The Hidden AI Use Case Powering Lasting Business Productivity Gains

Kodak Alaris is a Business Reporter client.

Until recently, the topic of artificial intelligence was largely confined to academic discussion, but it has quickly become the hottest topic across all industries. The rate of change today is breathtaking, and the sudden availability of previously unthinkable capabilities is exciting to some, and scary to others. 

AI exploded into global awareness with the public release of large language model (LLM) chatbots and AI-powered art applications, which give people access to groundbreaking tools that generate impressive results with simple text inputs. 

The power and potential of generative AI is as controversial as it is amazing—but no matter what our early opinions are, we can’t put this genie back in the bottle. AI will continue to exponentially grow its capabilities, applications and impacts on our lives. 

The AI revolution in business has begun, as companies around the world scramble to determine business impacts and find ways to leverage AI to become more profitable and competitive. According to McKinsey, more than half of organizations today already leverage AI in some capacity, and companies that are “AI high performers” are making large investments in AI and finding new ways to solve problems. 

The impact of AI on businesses 

Countless applications potentially exist for AI, and, like the internet 25 years ago, the companies that embrace AI will be best positioned to thrive, and those that fail to do so will likely be left behind. Customer support chatbots, data analysis, health care diagnostics and automation of mundane tasks are just a few applications of this new tech. It is likely that most AI use cases haven’t yet been imagined. 

According to a PwC report, a resounding 86% of CEOs believe AI will be mainstream technology within their companies by 2025. But many business leaders today simply need to know what they can do right now that will positively impact business performance.

One often overlooked AI use case solves a problem that practically all businesses share: the challenge of data onboarding and information management. 

The importance of data onboarding in the age of AI 

Data onboarding is the process of collecting, organizing and processing data from various inputs. This data can be fed into AI systems to gain valuable insights and make data-driven decisions. The process can be complex and time-consuming, especially for companies that deal with constant inflows from multiple data sources, in a variety of formats—all of which need to be delivered into various business applications. 

The old “garbage in, garbage out” warning still applies in the age of AI. To get the most from any AI or machine learning system, information inputs must be accurate, up to date and, to some extent, structured. The ability to consistently onboard high-quality data is critical to any AI use case. Businesses that invest in robust data onboarding solutions are positioning their companies for the future, and making the most of the opportunity presented by AI to create lasting business value. 

Intelligent document processing software 

One of the best ways to optimize data onboarding across an enterprise is to leverage intelligent document processing (IDP) software. This technology is helping companies automate the collection and organization of data to reduce risk, improve productivity and enable sustainable business growth. For paper documents, pairing IDP software with high-performance scanners significantly improves data quality and reduces business risks associated with errors and omissions. 

Over half of companies polled in 2023 are reportedly leveraging or exploring IDP software. Where does AI come into play? 

IDP solutions use advanced systems such as intelligent character recognition (ICR) to extract information from documents. By choosing IDP software that integrates with the latest AI tools, companies can automatically stay current with the latest generation of machine intelligence to continually optimize business operations such as financial reporting, claims processing, order and inventory management, legal documentation, customer onboarding and practically any other component of business.   

Lasting productivity gains and ROI 

IDP software that leverages AI is transforming businesses in several ways: 

• Improved efficiency: By automating document processing tasks such as classification, data extraction, indexing and validation, businesses can reduce error-prone manual work and increase operational efficiency. 

• Enhanced accuracy: AI-powered IDP software can accurately extract and process data from various types of documents such as invoices, claims forms and contracts, which translates to a significant reduction of business risk in terms of data accuracy and compliance. 

• Higher profitability: Businesses can reduce labor costs associated with manual data entry and document handling, while leveraging AI to identify trends in their data, enabling better decision-making and forecasting.

• Better customer experience: IDP software can help businesses provide better customer experiences by enabling faster response times and more accurate information retrieval. 

• Actionable data insights: The ability to quickly and accurately extract valuable insights from various document types gives businesses a deeper understanding of their operations, customers and market trends. This information can be used immediately and confidently for strategic decision-making and process optimization, and to identify new business opportunities. 

• Future-ready operations: As AI evolves, IDP solutions will evolve along with it. For most businesses, the right IDP solution improves outcomes by integrating with leading AI platforms. 

As these technologies continue to reshape industries, businesses must embrace them to drive efficiency gains and stay competitive. By leveraging IDP software that integrates with the latest AI tools, organizations can automate data onboarding, improve speed and accuracy, reduce costs, deliver better customer experiences and gain valuable insights for strategic decision-making. 

AI is more than just a trend. It’s a sea change, and some experts are calling it the most significant technological development in human history. Late adopters will be left behind. The time is now to harness the potential of IDP and AI to drive your business toward lasting productivity gains, and an ROI that can pay dividends for years to come.

For more information, please visit alarisworld.com.

— Jim Forger, Vice President of Business Solutions, Kodak Alaris

This article originally appeared in Business Reporter.

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