Peabody Business Forum

Summary Takeways

AI Adoption in Business:

About 48% of business leaders say AI is used in their organisation.

Types of AI tools used include bespoke AI tools (22%), integrated solutions like MS Copilot (32%), company-purchased tools like ChatGPT Team (26%), and personal tools like ChatGPT+ (36%).

Current State of AI:

We're in the "exploration phase" or "sandbox" stage with AI, similar to where we were with the internet in 2000.
Large Language Models (LLMs) are becoming increasingly important and may be the future of operating systems.

Impact of AI on Productivity:

A study showed consultants using AI were 12.2% more productive, completed tasks 25.1% more quickly, and produced work of 40% higher quality.

Adopting AI in Business:

Start with individual use of GenAI tools, then move towards shared organisational context, AI-integrated workflows, and eventually custom AI apps and models.
Adoption is a step-by-step process, and even small steps can make a real difference.

AI Use Cases:

Winning work: AI can help with deep research, developing MVPs for proposals, and testing different communication approaches.

Delivering work: AI can assist with voice-based reporting, rapid analysis, and automated reporting.
Project management: AI can help with transcribing meeting notes, sentiment analysis, and active project knowledge management.

Key AI Technologies:

• Transcription for capturing tacit knowledge
• Automation for chaining narrow tasks
• Web scraping for gathering data
• Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) for integrating AI with business-specific knowledge
• Image generation for bringing ideas to life
• Chatbots for automated human interactions

Tips for AI Adoption:

• Don't be afraid to experiment with AI tools
• Establish your business context to improve AI outputs
• Record everything to create valuable data for AI
• Share knowledge and findings within your organisation or community

Approach to Using AI:

Treat AI like a highly intelligent but contextually unaware intern.
Provide clear instructions and context for best results.

Future of AI:

AI is not just a fad but a transformative technology, similar to the internet's impact.
Businesses should start adopting AI to gain a competitive advantage.