Artificial intelligence has skyrocketed in popularity, and with it has come the prevalence of AI business solutions. To optimize the workday, the options for task automation and other AI tools have grown tremendously—but how do you know which tool is right for your business?
Good artificial intelligence business solutions can streamline your workflow, produce quality content for marketing, and heighten customer experience. These things lead to overall business growth, making intelligent technologies a smart investment.
How Can AI Help Solve Business Problems?
Because AI is such a versatile entity, it can go far and wide in solving business problems. One of the most popular AI-powered business solutions comes in the form of data management. Businesses have much data to track, and AI effortlessly streamlines the process.
AI technology can also synthesize data and may be able to see patterns that you don’t necessarily pick up on, which can lead to accurate trend forecasting and lead scoring. By staying ahead of the curve, you’ll have a leg up on the competition and be able to anticipate customers’ needs better. This trend anticipation is great for bringing new customers in and retention—essential for a growing business.
Automation is another instance in which business AI solutions can step in. Delegating certain items to AI automation simplifies your workday, especially when it comes to more tedious tasks like manually scheduling meetings, contract management, etc.
Finally, AI solutions like chatbots and automatic messaging on social media ensure every question gets noticed. This extra measure of contact will make potential customers feel valued, boosting business growth.
So, when brainstorming efficiency in your next strategy meeting, consider artificial intelligence as a business solution to save time, effort, and money.
AI Tool Types: The Different Types Of AI Business Solutions
When you think of artificial intelligence, you may understand machine learning algorithms, but it may not be clear how someone can use AI power day-to-day. Understanding the different types of AI can help bridge this gap.
The different types of artificial intelligence lend themselves well to various AI solutions for business, no matter what industry you’re in. There are many kinds of AI technology, but here are the types most commonly found in AI business software.
- Artificial Narrow Intelligence: Named for its ability to carry out ‘narrow’ instruction, programmers can train artificial narrow intelligence to complete one specific task. This AI technology’s most popular practical uses are algorithmic product recommendation, chatbots, and internal virtual assistance. All AI software available falls under the artificial narrow intelligence umbrella.
- Machine Learning: Machine learning is one of the most popular AI business intelligence solutions. This type of AI draws from a massive amount of data to perform tasks without being programmed to perform them first. Businesses can use the powers of machine learning to create higher-quality customer segments, forecast trends (also known as generative AI progress), and detect aberrations like fraud. Machine learning is also great for tracking SEO.
- Expert Systems: This type of AI draws from a data set to make decisions that reflect human choices made by an expert in their field. Expert systems are excellent for resolving issues internally or with customers or analysis for factors like risk in finance departments.
- Natural Language Processing: NLP offers an AI business solution to anything related to text data. NLP can make things like dictation, translation, copywriting, and even editing software sound as natural as a real person. NLP can also analyze consumer feedback on a mass scale, making it easier to pinpoint what’s working and what isn’t.
- Artificial General Intelligence: Artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is the counterpart to artificial narrow intelligence. AGI systems would be able to do anything a human could, including learning and working through complex problems without prompts or a data set given prior. This type of AI only exists in the hypothetical, as AGI requires the ability to learn and reason as a human would—the closest we have now to AGI is expert systems.
Image created with ChatGPT DALL-E
Now that you know more about what AI can do, you can better understand how it can optimize your business’s daily workflows. Many AI tools fall under more than one of these types so you can leverage all artificial intelligence’s power.
AI Business Solutions: The 6 Best AI Tools For Business
All of these tools will work for any business size, but for items like automation and marketing, they’ll be great AI solutions for small business owners. When you save time, you can use the extra brainpower to focus on the important aspects of your day-to-day, which will help you grow!
1. AI for Data: Tableau
When keeping track of your business analytics, BI artificial intelligence solutions like Tableau are a natural fit. Tableau keeps track of your business data and transforms it into visual charts and graphs so you and your team can easily interpret it.
Even though Tableau is such a powerful tool, it’s also intuitive to use and navigate. This ease of use will make it an easier transition for you and your team, especially if this is your first time working with a data management system.
SalesForce is the creator behind Tableau, so integration with almost any platform is a breeze. Plus, you can rest assured that Tableau will only be working with the most up-to-date data available. With both analytics and IT-centric options, there’s a solution for everyone.
There are three different tier options for pricing, so you don’t have to worry about paying for features you don’t need. One tier is a view-only selection, which can be good if there are team members who don’t need as much of this software’s power as other team members.
2. AI for Project Management: ClickUp
Automating project management tasks that take up too much time is a no-brainer when finding holes in your business for AI to fill. The right tool for project management may depend on your industry, but for dealing with basics like task automation. ClickUp can help.
In addition to its ability to streamline workflows with automation, ClickUp offers digital whiteboards for collaborative work and the ability to monitor workloads across your team. There are also integration options for popular management apps like Slack, Google Drive, and many more.
Suppose you want to delve into written AI copy or other AI ideas. In that case, ClickUp also has a built-in writing assistant that can help with outlines, composition, and other writing you need done for your business. From there, ClickUp can transform long lists and blocks of tasks into smaller explanations and actionable items.
ClickUp offers two extremely affordable paid tiers for small to mid-size teams, plus a custom option if your business is bigger or needs more support.
3. AI for Marketing: Freddy AI
While many AI solutions in business are marketing-focused, only a few of them have the range that Freddy has. Freddy, made by Freshworks, offers a wide range of complexity but is easy and intuitive to start using.
Freddy can segment your target audience more precisely, offers conversational assistance, and can assist in creating successful campaigns with half the effort of a system without AI. You can select from various tones for each email, conveying urgency or taking a more casual approach depending on your email campaign goals.
Freddy also holds many customization options and has the capacity for customer service, sales, IT, and development, making collaboration among teams a breeze.
Freshworks offers a marketplace with over 1,000 apps, so integrating most apps and software is a breeze. Freshworks offers three paid tiers for their programs, but only the highest tier comes with Freddy.
4. AI Writing Assistant: Jasper.ai
Owning a business always means a lot of writing, from informative social media posts to website pages to boost SEO. If you’re hoping to save time by having AI write some of your copy, AI technology can help.
Meet Jasper, an AI tool loaded with templates so you can do any type of writing you need. Jasper can also expand content into a full-blown campaign, which is perfect for marketing teams.
Jasper’s voice can cover everything from an elementary school reading level to more advanced copy, so your tone will always be consistent with your brand voice. Jasper’s natural language processing can also help you break down complex explanations into text that anyone can follow.
Jasper has two paid tiers (each with a free trial option) plus a custom option for businesses with larger copywriting needs. You should note that before posting any text on your website or social media pages, you’ll want to read over any AI-generated text first. While AI has come far, you can’t beat a human touch (or eyes!).
5. AI for Sales Outreach: Reply.io
Sales outreach team members wear a lot of hats, but Reply can take some of the stress out of that workflow. The most helpful feature of Reply is its ability to start and maintain meaningful conversations with leads, helping you get your foot in the door and nail the deal.
Reply also boasts calendar automation, CRM data sync, lead list building, and more to optimize your sales team’s workday. Because so much of your sales team’s data will work through Reply, its machine-learning algorithms can also give you detailed analyses of your performance.
There are also many integration features across social media channels, Hubspot, and Salesforce so that Reply will blend seamlessly with your existing software. For pricing, Reply has two paid tiers and a custom option for businesses that need more power. There’s also a two-week free trial option to see if Reply is right for you.
6. AI for Customer Services: Tidio
A chatbot plugin can do wonders if visitors have quick questions on your website. Plus, it can assure potential customers that you value their presence and time. Tidio can answer people’s questions in real time and send any more complex customer issues to a team member.
Not only does Tidio work as a chat window on your site, but it can also similarly handle direct messages on social media platforms and apps like WhatsApp. Tidio integrations also include MailChimp, Klaviyo, and WordPress.
Tidio can also synthesize data and produce analytic reports based on its findings, enabling businesses to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of an engagement strategy.
Tidio offers three different pricing tiers, plus bundle, add-on, and custom options, so you only have to pay for what you need. A weeklong free trial gives you a good taste of Tidio’s features to see if it’s right for your business.
AI Best Practices: How To Integrate AI Into Your Businesses’ Processes
There are many AI business tools, so knowing where to start when thinking about actionable steps to bring AI into your workplace may be overwhelming. Here are some ways to find the perfect AI solutions for your business without having to test-drive many complex programs.
- Look at the software you already use for content creation, marketing, scheduling, etc., and see if there are built-in automations or ways to integrate into what you have. New software can be great, but make sure you weigh the benefits of teaching your team a new system with whether or not things are working as they are. As you get a better idea of what you have, brainstorm goals for your business that AI can help you achieve.
- ChatGPT is the most popular AI, so why not start with ChatGPT integration? If you want to leverage the power of AI solutions but aren’t sure where to start, experimenting with a low-risk solution like ChatGPT can help you see where your pain points are.
- Think about the strengths inherent in AI technology and see if these are things you’d like to optimize in your business. For instance, the most popular uses for AI include data management and automation of repetitive tasks. Talk to your team about these factors and see if they have insights about where to put AI technology (as well as how it would affect their workdays.)
- Don’t be afraid to tour products yourself with free trials. Try not to overwhelm your team with these tests, but generally, you’ll get a feel for how intuitive a program will be, along with whether or not it has the features your team needs to succeed. You could even limit testing to team leads and discuss it further afterward. If you have questions or if there are features you would benefit from excluded from the trial, you can always contact a sales representative to know more.
- Think about customer satisfaction and using AI-powered solutions to streamline your business processes. For instance, quick and informative responses from chatbot software can turn a potential customer into a paying one, thanks to AI. Before publicly incorporating AI measures, always test any customer-facing AI rigorously to ensure response quality.
- Once you implement AI technology, remember to keep track of its success. An AI solution will be an additional expense, and by measuring how successful the AI is, you’ll be able to see whether or not it is worth the extra cost or if you need to pivot to another solution. Success measures may look like how much time task automation has saved you daily or weekly, as well as metrics like conversion rate.
For the most part, integrating AI is just like integrating any other new tool into your business. There will be a learning curve, but the adjustment period will be well worth it if it’s the right tool for you.
You can’t go wrong if you keep everyone on your team informed about the changes and aim to fortify weak points.
Conclusion
AI technology provides many business solutions, from copywriting to generating leads and everything in between. The expansion of AI means you can streamline tasks that previously required a lot of time, leaving you more time and energy to handle the most important items on your agenda.
When considering integrating AI technology into your business’s workflow, think about what tasks you’d like to automate and which you’ll want to keep doing yourself. AI’s versatility means that the sky’s the limit.
