How to enhance productivity in the workplace with AI

AI is a hot topic of conversation with an increasing number of businesses adopting new systems and investing in technology to enhance the growth of their organisations. At Huntress, we have received feedback from many of our clients who have said AI tools have benefited their business with timesaving, creating corporate-sounding templates and efficient processes. 

The most common ways AI has enhanced productivity in the workplace are: 

Chatbots 

According to a Salesforce report around 23% of organisations are currently using AI chatbots with a further 31% of customer service organizations looking to start using them in the next 18 months. 

Although this is a concerning development within the world of customer service functions, implementing AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants has been a common adoption throughout various businesses and sectors that want to streamline their 24/7 customer support. This form of AI has eliminated the FAQs, enquiries, and response rates that previously would have taken valuable time away from customer service professionals, allowing those functions to focus more on time-sensitive and business-critical communications. 

Supply Chain Optimisation 

AI is also commonly used to support Supply Chain Optimisations assisting with inventory levels, demand forecasting, and transportation logistics which all help to reduce costs whilst improving delivery efficiency and the Procurement and Supply Chain functions within your business.  

In this article, CIO explores AI tools that have proved successful for supply chain management across various organisations. 

Quality Control for Manufacturing Processes 

Increasingly manufacturing businesses are using AI to identify defects and deviations from quality standards, reducing waste and ensuring product quality that resolves inefficiencies, faulty products, and costly machine maintenance which affects the overall functionality of a product-oriented business. The combination of human knowledge with AI and data-driven technology is slowly transforming the sector to become more resourceful and some of the most recognised manufacturing brands adopting AI include IBM, Siemens, Intel Corporation, and Rockwell Automation.  

Content Creation Tools (NLP’s)  

NLP technology commonly known as tools like Chat GPT has proved to be highly effective for tasks like sentiment analysis, content creation, and document summaries which can help businesses across a variety of functions including sales and operations. 

Forbes has even stated that the potential for NLP tools has the global market size for natural to reach $161.81 billion by 2029, so this is an area to keep yourself informed on as new resources are developed. 

Task Scheduling and Resource Allocation 

Businesses have also adopted using AI algorithms for task scheduling and resource allocation removing the admin-heavy tasks from various working functions. AI can help assign tasks to the most suitable employees, allocate resources efficiently, and balance workloads which can support Managers and Business leaders to maintain control over their team’s busy schedules. 

Cybersecurity for Businesses 

Although it is predicted that stricter rules and regulations will be needed to protect the ethical usage of AI, it is proving highly valuable for threat detection and prevention, with a variety of tools now used to identify and respond to threats in real-time, reducing the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks for businesses. 

NCSC CEO, Lindy Cameron, has stated that ‘“AI developers must predict possible attacks and identify ways to mitigate them. Failure to do so will risk designing vulnerabilities into future AI systems.”.  It will prove critical for businesses to keep informed of updated AI regulations and updates within this space. 

Continuous Learning Opportunities 

As with the adoption of any modern technology this is often a period of trial and error where various business functions will need to work out how AI can improve workflow or add value to their business. This could lead to training programmes being invested in or internal workshops to develop AI skills and management within your workforce. 

To successfully enhance productivity with AI, it is essential to align AI initiatives within your organisation's strategic goals and invest in the necessary technology, talent, and training that competitors could already be utilising and finding success with. Additionally, this will be technology that you will need to continually monitor and adapt to stay responsive to evolving business needs and technological advancements within AI tools.