7 business leaders reveal how their companies are implementing AI in 2024

AI and machine learning are not new to Ancestry, but generative AI “expands the possibilities,” chief technology officer Sriram Thiagarajan told BI. “These algorithms are able to interpret and understand the semantics of human language, and may leverage large-scale language models to perform more effectively.”

Thiagarajan said the genealogy site is experimenting with features and releasing something (often minor features) every month to see how customers respond. Many features include allowing users to better extract information from the records the company obtains from around the world.

“We use computer vision to automate the visualization of these records. We can already read human language and handwriting in several different languages. Advanced machines Learning can be used to extract names, places, and relationships between people and places. “We leverage LLM to help with these efforts,” he says, referring to large-scale language models. said.

Ancestry is associated with hatred, abuse, misrepresentation of historical facts, and AI hallucinations, Thiagarajan said. The company’s goal is to automate as much as possible, but for now humans are reviewing the AI ​​results.

One of the challenges is that “the LLM itself is evolving every week or two, so you always have to stay curious and find out whether you’ve learned one thing or how something works. “You cannot assume that you know.”

Many of the AI ​​tools that companies are building may not have a very long shelf life.

Vladimir Lukic, global leader for technology and digital advantage, told BI that it’s not a big worry. More importantly, companies are experimenting and developing critical processes, he said.

As companies move through the stages of building AI, they will face questions about the responsible use and potential downsides of the technology. It also addresses concerns about proper data retrieval and cleanup.

“They were very beneficial exercises because they build muscle,” Lukic said.

Muscle memory will be a welcome advantage as some AI tools that were perhaps novel just a few months ago will soon become the default, he said. “Probably 80% of what has been built in the last six months will be obsolete because that will be the functionality of the software packages that will be provided to us,” Lukic said. I am.

That doesn’t mean problems won’t occur, he said. Any hurdles with AI may delay adoption for some companies. Additionally, companies may make tweaks to their deployments if they find that their AI is making errors or not working as intended. “There will be a wave, not of the model, but of how we fine-tune the deployment of the model,” Lukic said.

Commercial real estate is “focused on providing insights,” which necessitates the adoption of AI, Chief Digital Information Officer Salme “Sal” Kompanier told BI.

Commercial real estate giant Kompanier says both real estate investors and tenants can use “the best aggregation of market data” such as pedestrian traffic, drive times and weather to help them find the best space for their needs. He said he would help find it. AI is at the center of this Compagnie said.

The technology will help Cushman employees make the most of their time to best serve customers, she said, adding that it will help Cushman employees make the most of their time and provide the best service to customers, bringing innovative technology to a field where change is often slow. added that it was interesting.

Compagnier said it’s no surprise that customers, including landlords and corporate tenants, want transparency about Cushman’s use of AI. She says they need to ask, “Where is it? Where is it embedded? Where is it embedded? How do we ensure the data is secure? How do we ensure healthy integration of datasets?” Do you want to secure it?” I asked.

The current state of AI and AI adoption is a result of the work that many companies, including Cushman & Wakefield, have already done, Compagnier said. This includes building partnerships, reviewing commercial terms, strengthening cybersecurity teams, and hiring and training talent.

“AI is very personal to any organization. The journey you take is very personal to your organization. And we believe in staying true to who we are. And we’re doing the right thing according to our approach,” she said.

In 2022, LinkedIn decided to rewrite its roadmap to incorporate AI into various features. Chief Technology Officer Dan Shapero told BI.. “We are fortunate to be part of Microsoft in mid-2022 and get to see some of their next-generation AI models,” he said.

The networking platform recognized that for both recruiters and job seekers, now is “a time for massive experimentation to see where AI can make the biggest difference.” He said the company will use AI to help people write their profiles because people can be uncomfortable describing themselves professionally. “It’s not always comfortable for people to write something about themselves,” he says.

According to Chaplo, the biggest request from users is help finding a job. On LinkedIn, he’s seeing an increasing number of questions asking how he can use AI in his job search, how to describe himself, and advice on interviews.

This led to LinkedIn’s AI-powered coaching chatbot and personalized text suggestions for users. There are also new tools for recruiters, such as AI-assisted messages and his AI-assisted job description. According to company statistics, hiring rates increase by up to 40% when a recruiter personalizes messages via her LinkedIn.

Chapro believes that AI will generate ideas that once seemed impossible, but also requires caution. “We need to embrace these functions responsibly and ethically, with equity in mind,” he says.

SAP wants to provide AI LLM with “a means to access know-how.” Chief Technology Officer Jürgen Müller told BI.. “We are developing a method that allows us to combine the strengths of large-scale language models with all the real-time, enterprise-specific information we need,” he said.

The German company focuses on cloud-based subscription services for financial reporting, inventory tracking, and human resources applications, with a focus on enterprise processes such as finance, procurement, human resources, customer relations, and supply chain.

SAP has been working in the machine learning AI space for almost nine years. The company has been trying to answer questions about how it handles data. How to protect your data. How to use data ethically. What tools do data scientists need? “And how can we rethink and upgrade generative AI?”

In 2023, Mueller said SAP’s research and development investments in business AI will pay off. “More than 25,000 SAP Cloud customers are using at least one of our 130 AI scenarios.”

But there are still concerns. “I don’t think the risk is that there’s new technology. The risk is that we don’t lean in and invest extra time, extra time, because it takes a little bit of time and , because it’s a little complicated,” he said. “Everyone needs to lean in and learn. I think that’s the biggest risk. It creates a disconnect in society.”

ServiceNow aims to be an “AI first” company. Chief Digital Information Officer Chris Bedi told BI.. “We know it’s early days, especially with the AI ​​generation, but we’re working hard.”

ServiceNow, which provides a cloud-based platform for automating IT workflows, uses generated AI search for employees and customers. Generative AI allows tasks such as reading and interpreting information to be completed faster. “You can literally do the process in a matter of hours, which is additive,” he said.

Of course, understanding and integrating AI also includes training the company’s 22,000 employees. Bedi said ServiceNow recently hosted his AI learning day, which included panels to demystify the technology.

Teams in information technology, human resources and customer support don’t see a threat from artificial intelligence, he said. Bedi said he believes that about 64% contributes to increased productivity.

ServiceNow also considers what happens when AI takes over a large portion of someone’s work. “How can I bridge the gap in time and do more meaningful work than before?” he said.

For Bedi, the value of Gen AI “leaves off the paper,” he said. “Asking employees to work now without artificial intelligence is like asking them to use a typewriter when they can use a word processor.”

Soumya Narayan Sampath, who became CEO of Verizon Consumer Group in March, has made it clear how essential the Internet has become.

“Kids won’t be able to play video games or do homework if they don’t connect earlier. Without connectivity, moms won’t be able to log into Zoom calls from home.” Sampath told BI.. “Connectivity is the bridge to everything.”

Internet access is so important that people are willing to pay a little more for good service, he said.

For Sampath, that means using AI at a scale that reduces all the information employees have to keep in their heads. This is a challenge Sampath observed while taking calls during his night shift in the Philippines. “Over the years, we had made the system quite complex, so we made a very sharp pivot to simplify it,” he said.

This means implementing AI broadly. AI, he said, will allow Verizon to “understand the customer’s emotions, pick up on cues, and offer the best possible service.”

Sampath’s 2024 goal is to be the world’s best AI company, using AI in its internal workflows and customer interactions every day. “I’m not super excited about doing these pilots and trials,” he said, adding that responsible use of AI is a priority. “We don’t want algorithms to do things we wouldn’t do ourselves.”