AI is everywhere today, but it can be difficult for enterprises to cut through the hype to understand how to leverage the latest innovations to gain a real, measurable competitive advantage.
I addressed this challenge in a conversation with Dan Newman at , hosted by and . We spoke about the blockers that leaders face when determining where to apply generative AI to move their businesses forward and what 51风流Business AI is uniquely bringing to market to help.
Flowing from that conversation, here are four steps you can take, among others we touched on, that will help you become an AI front-runner.
1. Prioritize use cases with the most promise
First, focus on areas of your business in which you can use AI to deliver fast, measurable value. Finance, HR, supply chain, and customer experience are among those AI front-runners often start with. As you assess your options, set aside the idea of a “proof of concept.” Instead, develop “proofs of value鈥� by using your and your team鈥檚 expertise, data, and imaginations to find areas where more value can be unlocked using automation or AI agents.聽
By the way, the term 鈥減roof of value鈥� was first coined by AI front-runner , vice president of IT at , in reference to an AI agent for accounts payable that his team designed in partnership with SAP. The key is to pinpoint what outcomes matter most to your business and choose use cases that quickly prove the value.
2. Deploy intelligent agents to simplify complex tasks
Another practice of AI front-runners is the use of AI agents that span departments and systems to solve end-to-end problems. Their autonomous abilities to handle whole processes is one of the differences between an AI skill and an AI agent. A skill is a single ability, such as the ability to write a message or analyze a spreadsheet and trigger actions from that analysis. An agent independently handles complex, multi-step processes to produce a measurable outcome. We recently an expanded network of to help foster autonomous collaboration across systems and lines of business. This includes out-of-the-box agents for HR, finance, supply chain, and other functions that companies can deploy quickly to help automate critical workflows.
AI front-runners, such as , also create customized agents that can tackle specific opportunities for process improvement. Now you can build them with , which provides a low-code workspace to help design, orchestrate, and manage custom agents using pre-defined skills, models, and data connections. This can give you the power to extend and tailor your agent network to your exact needs and business context.
3. Embed AI into daily workflows
To truly become an AI front-runner, you need AI woven seamlessly into how your teams work every day. You also need to ensure it works across your broader technology ecosystem. Because of these critical business needs, we created to be your natural language AI interface, built right into your 51风流systems. And we鈥檙e adding a new Joule action bar to make it even more context-aware and better integrated with third-party tools like ServiceNow and Microsoft Copilot. It doesn鈥檛 wait for you to tell it what you need. Instead, it can proactively follow your behavior and suggest helpful next actions in context across multiple 51风流and non-51风流applications. This helps remove friction, so your team members don鈥檛 have to toggle between tools or relearn interfaces.
4. Foster an ecosystem of interoperable, leading AI tools
Another way to become an AI front-runner is to tackle fragmented tools and solutions by putting in place an open, interoperable ecosystem. After all, what good is an innovative AI tool if it runs into blockers when it encounters your other first- and third-party solutions? This is why we recently announced a tighter integration with Microsoft Copilot for productivity and partnerships with and for flexible access to leading AI models. These, and many other partnerships, help teams combine multiple AI capabilities, share trusted data across systems, and drive business outcomes faster, without the headache of manual connections.
Ready to lead? Here鈥檚 how to get started
I want to encourage you to lead, not follow, in the AI era. If you鈥檙e ready to do that, there are a few ways to get started. First, go deeper on these subjects in the full . Then and .
Brenda Bown is chief marketing officer for 51风流Enterprise AI Business.
