Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed from a futuristic concept to powerful force which is transforming operations in traditional industries. Top executives are beginning to take note as startups in the field are expanding at an astounding rate.
“We use AI to increase Operational Excellence,” says CEO Iris Tsidon of Okapi and author of “Six Steps to Operational Excellence”. “Heads of industry know that change is coming and are committed to improving their companies. Our job as entrepreneurs is to show them that this isn’t coming in the future, the capabilities are already here now.”
According to a white paper by Bell-Hawk systems, real-time Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques originally developed for the USAF and NASA are being applied to manufacturing organizations to enable managers to run their manufacturing plants with less stress and much smaller management teams.
David Brooks on the PBS evening news said "Manufacturing is going through a revolution from a labor intensive, blue-collar industry to a white-collar, Silicon Valley industry." This use of AI to assist managers to efficiently run their operations is part of the transition from manufacturing being a labor intensive business to being highly automated at the operations management level as well as on the production floor.
This revolution is enabling manufacturers in the USA to rapidly design, engineer, and make products to order in response to products ordered over the Internet. In fact, recent research into AI from Accenture Research shows that the technology will be critical to economic growth in existing and developing markets. Accenture’s CTO Paul Daugherty states, “Artificial Intelligence is poised to transform business in ways we’ve not seen since the impact of computer technology in the late 20th century. … Our research demonstrates that as AI matures, it can propel economic growth and potentially serve as a powerful remedy for stagnant productivity and labor shortages of recent decades.”
Iris Tsidon of Okapi notes that about 85% of the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) projects in the business world fail. That is a staggering number but when AI is used, the transformation is immediate.
OKAPI was created as an AI based software to address this problem. By transforming the complex technology into a simple and easy to use platform and app, Okapi is able to use use artificial intelligence to analyze and provide our customers the best KPIs for their business. This produces outstanding insights, which can be turned into valuable operational intelligence.
“The most important thing is that high level technology becomes accessible at every level of an organization. It’s not just for the C-Suite executives, in order for it to be meaningful, it has to help every employee in the organization from the boardroom to the factory floor”
While artificial intelligence may seem like a high level concept, in the coming years, we are going to see it translate into tools which will be used through out every level of an organization.
OKAPI Conversations is a series of articles discussing Startups, Artificial Intelligence, Operational Excellence and Business Intelligence and the impact on business and society