The following is an article based on an excerpt from an interview with Michel Mol. Watch the full interview or read the article below.
Understanding AI with Michel Mol
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we live and work. Michel Mol, a 10EQS Collaboration Manager and AI expert, guides us through understanding and leveraging AI.
“Artificial intelligence is nothing to be scared of,” he reassures. It’s like any disruptive technology. Some people will push against the change, saying it’s dangerous.
While others will embrace it, seeing the potential. “Same as with the internet, you can use it for the good and for the bad. But I would advise people in corporations to try it out,” Michel explains.
This perspective is essential as we explore the transformative potential of AI.
How AI Is Impacting Marketing and Sales
Michel Mol brings unique insights into AI’s role in business, especially in marketing and sales. In the interview, he highlights how AI is revolutionizing these fields with its ability to understand customer behavior.
After AI is trained, it generates sales and marketing emails better than humans.
“It’s uncanny how high the ROI is on these types of implementations,” Mol notes. This shows AI’s effectiveness in enhancing customer engagement and driving business growth.
AI in Supply Chain and Logistics
AI is also transforming supply chain and logistics. Michel states, but “You need somebody in charge of AI that works with your supply chain, guys and gals to actually reduce inventory, reduce logistics times.”
Based on his experience, transportation companies, supermarkets, and automotive manufacturers are seeing transformative results in their first proof of concepts for supply chain and logistics.
These results showcase AI’s ability to optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.
Other Real-life Examples of AI
To further illustrate AI’s potential, we can look at real-world applications. AI personalizes learning experiences in education, adapting to each student’s pace and style.
In healthcare, AI algorithms are helping diagnose diseases more accurately, aiding doctors in providing better care.
These examples highlight AI’s versatility and its transformative impact across different sectors.
Preparing Your Business for the AI Era
As companies begin their AI journey, there are a few steps you can take to reduce risk plus accelerate learning and collaboration.
1. Explore AI in Your Personal Life
Michel Mol believes in making AI personal and approachable. “I’d like for people to just try it out,” he advises. Simple daily interactions with AI, such as using voice assistants or engaging with AI in our cars or phones, can make AI more familiar and less intimidating.
Michel emphasizes the collaboration between human creativity and AI’s capabilities. He shares an intriguing example.
After prompting AI to write the opening line of the best novel ever, it generated the line, “When the clock struck 13, I knew that my grandfather hadn’t been lying about the secret society of timekeepers.”
This AI-generated idea shows how AI can inspire human creativity and lead to innovative thinking.
Once you start using AI, “Your imagination catches fire, and you see how you could use this within your corporation,” states Mol.
So, the people within companies now having AI generate their marketing and sales emails say it knows much better than our sales rep what the client’s customer history is.
2. Create AI Pilot Projects
However, many businesses continue to have understandable concerns with implementing AI. For those businesses, Mol suggests a step-by-step approach to integrating AI.
Starting with small pilot projects allows companies to explore AI’s potential in a controlled, low-risk environment.
He recommends this approach to understand AI better before rolling it out on a larger scale.
And collaborating with AI experts and consulting firms can help create a conducive environment for these pilot projects.
3. Develop AI Centers of Excellence to Foster Collaboration
Another step Mol recommends is establishing Centers of Excellence focused on AI within companies.
These centers are crucial in knowledge sharing and promoting best practices in AI use. “We see companies organizing hackathons [and] giving their business units leeway to work with central AI units,” Mol observes.
This approach encourages innovation and helps integrate AI into various business processes effectively.
4. Appoint a Head of Artificial Intelligence
And last, Mol recommends businesses create a leadership position to oversee cross-functional teams working on and with artificial intelligence.
He states, “You need somebody in charge of AI that works with the business units, that works with your supply chain, guys and gals to actually reduce inventory, reduce logistics times.”
This position ensures coordination across business units, tracking metrics, and accountability for outcomes.
Preparing Your Workforce for AI
Mol emphasizes the need to adapt the workforce as we enter the AI era. He notes, “We’re hearing companies looking for new types of talent, needing to reskill their current workforce,” and adds, “True innovation for a while now still requires a lot of human input.”
Integrating AI into your business operations will require balancing bringing in new talent and retraining current employees.
This underscores the urgency to adapt your recruitment and training programs for the AI-driven future.
And calls for a focus on developing skills like creativity, problem-solving, and strategic thinking as AI automates more routine and repetitive tasks.
Ethical Considerations in AI
While exploring AI’s benefits, it’s also important to consider ethical implications. Issues like data privacy, bias in AI algorithms, and the potential for job displacement need careful consideration and responsible management.
Mol acknowledges these concerns, advocating for ethical AI development and implementation. These concerns are why companies need to reskill their current workforce and create safe internal environments to experiment with AI.
Conclusion: Prepare Your Business and Workforce for the AI Era
In conclusion, as discussed by Michel Mol, embracing AI is crucial in today’s world. Understanding and adapting to AI is key for personal use or business applications.
Mol’s insights provide a valuable roadmap for navigating the AI landscape. “This is how you learn. This is when your imagination catches fire,” Mol reminds us. His expertise helps demystify AI and encourages us to harness its potential responsibly and creatively.
Contact us if you need support understanding how your organization can implement AI. We’d be happy to help you.