Artificial intelligence reveals its full potential for change in organisations

For several decades now, we have seen how “software” has changed the industry, becoming a different factor for business prosperity. Now it’s your turn Artificial Intelligence (AI) which, with its transformative potential, is bringing us countless revolutions. To be precise, it’s nothing new (because it’s been with us for so long), but it’s now when we’re starting to see the tip of the iceberg, when powerful tools are emerging that allow us to do things we’ve only dreamed of until now.

To talk about the application of artificial intelligence in business, last Monday EL PERIÓDICO organized a round table at the Catalonia Plaza Hotel in Barcelona, ​​where four experts in this field participated: Silvia Hernandez, Finance and Insurance Sector Director, Microsoft Ibérica; Javier Martinez Head of Sales Engineering, Google Cloud Iberia; Gabriel Garcia, Director of Innovation at Integra; And Jesus Lanero CEO of CaixaBank Tech.

The latter began by recalling the pioneering nature of CaixaBank in the application of artificial intelligence: “In 2014 we were the first to train Watson in Spanish and pioneers in the development of cognitive assistants, which made our foreign trade employees have a better response in this type of trade This led us to form a team of experts in Artificial Intelligence We have worked on strengthening it over the years and continue to strengthen it by hiring expert specialists.Since then, We have a heavy weight in cognitive assistants for our clients, both in our mobile apps and in our online channels” said a spokesperson for CaixaBank, the company behind the event.

concrete applications

Integra’s director of innovation, Gabriel García, was the first to introduce the concept of artificial intelligence to the company, and put some practical examples and applications on the table. in the banking sector It allows us to determine when a customer is in time to start a particular marketing campaign focused on a specific need (such as applying for a loan, mortgage, or insurance). From there, Garcia jumped into the energy sector: “We’re seeing comp Photovoltaic panels whose AI systems determine the angles these panels should have at all times to improve the capture of solar energy, thus maximizing energy production;. An Integra representative gave a third example: “If I, as a manufacturer, can guess when my customers will need and demand my products, I can adapt and modify my entire supply chain.”

For her part, Silvia Hernandez also sees different scenarios where AI can have an immediate impact. “The first in the world of developers, which will allow them to improve their productivity in ‘software’ development in a very important way & rdquor ;. The expert explained that Microsoft is “promoting the concept of an experimental assistant, Where AI becomes a daily assistant in daily repetitive tasks, saving time for workers, In this way they can devote themselves to other high-value tasks, to creativity and the development of new ideas. In this sense, Hernandez explained, our Microsoft capabilities will allow us to set up automated and accurate responses to emails that customers send to companies so that they can be sent once they have been reviewed and modified with significant time savings on this relevant business task. All companies. Increased security and reduced decision-making time are other benefits of AI that Sylvia highlighted in her quest to improve company productivity.

virtual assistants

Javier Martinez focused on two other specific applications of AI. The first was Chatbots, or virtual assistants, That is, in his opinion, “They have improved a lot in recent months: before that we had to schedule their responses; but now they are able to have a free interaction based on the body of knowledge that they acquire.” It consists in implementing a search engine within the company with all your documents, which not only allows you to search by keyword, but also understands all documents. so by sayingYou can ask him a specific question he reviews all the information and provide a written paragraph as an answer, Including also what is the original source & rdquor ;.

For his part, Lanero added another example from the banking sector. “Managing unpaid receipts is a task that presents a significant administrative burden to staff. Through artificial intelligence we were able to make the model make the same decision that the person would make in the office, make the operation more efficient & rdquo;.

All those present agreed to highlight the huge potential of generative AI, that is, artificial intelligence capable of learning the patterns and structure of input data and then creating new content with a certain degree of novelty. “Behind this, there are some algorithms that we call Large Language Models (also known by the English acronym LLM), which are able to learn on their own in the face of large amounts of valid information,” Javier explained, which “are comparable to human knowledge.”

doubts

A Google Cloud spokesperson urged attendees (and those who may be watching the event during the broadcast) to “embracing change & rdquor; Because, “Otherwise, we will be less competitive. If we don’t, those on our side will, and they will take advantage of us.” In this way, he wanted to set aside the fears that have surrounded artificial intelligence since its advent, many of them related to the potential disappearance of jobs.

What is clear is that many of the occupational traits of high-tech companies are undergoing transformation, suggesting new skills. in our company We want people who are bold and rebellious, able to explore, and try to understand how processes need to be changed to work better., and that they are able to come to the table to propose improvements that take advantage of the full potential of artificial intelligence & rdquor; As Gabriel said. “We need creative people who want to solve things differently. And for this it is also necessary to do A change in mentality, so that when someone makes a mistake, not only is it punished, it can even be rewarded At least, after I tried & rdquo;.

In addition to concerns about the loss of the workforce, the ethical limits of AI were also on the table. In this sense, Silvia Hernandez stressed the importance of “It has a strong regulatory framework This, on the one hand, protects users, and on the other hand, helps promote the positive use of this technology. Because if we are really pursuing the growth and impact of AI, what we need is for society and businesses to trust it,” said the spokesperson.

What happens – Martinez added – is that technology is always ahead of regulation, because you can’t regulate something that doesn’t exist yet. In this sense, Javier explained how, in 2017, Google decided to go ahead and adopt some ethical principles, which speak, among other things, “about not developing weapons or tools for the mass surveillance of people, for example & rdquor;

challenges

For Jesús Lanero, one of the future challenges of AI will be to develop it in an ethical way. “CaixaBank builds its relationship with customers on trust, and that has something to do with it privacy, with no disclosure of information, with algorithms that contain no bias, With people not being categorized based on the information they have etc. Without ethics, we would hardly be able to move forward.” For the CEO of the financial institution, another challenge for the future involves sustainability: “Thinking that algorithms can be simplified, have fewer instructions, need less training and, in turn, less machine consumption.

If 15 years ago all management, leadership, and business models began basing their decisions on data, then in another 15 years they probably will. Any decision made within companies without the involvement of AI will be seen as a risky process. The real challenge now is how to make the jump.