Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1355470
NEWS 25.3.2021 Alexiei Dingli Prof Alexiei Dingli is a Professor of AI at the University of Malta and has been conducting research and working in the field of AI for more than two decades, assisting different companies to implement AI solutions. He forms part of the Malta.AI task-force, set up by the Maltese government, aimed at making Malta one of the top AI countries in the world A quick stroll through the most prominent technological por- tals seems to share a common theme. Behold, the rise of Ar- tificial Intelligence (AI) is near! By now, everyone heard about AI, everyone uses it in some form or another, but very few understand it. Luckily for us, one does not need to become an AI scientist before benefit- ting from it. Of course, with this information in hand, busi- ness owners are none the wis- er since they still have no idea from where to start. Most of them might have read differ- ent articles on AI's incredible benefits but are still doubtful whether they can use it in their organisation. An excellent place to start is by performing an AI read- iness audit. Before investing money and resources in an AI solution, decision-makers need to understand whether their organisation is ready to embark on a fruitful transfor- mation process. us, an au- dit is conducted to assess the fundamental, operational and transformative readiness of the organisation. rough the audit, organisations will better understand their company and its potential within an AI-en- hanced ecosystem, thus indi- cating the shortfalls they have and saving them vast amounts of money in the future. One should not be shy of conduct- ing such an audit since it can be done for free, and the process involved is relatively simple. Essentially, it assesses 4 critical components; transformational, technical, organisational and environmental readiness. But don't let these terms daunt you; let us explain them one by one. Transformational readiness examins whether your organ- isation is open to innovative changes. is part is impor- tant because research shows a positive relationship between the relative advantage of new technology and the acceptance of an innovation. rough it, we ascertain whether AI can improve the company's opera- tions by maybe reducing costs, opening up to new opportuni- ties, increasing efficiencies or even increasing income. It will also delve into whether AI will give you a competitive advan- tage by helping your employees in their mundane tasks. Final- ly, it will check whether AI is aligned with the organisation's strategic direction, thus giving it acceptance by top manage- ment. Technical readiness exam- ines whether the organisation has the technical components in place to ensure a successful AI project. First of all, a specif- ic need has to exist. AI is not a magic powder you sprinkle on top of existent processes. If AI doesn't give the organisational processes any advantage, then just don't use it. Because of this, any transformative pro- cess has to be well planned to ensure that the organisation really benefits from it. e best way to ascertain this is to look at existing AI applications else- where and see whether they can be applied to your oper- ations. If this is the case, then the most important thing is to look at the data available. Data is today considered as the new oil, which fuels most of our AI algorithms. e organisation needs to assess the information it possesses, check whether it can be modified and used not just from a technical perspec- tive but also from a legal one. Organisational readiness looks at the openness of the organisation, vis-a-vis the adoption of new technology. It is interesting to note that we can predict whether the trans- formation will be successful by analysing the company size, management style, and other variables. A vital element is the outlook of Top manage- ment over such initiatives. Is the management team com- mitted to change, backed by a clear vision and with appropri- ate funding? e organisation also has to ascertain whether it has the right resources, both in terms of hardware and human expertise. Environmental readiness examins the external factors such as regulations and com- petition, which are critical factors when adopting new innovations. When one looks around and examins what sim- ilar organisations are doing, if they've already jumped on the AI bandwagon, then it's a good indication that the solutions available on the market are rel- atively mature. is should also serve as an alarm bell since competitors can quickly gain a competitive advantage over less innovative firms. So once the organisation decides to take the plunge, it needs to set up an AI strate- gy that focuses on influencing its external stakeholders. is might be achieved by offering them an improved customer experience or speeding up the AI's decision-making process. e possibilities are endless. Of course, those companies that decide to take the plunge need to do some homework as well. ey need to examine exist- ing government regulations, policies, and incentives to get the most benefits out of this transformation. ey also need to look at the AI services avail- able through third-party ven- dors, which would allow them to deploy new solutions in no time. Of course, its easier said than done, and if you're still at a loss, why not take the free AI Self Assessment test (https:// tinyurl.com/AIReadyAssess- ment). is test is intended to ask the pertinent questions, and at the end, it will also send an email highlighting the areas which require more work and sug- gest a way forward. So don't be afraid to take the plunge. AI is here to stay, and it will change the world we live in forever; you can't afford to ignore it but can easily benefit from it. Is my business ready for AI?