We are currently witnessing what the World Economic Forum refers to as the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, with artificial intelligence (AI) being one of the defining technologies of this era.
AI is no longer a concept confined to science fiction. AI-driven solutions and business tools are now available, offering innovative ways to manage, operate, and staff small businesses.
Yet, despite this, half of the businesses in Australia and New Zealand have not yet adopted AI. This raises an important question: where can AI offer support in your business?
Keeping pace with technological advancements is a vital responsibility for business owners. If competitors are using AI to achieve greater efficiencies and streamline operations, it follows that your business must embrace AI to remain competitive.
However, as with any investment in technology or software, it is crucial that AI tools serve a clear, functional purpose. Adopting AI purely to appear innovative is not the goal. Instead, AI should play a practical role and simplify your business operations.
Here are five areas where modern AI tools can support small businesses:
- Customer service and response times: Rapid responses to customer queries are essential for providing excellent service. AI-powered virtual assistants, such as Lucy from Curious Thing, can engage in human-like conversations, handle routine enquiries, and free up your team to focus on higher-value interactions.
- Meeting transcription and summaries: Extracting key points from internal and client meetings can be time-consuming. Tools like Fireflies record both in-person and virtual meetings, providing an AI-generated summary, including key themes, full transcripts, and clear action points for all participants.
- Content creation for marketing: Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, can revolutionise your marketing strategy by drafting emails, sales presentations, or web content based on your existing product knowledge. However, it is important to review and personalise the output to maintain consistency with your brand’s tone and messaging.
- Automating social media management: Maintaining a strong presence on social media is vital for brand awareness and customer engagement. Tools like Buffer allow you to manage your social media platforms, with built-in AI features that assist in generating posts and repurposing existing content to keep your social channels active and relevant.
- HR and performance management: Managing team objectives and key results (OKRs) can be challenging. AI tools like Peoplebox help automate goal setting and performance tracking, ensuring alignment across the team, while you concentrate on other critical business matters.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss how AI can add value to your business. The scope of AI solutions for businesses is growing rapidly, and the examples provided are merely a glimpse of what is possible.
