The world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has until recently been a completely unknown topic for small businesses. Many SME entrepreneurs still think that it is a technology that is too expensive to implement or access. However, the Global AI investment is booming.
According to a report by consulting firm IDC, the amount of money spent on AI will grow by almost 20% in 2022 and reach $432.800 billion, which represents a 19,6% increase compared to 2021. And in 2023 the good news will continue for the sector: projections from the same consultancy firm estimate that this market will break the barrier of 500.000 billion dollars.
Fredy León, director of research and digital development at Seguros SURA, He explains that, thanks to artificial intelligence, small businesses can analyse their customers' behaviour and current trends in relation to their product. “In companies that are still working in entrepreneurial mode, you don't need large technological infrastructures or to have artificial intelligence experts in your company to be able to implement it,” he says.
“Many SMEs do not know, for example, that there are already automation and artificial intelligence issues on social networks, where they can begin to capture information about their customers,” says León.
To Luis Hernandez, Digital Marketing Specialist at Snoop Consulting, He adds that AI is present in platforms that SMEs use on a daily basis. “If an SME uses Gmail, it is already using AI when writing an email and suggesting the next words or who to add as a recipient,” he describes before adding that “through technology and artificial intelligence techniques, a company can get to know its customers better, understand their consumption habits, predict future purchases of products or services.”
How to incorporate AI into your company
The expert of SURA Insurance He says that the first thing small businesses do is hire a service that provides analysis of customer behavior. “With this, you can predict future actions and facilitate decision-making.”
These are systems that can be paid for on demand and are not that expensive, León explains. “Through them, you can bring data, not only from your company, but from the industry in general. Look at consumer behavior or geographic areas for your potential clients,” he explains.
“A second option,” says León, “is to also use it internally to automate processes in the company.” For example, serving customers through chatbots Or in billing processes. And he gives an example: “If you have a billing process where normally a group of people receive the invoice, stamp it, authenticate it, enter it into a system and digitize it; with an AI system you can automate this entire process.”
In this way, the specialist adds, resources are optimized: “The more internal processes you can automate without having to hire people, that's going to be a very positive thing.. In this way, you are growing as a digital company, becoming more efficient from the start of the company and because you are keeping your headcount at the limit.”
“Another interesting approach is AI marketing,” adds León. “When you receive information that a client may be interested in something related to the services or products you provide, having the possibility of approaching them or creating a contact list based on that data is of immeasurable value.”
In practice, AI marketing translates into concrete actions. “For example, setting up an automatic agenda to contact the client who showed interest within two weeks, and then the system will notify you to get back to the client and not lose that sale,” he explains.
The director of digital research and development at Seguros SURA also maintains that comprehensive management of the data generated by the business through AI will allow for better results. “Understanding how your sales and your competitors are performing gives you a strategic vision on how to improve your production, customer service and marketing areas,” he stresses before pointing out that “there are programs that can read all this massive information for you.”
What it takes to incorporate AI
Andrea Mandelbaum, CEO of Mc Luhan Consulting, says that “in order to incorporate AI into their operations, the first thing SMEs must do is appoint a multidisciplinary team within the company or hire a team of external consultants specializing in AI.”
What will be your function? He answers that it is necessary to understand transversally what needs, pain points and use cases are intended to be resolved. Then, “design a new management model for these tasks, that is, rethink the processes by incorporating automation and technology.”
The next step is to assess the company's status in terms of the feasibility of incorporating technology. "For example, if I want to integrate a bot into a process and record the case in the CRM, do I have the APIs to carry it out?" suggests the CEO.
After identifying the sections or points where AI can be incorporated within the chosen use cases, the market must be researched to determine the solutions and budget required for the incorporation of this technology. And, finally, a ranking of use cases to be incorporated must be created with variables such as savings represented, internal team involved required, volume of that use case, costs and availability of the company's current technological capacity.
“To be successful in incorporating AI, I define seven key stages: identify, redesign, evaluate, investigate, implement, measure and improve"He concludes.
At the same time, Luis Hernández advises that before hiring or implementing AI, you should think carefully about what you want to achieve, what would really be valuable for AI to do for the company. “It is key to think of a set of questions that AI can answer and, based on that, start working with the data to model it.”
Digital transformation is a key process for companies to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging market. SURA Insurance has identified this technology as a booming resource that will allow Latin American SMEs and entrepreneurs in the process of expansion to make a qualitative leap.