Get more out of your Artificial Intelligence efforts with Enterprise Architecture
The promise of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence and robotics have captured the attention of business and innovation leaders through the promise of accelerated digital transformation minus the costs, risks, and challenges of traditional, more manual approaches.
AI-powered applications can help organizations use data to automate processes that a human workforce can’t possibly complete – or a process that simply isn’t cost effective to have humans manage. Industries with such massive amounts of data that humans can’t analyze or comprehend, could benefit greatly from AI capabilities. Processes formerly operated by human labor are likely to be replaced by AI applications that will bring new levels of improved customer experience, better decision-making ability, and increased operational efficiency. Let’s dive into each of these in more detail.
Improved customer experience
AI-enabled tools can automate customer-centric tasks to greatly increase productivity and enhance customer experience. An artificial intelligence tool can create data where previously there wasn’t any available and analyze this data to predict future customer behavior. Artificial intelligence can provide a smart, beneficial, and informed customer experience anywhere along the customer journey creating customer journeys that provide a more personal, natural experience for the buyer. Anyone in a customer-facing position cannot possibly understand a customer’s entire history, but automated systems can be programed to handle this amount of data and deliver a systematic and consistent experience across all touchpoints.
Better decision-making ability
Prior to artificial intelligence technologies, business leaders had to rely on inconsistent and incomplete data when making decisions. Enter artificial intelligence into the equation, and now executives have data-based models and simulations to consult. AI provides advanced models for business leaders to base their decisions on, so they aren’t guessing when it comes to important company choices and strategies. When decision-makers and business executives have reliable data analyses and recommendations from artificial intelligence tools, they can make better choices for the organization, its people, products, services, and customers.
Increased operational efficiency
Artificial intelligence can help minimize mistakes and advance the overall efficiency of a company. Automation and optimizations using AI are happening in every industry resulting in an increased production output – a huge benefit for companies especially in manufacturing. With the help of artificial intelligence, you can automate many manufacturing processes they will require little human oversight. AI’s benefits really shine here when you can boost manufacturing efficiency, raise production output, and decrease costs associated with human errors.
The intersection of enterprise architecture and artificial intelligence
Enterprise architecture can support the success of AI programs and automation efforts, and artificial intelligence in return can improve enterprise architecture tools to accelerate digital transformation and IT modernization projects – also with greater speed of completion than before. According to Gartner, “By 2022, 55% of enterprise architecture programs will be supported by artificial intelligence -enabled software, freeing enterprise architects for more internal management consultancy work.”
Today’s enterprise architects and CIOs have the exciting ability to uncover opportunities for developing new data-driven business models using artificial intelligence. “AI promises to be the most disruptive class of technologies during the next 10 years due to advances in computational power, volume, velocity and variety of data, as well as advances in deep neural networks (DNNs),” states Gartner.
Here at MEGA we too are exploring several areas of artificial intelligence to learn how it could bring value to our customers. Some of the software enhancements we’re beginning to examine include:
Augmented architect
A virtual enterprise architect or chat bot that can help its human counterpart determine impact analysis. One day in the future you might be able to ask HOPEX, “which capabilities would be affected if I retire application X” and HOPEX would respond with the correct answer.
Sketch capture
The ability to draw maps and models on a whiteboard, take a photo, and then upload that photo to HOPEX where the maps and models would be produced in the software.
Data set
HOPEX would be able to examine the entire scope of a repository and organize it into a more business consumable way making enterprise architecture’s real business value more apparent to all stakeholders.
Interested in reading more about AI and how your organization can benefit from its adoption? Check out the blog post by Dan Hebda, MEGA’s Chief Strategy Officer, AI: Going from sci-fi to business value requires some groundwork. AI might be hot right now, but your organization is going to have to do some groundwork first if you want AI to deliver value to the business. AI can advance digital transformation but before you jump all in, some initial prep and research will pay off and lead to greater long-term success.
