understanding of how to access the benefits of AI or what the most effective use of AI is. From there, they should focus on creating a solution that adds tangible value to their businesses or customers.
Data is the answer
A robust data management strategy is indispensable for successful AI adoption. The quality and accessibility of data directly influences the performance of AI models and their output. And as data volumes continue to grow exponentially, businesses need to have a clear grasp of what data they possess, where it's located, and how to access it efficiently.
Visibility across the data stack is essential for various cloud environments. With data often coming from multiple systems and sources, connecting it before it can be processed is tricky. But with effective data management software that works across silos, businesses can gain better awareness of their data, and begin to clean it. This removes any duplicate, irrelevant or unnecessary information.
When firms truly understand their data landscape, they can then strategically plan how much preparatory work is required to identify the right data, collect it, and organise it.
Thoughtful AI adoption
The technology industry is known for its “fail fast” culture, the complexities of AI adoption make it clear that a slower, more strategic approach is key. Indeed, it’s the businesses that rush into adoption that are the most likely to miss out on the benefits of AI. They’ll likely have more of a challenge on their hands repairing deployments or redirecting efforts. Meanwhile, those who invest in the right infrastructure and take the time ensure models are fed with high-quality proprietary data are more likely to gain the competitive edge in the age of AI.
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If you're interested in AI adoption you can find more insights on our AI Campaign Week page, here:
Stay up to date with techUK AI Adoption work:
To help promote greater levels of responsible AI adoption, techUK is working alongside its members and key stakeholders across the AI ecosystem to demonstrate the significant benefits of this technology for both the economy and society. The best way to stay up to date with our work is to visit our AI Adoption Hub.
Call for AI Adoption case studies:
As part of techUK’s 2024 AI Campaign Week, we are launching a call for techUK member case studies, to demonstrate how organisations are tackling the barriers to AI adoption to maximise AI's potential. These case studies will be showcased to UK organisations that are also embarking on their AI adoption journeys, providing them with practical examples and insights to guide their Putting AI into Action efforts. Learn more here.
techUK - Seizing the AI Opportunity
The UK is a global leader in AI innovation, development and adoption.
The economic growth and productivity gain that AI can unlock is vast, but to fully harness this transformative opportunity, immediate action is required. Our aim is to ensure the UK seizes the opportunities presented by AI technology and continues to be a world leader in AI development.
Get involved: techUK runs a busy calendar of activities including events, reports, and insights to demonstrate some of the most significant AI opportunities for the UK. Our AI Hub is where you will find details of all upcoming activity. We also send a monthly AI newsletter which you can subscribe to here.
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Contact the team
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
He leads techUK’s AI Adoption programme, supporting members of all sizes and sectors in adopting AI at scale. His work involves identifying barriers to adoption, exploring solutions, and helping to unlock AI’s transformative potential, particularly its benefits for people, the economy, society, and the planet. He is also committed to advancing the UK’s AI sector and ensuring the UK remains a global leader in AI by working closely with techUK members, the UK Government, regulators, and devolved and local authorities.
Since joining techUK, Usman has delivered a regular drumbeat of activity to engage members and advance techUK's AI programme. This has included two campaign weeks, the creation of the AI Adoption Hub (now the AI Hub), the AI Leader's Event Series, the Putting AI into Action webinar series and the Industrial AI sprint campaign.
Before joining techUK, Usman worked as a policy, regulatory and government/public affairs professional in the advertising sector. He has also worked in sales, marketing, and FinTech.
Usman holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a GDL and LLB from BPP Law School, and a BA from Queen Mary University of London.
When he isn’t working, Usman enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also has a keen interest in running, reading and travelling.
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Kirsty Biddiscombe
Kirsty Biddiscombe is the EMEA Business LEAD AI, ML and Data Analytics for NetApp.