Practical Ways to Use AI in Business: Automate, Innovate & Scale Smarter

Did you know that AI could soon impact 40% of your employees’ working hours? 

That’s right—your next big business breakthrough could be an algorithm that never clocks out.

Whether you're in pharmaceutical, manufacturing, or retail, AI can help you tackle your business challenges with unparalleled efficiency. Companies like Amazon and Sephora are already harnessing AI to personalize shopping experiences and drive sales, all while enhancing customer satisfaction and minimizing human errors!

In this blog, we explore how any business can use AI for a variety of use cases.

5 Practical Ways to Use AI in Your Business Right Away

From operational efficiency to improved decision-making and better customer satisfaction, here are practical ways to put AI to use in your business.

• Enhance Operational Efficiency with AI Automation

Everyone’s talking about optimizing operational costs. Whether you’re trying to make pricing more competitive or improve profitability, there’s no better way to save time and boost efficiency in routine tasks than by implementing AI.

With AI, you can automate routine tasks such as data entry, customer service, and scheduling. In doing so, you free the team up for high-value tasks requiring creativity.

Studies indicate that AI can improve supply chain management, including inventory management, by up to 30% by enhancing accuracy, optimizing demand forecasting, ensuring timely stock availability, reducing errors, and preventing stockouts.

You can also start aiming for improved operational efficiency by using chatbots, Robotic Process Automations (RPA), and AI-driven scheduling systems to delegate tasks. Try UiPath for automating repetitive tasks like data entry and invoice processing and Zapier for integrating apps to automate workflows, such as syncing leads between your CRM and email campaigns.

Pro Tip: Don’t expect to hit improvements of 30%, like we described in our example above, right off the bat. Your initial improvements may be far smaller, and you will build on them gradually as you improve your utilization of AI tools and as your tools themselves become more intelligent over time. 

• Improve Decision-Making with Data-Driven Insights

Studies indicate that businesses making data-driven decisions are 23 times more likely to excel in customer acquisition and nearly seven times more likely to retain customers. Moreover, 62% of senior data leaders prioritize generative AI investment for transformational insights.

But to make data-backed decisions, you need actionable insights drawn from large datasets that offer predictive insights. With sufficient historical data, AI can help your company to anticipate future outcomes, analyze patterns, and reduce failures.  

Startups like Stitch Fix are using AI to fine-tune pricing by analyzing real-time data on customer preferences and inventory. Their algorithms adjust prices based on factors like demand and size availability, helping them offer personalized experiences while boosting revenue.

However, getting enough historical data can be tough for startups. Stitch Fix, for example, faced challenges early on due to limited customer history. They tackled this by using machine learning to predict customer preferences and optimize inventory using feedback data and existing preference data.

Similarly, you can develop AI-powered dashboards, algorithms, and other tools that provide comprehensive business insights, enabling you to make informed decisions quickly.

• Drive Innovation and Product Development

With AI, you gain insights that spark new ideas and efficiently spot opportunities to drive business growth. This accelerates go-to-market (GTM) timelines by analyzing trends, feedback, and competitor activity; you launch faster, capture market share, and stay ahead of the curve.

Amazon, for instance, utilized its custom AI-powered Package Decision Engine to evaluate customer feedback and product data to recommend the most efficient, sustainable packaging solutions. This approach has significantly reduced Amazon's packaging waste, including avoiding over 2 million tons of material since 2015​!

Healthcare startups like Zebra Medical Vision use AI to innovate despite limited resources. Zebra’s AI algorithms analyze medical imaging data to identify conditions like breast cancer and liver disease with high accuracy, enabling smaller clinics to offer advanced diagnostic tools without heavy investment in equipment.

• Enhance Customer Experience and Satisfaction

Customers have become habituated to brands that offer personalization. They expect you to remember prior conversations and recommend the right products, promotions, and offers. They also expect 24x7 responsiveness. 

Adopting AI can significantly boost satisfaction and strengthen your relationships with customers. 60% of enterprises are already investing heavily in AI for business growth.  You can do this, too, fairly easily: Tools like AI-driven chatbots, recommendation engines, and targeted marketing campaigns allow you to offer tailored interactions that meet customers' needs around the clock.

AI-powered chatbots can now resolve up to 70% of customer queries without human intervention, ensuring customers get instant responses. Tools like Zendesk use AI to analyze interactions and understand the sentiment, pain points, and areas for improvement. 

• Increase Revenue and Profit Margins with AI-optimized Operations

AI can help you identify new revenue opportunities and optimize pricing strategies. For instance, you can use AI to analyze customer data and purchasing behaviors to forecast demand and adjust prices in real time. This results in more accurate sales predictions, efficient resource allocation, and maximized profitability.

For instance, if you are an online retailer using AI to dynamically adjust prices based on customer behavior, competitor pricing, and market demand, it can lead to a 15% increase in revenue, 5% margin growth, and 40% in promotional spending!

By strategically using AI software for businesses like Salesforce Einstein or HubSpot AI, you can maximize the potential of your sales and marketing operations.

The Power of Customization: How Tailored AI Tools Drive Business Success

But to truly unlock AI’s potential in business operations, customization is key. By hiring skilled AI engineers, you can create tailored solutions that address your organization’s unique challenges and drive greater efficiency. Building custom AI software for business can be expensive, but it's an investment that pays off compared to the higher costs of missed opportunities. 

Without AI, your business risks inefficiency and falling behind competitors. Industries like healthcare, retail, and financial services thrive on AI customization, using tailored solutions to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and stay ahead of the curve.

If you're new to AI technology, consider platforms like HireCoder.  We help businesses build custom AI solutions to fast-track business goals and overcome obstacles. Even when you're not sure what your business needs, our AI experts can help you define how and where AI can optimize your business. 

Getting Started with AI and Driving Success the Easy Way

From automating mundane tasks to revolutionizing decision-making, making use of AI in business has become the norm. 

There are lots of AI tools on the market that you can get started with. However, you can extract greater value (and assure success to a greater extent) from AI solutions that are designed especially around your business’s unique challenges, goals, and other unique attributes. Personalized AI products can better optimize processes, boost decision-making, and elevate customer satisfaction in a way that off-the-shelf tools simply can’t. 

In the past, businesses had no choice but to go with generic tools built for everyone because finding the right talent was challenging, and ensuring they did what was in your business interests was next to impossible. However, today, you can build AI-powered tools designed for your specific business needs. If you know your exact requirements, platforms like HireCoder AI allow you to instantly connect with the top AI talent. HireCoder AI also ensures a success manager is assigned to every project, making sure your project’s success is a top priority.

Take the first step towards innovation—Contact us today to launch your AI project or learn how AI can improve productivity and reduce operational costs by 25%.

FAQs

• How can AI improve my business operations?

AI can automate routine tasks like data entry and customer support, freeing your team to focus on high-value activities. It also enhances decision-making with data-driven insights, leading to better efficiency and profitability.

• What types of businesses can benefit from AI?

AI is versatile and can benefit businesses of all sizes—from startups to large enterprises. Industries like retail, manufacturing, and finance use AI for customer personalization, supply chain management, and predictive analytics.

• Do I need custom AI tools for my business?

While off-the-shelf tools are a good start, custom AI solutions tailored to your business challenges provide greater value. They can optimize operations, improve customer satisfaction, and deliver unique insights. Platforms like HireCoder AI help businesses access top AI talent for custom solutions.

• What are the applications of AI in business?

AI is applied in business for a wide variety of use cases. Examples include customer service automation, predictive analytics, marketing personalization, inventory management, and fraud detection.