Eight strategies to prepare for AI in your business

Hong Kong is positioning itself as a regional centre for innovation. We have become a hub for technology summits such as this week’s Rise conference and a base for fintech accelerators and start-ups, which house themselves in Cyberport.

Encouraging innovation makes good business sense. Consider artificial intelligence. New research from Accenture reveals that businesses that successfully apply AI could increase profitability by an average of 38 per cent by 2035.

AI is a shining example of innovation. Accenture defines artificial intelligence as a constellation of technologies that allow machines and systems to sense, comprehend, act and learn so that, when integrated together, they can create a highly adaptable, nimble business capability. It includes a combination of multiple technologies – including computer vision, natural language processing, machine learning, deep learning, knowledge representation, expert systems, biometrics and video analytics – and far beyond to things we, and the machines, have not even created yet. In fact, what is and is not AI is ever-changing. Once AI brings in a new technology and it becomes mainstream, people become accustomed to it. And then very quickly it stops being considered AI, and newer technology emerges.

That is the beauty of innovation – first it is breathtaking, sometimes bordering on appearing impossible. And then it is taken for granted.

We believe that AI is poised to transform business in ways we have not seen since the impact of computer technology in the late 20th century. The combinatorial effect of AI, cloud, sophisticated analytics and other technologies is already starting to change how work is done by humans and computers and how organisations interact with consumers in startling ways.

According to our findings, information and communication, manufacturing and financial services are the three sectors most likely to benefit from AI – and these are key industries in Hong Kong.