It’s Within Your Reach

Artificial Intelligence is no longer just for tech giants. Businesses of all sizes are taking advantage of this insane technology. In the UAE an IBM study revealed that 42% of businesses have already started to leverage these technologies, with varying results (just like the rest of the world) it must be said, setting a regional benchmark in its use in digital transformation.

Despite the rising adoption rates, many misconceptions about the technology still exist. Some fear is too expensive, too complex or even a threat to jobs. These concerns often stem from misunderstanding how it functions in a business context. Here I hope to debunk common myths surrounding AI, explaining how it can be harnessed effectively without unnecessary risks or disruption.

Breaking the Myths: Why Businesses Shouldn’t Fear The Tech

Globally, adoption has surged. A 2023 survey from CXO Insight Middle East found that 48% of small businesses started using AI tools ‘within the last year’. Up from 29% in 2021/22. This is often a good barometer for a read on the market, yet while this is growing, many are hesitating due to misconceptions such as:

“It’s too expensive” – Reality:

Many of these tools are now affordable or even free (e.g. ChatGPT, Google Gemini). However, businesses need to be cautious when using free tools, as they often come with significant data privacy concerns.

According to IBM’s Global AI Adoption Index 2023 65% of businesses using free tools were unaware that their data was being used for model training by vendors and 85% of individuals were unaware of the same. That’s dangerous but can be fixed – and it’s not difficult.

Free accounts often don’t allow control over data security, meaning that any data employees upload could be leveraged by vendors to improve their models. This poses a serious risk, as confidential business information could be accessed or analysed by third parties without your knowledge.

For example, in the Index 2023 report, multiple organizations faced security breaches due to employees unknowingly sharing sensitive data.

Always carefully evaluate these AI tools, ensuring that you understand their data usage policies and implement appropriate security measures to protect sensitive business information.

“AI will replace jobs” – Reality:

Productivity tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft CoPilot 365 are designed to support employees in their roles, tasks, activities, and workflows, not to replace jobs.

A 2024 report by the World Economic Forum predicted that artificial intelligence would create 97 million new jobs globally within 12 months, counterbalancing the view that roles that will be automated and “we’re all doomed”.

These solutions enhance business process optimization by removing frictions within an organization’s operations, making people, teams, and businesses more effective and efficient.

A study by Forrester found that 74% of SMEs using AI reported higher job satisfaction among employees, as repetitive tasks were automated, allowing them to focus on higher-value work.

While this increased efficiency may impact the job market in the long run, this is part of a natural evolution we have seen for centuries. History has shown that technological advancements consistently reshape industries, creating new opportunities while transforming traditional roles. Adoption should be viewed as an enabler of progress, empowering businesses to operate smarter and more strategically in an ever-evolving landscape.

✔ “It is too complex” – Reality:

It must be understood and learned in the right way. AI productivity tools like Microsoft CoPilot 365, Google Gemini and OpenAI ChatGPT are designed to support roles, tasks and workflows, not just as standalone tools to be learned in isolation.

Clicklearn reported in 2023 that that contextual learning can enhance comprehension and retention by up to 40%. This shows the importance of learning how to perform workflows, tasks and activities using the tools vs training on the tool. Logical, but confusingly not the standard or common approach!

The real value comes from enabling employees to perform their tasks and activities using AI seamlessly within workflows. Simply training staff on how to use a tool is ineffective. Instead, they must be guided on how to perform their daily work using the tools.

This subtle but crucial shift in AI enablement significantly improves adoption outcomes. Without this approach, businesses risk being at least 50% less effective with these tools, leading to underutilization and missed opportunities for productivity gains.

These numbers indicate a massive wave of adoption among businesses, but the key to success is using AI with purpose and making progress rather than following trends and failing at progress.

How to Successfully Implement AI in Your Business?

It should fit into your employee workflows and your business processes – not the other way around.

Businesses of all sizes, from the small to the global, make the same mistake of adopting AI without a clear plan, leaving employees scratching their heads in trying to understand how it applies to their tasks.

The best approach starts with identifying where it can make the biggest impact. Look at repetitive tasks that consume unnecessary time, such as data entry, customer inquiries, or content creation. Once bottlenecks are known and clear, select tools that directly solve these issues rather than adopting AI for its own sake.

For productivity tools, a crucial step is ensuring that employees learn how they fits into their tasks, not just how to use the tool. Rather than teaching staff “how to use OpenAI ChatGPT or Microsoft CoPilot 365,” train them on how to draft reports, research competitors, prepare for ISO audits or analyse resumes against a job description using these tools.

AI adoption should follow a ‘Think Big, Start Small, Start Now’ approach. Introducing one tool or a small-scale proof of concept use case, that addresses a key need, before scaling up as employees and workflows adapt.

The Smart Path to AI Adoption: Key Takeaways

✔ AI is accessible to SMEs today, with cloud-based, affordable and even free tools available.

✔ The key to success is workflow integration, AI must enhance tasks, not add complexity.

✔ Train employees on how AI fits their job, not just how to use AI tools.

✔ Start with one AI tool or solution that solves a business need, measure its impact and scale up gradually.

Call to Arms: Purposeful AI for Businesses

Ready to explore AI for your business? Start by evaluating your current workflows and testing AI tools that align with your needs. Below is a list of tools businesses of all sizes can try today:

Productivity:

ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot 365, Perplexity AI Marketing: HubSpot, Mailchimp, Canva Customer Support: ManyChat, Tidio, Zendesk AI Finance & Operations: QuickBooks AI, Xero, Expensify

Final Note

Stop searching for tools, tools, tools. The reality is that if you decide on the right tool for the job, leverage it in the right way and then find its limitations – you’ve already made huge progress in efficiency, effectiveness and productivity. Great work!

Don’t just teach employees how to use AI productivity tools, show them how to undertake their tasks, workflows and activities using the tools.

That’s the difference between failure and success.

Opinions expressed by Compass Coworking Centre’s contributors are their own.

Written by Carlo Pepe, AI Business Consultant & Co-founder at Koshima UAE.

Yes, he did use (the right) AI tools to help write this blog.

You can reach out to Carlo to pose questions, learn more or understand how his company helps businesses with contextualised tool enablement and identifying the right uses of AI through a structured, business focussed approach.

Email him at carlo.pepe@koshima.ai or message him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlopepe