As a business leader, driving innovation and staying competitive can be a constant challenge. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a powerful solution for revolutionizing operations, improving user experiences, and uncovering growth opportunities.
Yet, succeeding with AI requires keeping pace with technological advancements and creating meaningful change to promote innovation.
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AI transforms business operations and processes by automating routine tasks, extracting insights from data sets, and enhancing customer experiences. According to a Deloitte report, 58 percent of employees say increased innovation is one of AI’s most important benefits.
In an episode of The Parlor Room podcast, Jen Stave, launch director of Harvard’s Digital Data Design (D^3) Institute, discusses AI’s growing influence.
“If you look around the world today, we believe that we’re on the precipice of a major transformation,” Stave says. “We go so far as to say it's going to be bigger than the internet, bigger than electricity.”
Listen to the full episode featuring Stave:
You can discover practical strategies for leveraging AI’s potential and propelling your business forward by exploring how it drives innovation.
“If you want to color a picture, AI can do that,” Stave says. “If you want to substitute yourself for a podcast—you have other things to do—you can do that. If you want to apply for a job, AI can write your resume, write your cover letter. If you're in marketing, legal, medical—AI can do that, too. Literally, everything is in scope, which means there’s a lot of experimentation happening right now around the world in every sector.”
Related: Leveraging AI in Business: 3 Real-World Examples
AI Innovation Across Industries
Energy and Utilities
The energy and utilities sector faces challenges that impact efficiency, including fluctuating demand, climate change, and aging infrastructure. To address those, utility companies can use AI innovation to optimize operations, reduce costs, and enhance sustainability. According to IBM, 74 percent of energy and utility companies have already implemented or explored AI applications in their operations.
For example, National Grid uses AI to analyze weather patterns, historical usage, and real-time consumption to predict energy demand and adjust supply—helping minimize waste and maintain a stable, efficient energy grid.
AI also improves sustainable business practices—such as integrating renewable energy sources like solar and wind power—by forecasting energy output based on weather forecasts and optimizing storage systems.
By incorporating AI into your energy management strategies, not only can you improve operational efficiency and address climate risks but position your organization as a sustainability leader.
Related: What Is Sustainability in Business?
Health Care
AI is rapidly becoming an innovation driver in health care—from diagnostic imaging to patient care management—across hospitals, clinics, and research institutions.
However, that comes with trust concerns. According to a Pew Research Center survey, 57 percent of Americans worry that increased reliance on AI could negatively impact patient-provider relationships, and 37 percent are concerned about electronic health records’ security.
Yet AI continues to encourage innovation by improving accuracy, personalizing treatment plans, and ensuring care transparency.
For instance, dental care startup VideaHealth uses AI innovation to analyze dental images and identify issues like cavities—reducing diagnostic errors and building patient trust with accurate results.
"AI, especially in this diagnostic step—but also later in the treatment-planning step—can introduce a more objective, data-driven, and consistent approach toward introducing transparency and trust in this marketplace," says Florian Hillen, VideaHealth’s co-founder and CEO, in the online course AI Essentials for Business.
Retail and E-commerce
AI is transforming retail and e-commerce by analyzing browsing histories, purchase patterns, and demographics to better cater to customer needs. According to a McKinsey report, companies that excel in personalization generate 40 percent more revenue than competitors.
For instance, beauty retailer Sephora harnesses AI through its Virtual Artist app, which analyzes facial features and skin tones so customers can try makeup and receive personalized product recommendations. Sephora also uses AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants to anticipate customer needs and answer inquiries.
With AI tools, Sephora meaningfully engages customers, boosts brand loyalty, and solidifies itself as a leader in the beauty retail space.
Related: 3 Effective Methods for Assessing Customer Needs
Manufacturing
Implementing AI into your business can result in smarter, faster, more adaptable manufacturing. According to a Capgemini Research Institute report, 51 percent of the top European manufacturers have implemented at least one AI use case.
To foster AI innovation, consider using predictive maintenance to analyze manufacturing data with algorithms and anticipate equipment failures before they happen. In doing so, you can optimize maintenance schedules, reduce costly downtime, and create an environment that encourages creative problem-solving.
For example, multinational technology conglomerate Siemens uses AI-powered predictive maintenance to monitor industrial equipment in real time and identify failures early—enabling it to maintain a flexible production environment that supports:
Similarly, incorporating AI into your manufacturing processes can enhance efficiency and put your company at the forefront of industry advancement.
Finance
AI is spurring a new era of innovation in finance. According to McKinsey, banks that effectively integrate AI into their operations could automate up to 70 percent of their business activities—enhancing efficiency and service delivery.
Ant Group is a prime example of an innovative, AI-driven business. Its digital banking service, MYBank, uses advanced machine-learning algorithms to process loan applications quickly without human intervention for businesses that traditionally struggle to access credit, including over 53 million small- and medium-sized enterprises in China.
“We believe AI can play a really, really important role in making financial services more inclusive,” says Dr. Alan Qi, Ant Group’s vice president and AI chief scientist, in AI Essentials for Business. “Only because of the power of machine learning or AI, we can make the service more scalable, more inclusive.”
Transportation and Logistics
AI can benefit transportation and logistics by helping meet the growing demand for faster, more reliable deliveries.
According to McKinsey, businesses that quickly adopt AI-driven supply chain management can improve their logistics costs by 15 percent, inventory levels by 35 percent, and service levels by 65 percent.
For example, logistics company DHL has transformed its supply chain management by using AI to forecast demand, adjust warehouse stock levels, and predict delays in real time. As a result, it’s improved on-time delivery performance by up to 95 percent in some regions.
Compete in the Age of AI
AI is no longer optional if you want your business to innovate and compete. But effectively integrating it requires a strategic approach and deeply understanding its impacts.
By taking AI Essentials for Business, you can gain the knowledge and skills to strategically leverage AI and ensure your organization thrives in the digital age.
Do you want to learn how to innovate in the age of AI? Explore our online course AI Essentials for Business—one of our online digital transformation courses—and download our online learning success guide to prepare for the experience.
