Is AI mainly about cutting costs?

Cutting costs is the simplest argument for getting an AI project accepted: it can be costed, compared and easily presented to a committee. It is often where projects start.

But savings have their limits. They are made once, wear away when competitors do the same, and are sometimes paid for in quality or in the teams’ trust. The most lasting gains come from what the company becomes able to do: responding faster to a customer, offering a service it could not provide, deciding better with information it already had.

• Cost-saving projects are the easiest to copy.A competitor who buys the same tool gets the same gain, and the advantage disappears.
• Savings can prove costly in other ways.Less human contact or fewer checks are sometimes paid for in lost customers or in errors.
• New value is harder to imagine.It requires looking at the business differently, which a cost calculation does not encourage.

1. 01For every cost-saving project, also ask what the company could do that is new with the resources freed up.
2. 02Ask your customers what would make them stay or buy more, and look for where AI can contribute.
3. 03Keep at least one use in your projects aimed at a new service.

• Can you transform a line of work, not just equip it?→
• How do you measure the return on investment of an AI project?→
• How do we choose our first use cases?→
• Will AI cut jobs in our company?→