Prioritize processes and decision points for AI

Once you understand the role of AI in meeting the prime metric(s) and purpose of your organization, the next logical step would be to assess the contribution that various processes can make towards fulfilling that role. A good question to ask is “what about the functions/ business processes that I am responsible for, influence the role that AI is expected to play?” For example, if the prime metric is profitability because of increased competition, and if you are responsible for purchasing raw material; may be the answer is “building long term relationship with the vendor helps increase profitability”. Note that the answer may be found several levels deep into questioning. You might start by saying that I need to reduce the cost of procurement, then realize that cost of procurement depends on rejects in raw material, which in turn can be reduced by improving vendor relationship. Once you have a hang of what needs to improve, the next question is how can learning from data help? In this case, may be predicting “type of vendor improvement program best suited for a particular vendor“, or “identifying the likely cause of rejects for a given vendor” might help reduce the chances of reject/returns; thereby improving your profitability. Understand what part of your responsibility impacts the prime metric & purpose, and what you can learn from past data to help improve the same would be a healthy step towards planning for practical AI. #abhayPracticalAI #artificialintelligence #machinelearning