As AI’s hype cycle (and its legitimate value-creation) commence, implementation strategies are still uncertain and in early stages. Questions include where to integrate it internally for operational efficiencies. When it’s customer-facing, how should you package it for the most impact? That last part has varying answers for enterprises, as several shy away from the term AI and its “baggage,” according to our research. Indeed, sometimes it’s smarter to be more plain spoken, using terms like “automation,” and avoiding the temptation to jump on the bandwagon.
Rocketlane is a company whose AI strategy is somewhere in the middle. Though it doesn’t shy away from the term AI, it’s pioneering what it calls professional services automation (PSA). It’s all about saving busy execs’ time through automating workflows, and it focuses on benefits rather than buzzwords.
All the above was the backdrop for Rocketlane’s Propel 25, which took place recently in Santa Clara, CA. To save time for Localogy Insider readers, we’ve synthesized some of the event’s main takeaways. You can also read our two-part interview series with Rocketlane CEO Srikrishnan Ganesan.
Starting at the top, one of the high-level takeaways from Propel 25 is that openness to AI is growing among enterprises. This is partially because its effectiveness has signaled that it’s here to stay and worthy of investment. And it’s partially because typical organizational inertia is slowly eroding.
That last part is a common impediment for emerging tech. Organizations are inherently bureaucratic and designed to favor the status quo. So new technologies generally take a while to cycle into a given organization as culture and habit tend to reject them. That can be accelerated through tangible ROI.
AI has the potential to score high on that measure, as C-level execs (especially CFOs) are getting a true sense of the operational efficiencies and bottom-line impact of automation. And high-profile execs have leaned into this narrative lately, according to WSJ – a departure from previous avoidance.
Joining that chorus, Microsoft just announced that it has saved $500 million from operational efficiencies that AI and automation bring. Of course, this is a delicate conversation as “efficiencies” can be a euphemism for layoffs, but the difference lately is that executives are emboldened to face the topic.
As for specifics, we’re talking about shaving meaningful time from enterprise workflows. A common example where automation shines in enterprises is post-meeting documentation. It’s all about capturing, preserving, and organizing communications and knowledge – historically, a tedious manual endeavor.
There are also things like training and onboarding that can learn from enterprise documentation and institutional knowledge. These are likewise time-consuming functions, but AI and automation are beginning to reduce friction by synthesizing the right information and processes in streamlined ways.
It’s not just about doing things faster, said Propel 25 keynoter Ajeet Singh, but doing them differently. By offloading rote tasks, staff free up time and “cognitive load” for higher-level thinking. It’s analogous to what calculators did for students and mathematicians in automating the underlying arithmetic.
As for what enterprises and individuals can do to get started and accelerate their AI skillsets, the advice is simple: dive in. Learn by doing and fail fast. There’s an abundance of AI tools out there. Start using them and applying them to your personal and professional lives. Lightbulb moments will then follow.
Originally appeared on Localogy.
