Using the case studies from her new book to illustrate, Sarah Burnett FBCS examines common themes and lessons learned regarding the growing use of AI in business.
In my book AI in Business – Towards the Autonomous Enterprise, I explore AI's transformative role through four real-life case studies.
Siemens Global Business Services (GBS) utilises the AI-powered Bionic Agent to automate customer service ticket handling, thereby boosting efficiency and enabling human agents to focus on more complex tasks. Calderdale Council adopted the Virtual Intelligent Response Agent (VIRA), a chatbot that manages routine inquiries. The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT) employs AI-powered image recognition to enhance stroke diagnosis and treatment, improving patient outcomes. Wärtsilä leverages AI-driven Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) technology to optimise sales in the marine and energy sectors.
As you read on, we’ll explore the lessons and key takeaways from each case study.
The importance of developing in-house AI skills
All the organisations in the case studies initially relied on external providers to implement their AI solutions. Over time, they developed capabilities in-house and reduced their reliance on external resources. For example, Siemens GBS' Bionic Agent was developed with the help of services from an external technology provider, but it also leveraged some of their in-house skills that they had built up over the years. Calderdale Council initially received external support for VIRA but has since developed the necessary in-house skills to enhance, manage, and upgrade the system. Wärtsilä similarly developed in-house skills to maintain and improve their CPQ solution, ensuring that the AI system evolved to meet their specific business needs.
The availability of skills in-house gives organisations the flexibility and agility to develop new, innovative capabilities and keep the costs of their AI solutions low.
Scalability and flexibility to tap into advances in AI
Calderdale Council's VIRA demonstrates both the scalability and flexibility of AI. Initially deployed to handle routine customer inquiries related to council tax, VIRA was quickly adapted to provide up-to-date information on the pandemic. Later, it was deployed to handle customer interactions about a new tip licence system. This flexibility proves crucial for dealing with unexpected challenges and highlights AI's potential for scalable solutions that can evolve with organisational needs.
Siemens GBS’ Bionic Agent was designed from the start to be reused in other functions. It has also been recently enhanced with generative AI capabilities.
Human augmentation and decision support
Investing in AI systems can deliver both automation and augmentation of human effort. Take the Siemens GBS’ Bionic Agent; it automates 70% of customer service ticket handling where it is applied, leaving the human workforce to handle more complex requirements and to oversee the quality of automated services. Similarly, while RBFT's AI-powered image recognition has not replaced doctors in diagnosing damage to the brains of stroke patients, it instead augments clinicians by providing them with data-driven input. Calderdale Council's VIRA supports human agents by handling straightforward queries, enabling them to focus on more complex issues, such as managing bereavement cases.
Improved service quality and accuracy
AI's training has increased the quality and accuracy of services. In the Siemens GBS case study, staff found that they could learn from the Bionic Agent’s application of rules to make better decisions. RBFT's AI-enhanced CT image analysis has improved diagnostic accuracy and significantly increased the recovery speed of patients receiving the most appropriate treatment, such as mechanical thrombectomy, regardless of when or where they present. Wärtsilä's intelligent CPQ solution has eliminated configuration issues, ensuring that bespoke, high-quality engines are specified accurately for their engineering teams.
Continuous improvement and learning
All four case study providers successfully achieved continuous improvement in their services by utilising their AI systems. Wärtsilä's intelligent CPQ solution iteratively captures knowledge from subject matter experts and engineers to refine its decision trees, ensuring up-to-date and accurate configurations. Calderdale Council's VIRA is continually updated to meet new requirements, such as the introduction of the new tip licence system. Siemens GBS' Bionic Agent was enhanced with generative AI to provide textual responses to clients, as well as being repurposed for use in different functions.
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Collaboration
Collaboration was a key feature of each of the AI implementations. To start, all the organisations engaged external technology and professional services firms to develop and implement the solutions. Some, like Siemens GBS, also had in-house expertise that they tapped into. Others, like Calderdale Council, utilised the subject matter and process-specific knowledge of their contact centre staff to train VIRA. Furthermore, they engaged their local services partners to test VIRA before it went live.
AI also improved collaboration upon going live. For example, RBFT was part of a group of neighbouring hospitals that invested in the AI system collaboratively, working together under the umbrella name of TITAN. The AI system enabled the sharing of CT scan images, within data protection rules, not only with specialists working at RBFT but also with the wider TITAN group, ensuring that radiologists could analyse the patients' CT scans as quickly as possible, regardless of their location.
Ethical considerations and trust in AI
Ethical considerations were paramount for these organisations. For example, RBFT had to conduct a trial to ensure that the analysis provided by AI could be trusted and to demonstrate its efficacy to clinicians. Calderdale Council worked diligently to ensure that VIRA had no negative impact on its citizens. It achieved this through the thorough training of VIRA with real-life data, as well as extensive testing and feedback from its users.
AI for the long term
All the case studies show that investment in AI can deliver tangible benefits and improved outcomes for many years. In Wärtsilä's case, the intelligent CPQ system has been providing benefits for well over a decade. Calderdale Council's VIRA is also approaching double digits, and is set for an upgrade to provide additional features such as a video interaction channel. RBFT's enhanced stroke treatment is designed for long-term use, offering enduring value. Siemens GBS' Bionic Agent continues to evolve and be further improved. It too is providing long-term benefits through sustained innovation and efficiency improvements.
Conclusion
The themes from the case studies show that AI is a general-purpose tool — no organisation can pigeon-hole it as ‘not for us’. It can be effectively integrated into various sectors, driving significant benefits while maintaining a human-centric approach.
Sarah Burnett’s book AI in Business — Towards the Autonomous Enterprise is available at the BCS Bookshop.
