The top three GenAI priorities for business executives are improving access to data and information, boosting productivity, and better and deeper personalized experiences, according to Google Cloud strategic industries VP Carrie Tharp.
My sense is that while Tharp’s analysis is directly on target, business leaders should also understand with great clarity that while GenAI’s short-term value will be centered on boosting innovation around existing products and services, executives must simultaneously also begin digging into the longer-term transformational potential of GenAI.
Across industries, the winning companies will be those that are able to blend both this short-term quick-win approach with the longer-term thinking about new business models, new markets, new opportunities, new talent, and new ways to go to market.
As part of that first step, Tharp offers some great overall thinking as well as some real-life examples as she discusses how large and midsize businesses across the globe and across a huge range of industries are approaching GenAI.
“The big difference with GenAI is that its broad scope and potential to bring bottom-line value is already driving investment from senior leadership in a way few technologies have in the past,” Tharp wrote in a recent blog post. “AI has become the domain of the boardroom as much as the IT department, creating a level of momentum and business alignment rarely seen with new technologies. On top of that, GenAI helps you tap into the potential of the building blocks you already have — your existing technology investments, information, and workforce.”
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I suspect that this approach in Tharp’s evangelizing has been shaped in large part by the uncertainty still harbored by some business executives around the whole “metaverse” craze from a few years back as they wondered what the heck is it, what will it do, how can it help me, what outcomes can I expect? And when no tangible answers ever emerged, their skepticism toward The Next Coolest Shiniest and Most-Gotta-Have Unproven Technology Ever got cranked up pretty high. Here’s Tharp on the lingering effects of the metaverse-hype hangover:
“A common refrain I heard when I first started speaking with customers is that GenAI will be ‘another metaverse.’ No one was eager to fall for another over-hyped trend destined to deliver little tangible value or, worse, fail to launch at all. However, this initial skepticism has quickly disappeared, and I’m encountering more and more ‘Aha!’ moments with each meeting I take.”
Plus, these extremely tangible innovations and business benefits extend across industry lines and are not confined to purely white-collar possibilities, such as Google Cloud’s GenAI engagement with Priceline that helped great enhance customer experiences while also simplifying employee workflows.
Indeed, the GenAI opportunities — as well as achievements already well under way — are massive in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, Tharp wrote. “Unshackled from drudgery, employees can direct their talents towards reasoning, creativity, and customer empathy, unlocking greater innovation and productivity. In a recent study of the industrial sector, the introduction of AI-human collaboration led to a 35% increase in productivity and a 20% rise in worker job satisfaction, all while achieving savings of up to 40%.”
Final Thought
While the cloud’s been incredibly disruptive and has unleashed massive innovation and business value, that great progress has occurred across a journey of 10-12 years. But with GenAI, the need for speed is more along the line of 10-12 months rather than years.
The time is now — and Tharp’s blog post provides some very helpful ideas and perspectives.
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