Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), in collaboration with Coach.Win, hosted an event to educate small business owners on the possibilities AI tools present for them and their companies. On July 23, 2024, at the Coach.Win Learning Center in Omaha, attendees heard from event organizer John Lund, of Coach.Win, and guest speakers Boaz Ashkenazy of Augmented AI and Sridhar Sunkara of eBiz Solutions.
The goal of the event was to introduce business leaders to current use cases for AI in order to spark conversations on how AI-powered tools could increase the competitiveness of small and medium businesses, according to Lund.
Here are five takeaways from the event:
1. AI is a growing norm.
More and more businesses are experimenting and incorporating AI and its features into their practices. In the near future, startups and companies may find themselves having to answer AI-related questions from investors and board members, like “How do you plan to utilize AI to boost efficiency?” Those resistant or avoidant to these changes could risk losing out on both AI’s benefits and the backing of influential ecosystem members if they don’t take the time to pay attention to AI trends. Whether supportive or skeptical of AI, awareness of its current developments can become essential to prepare for these types of questions.
Consider the implementation of AI like the beginning of the internet, Lund suggested. While likely considered outlandish or otherworldly in comparison to traditional practices in the early days of release, the internet is now a regular tool in data management, marketing, communications, customer service, etc. AI appears to be on a similar path.
2. AI is a tool to stay competitive.
One way to think about AI is that it’s a pattern-sensing and language-processing program. It is efficient at analyzing data, completing repetitive tasks and forming predictions based on prompts, i.e. pulling specific data from extensive contracts or identifying repeated responses in survey forms. AI offers companies the ability to save time on performing monotonous tasks that can be spent elsewhere.
AI can also spark brainstorming, acting as an additional collaborator for tasks like coming up with more expressive copy for a marketing campaign. As AI clears schedules for employees, it opens up timelines for additional projects among team members.
3. AI is not perfect, and people need to step in where it falters.
While AI continues to learn and improve, it is still not accurate all the time. The answers it provides can be false, completely made up to fulfill a request or based more on repeated usage rather than factual correctness. AI software requires repeated learning and data association to ensure more accurate results. Similar to searching the internet, background research, citing sources and soliciting expert advice can act as additional safeguards.
AI also currently lacks the creative, ethical and emotional thinking of humans necessary for making and applying decisions. Although certain job roles may combine or become obsolete, roles will likely need to remain in place to monitor the data inputs and outputs of AI tools, as well as their applications.
4. There are steps to take now to prepare for potential AI adopting.
Before making the jump to full AI implementation, founders and business leaders can start researching and experimenting with the free AI tools available, such as ChatGPT. A potential first step could be creating a task force of individuals to research different types and stages of AI. Task force members could assist other employees in getting comfortable with available tools themselves.
Leaders should also connect with their organization’s IT department or a hired consultant to implement rules and security measures to prevent company data from being compromised when uploading files to these services. Companies can also start recording, organizing and managing the data they wish to eventually have accessible for AI—surveys, meeting notes, various applications and contracts—and research AI-compatible programs to start utilizing for record keeping.
5. Educational events, coaching and resources are available to assist with learning.
From online courses put together by universities, like Harvard, to modules created by technology companies themselves, like Microsoft, or local Meetups, individuals can take steps to build their understandings of AI concepts.
