A Generative AI Reset: Rewiring to Turn Potential into Value in 2024

As the calendar flips to 2024, the business world stands at a crucial juncture with generative AI (gen AI). The initial wave of enthusiasm that marked 2023 is undergoing a reality check. Companies are coming to terms with the fact that unlocking the full potential of gen AI is a more complex endeavor than previously imagined. This realization signals the need for a gen AI reset, emphasizing deeper organizational transformation over mere technological adoption.

The early experiments and deployments of gen AI showcased its potential to revolutionize industries by enhancing creativity, automating tasks, and fostering innovation. However, as businesses dig deeper, it's becoming clear that the real payoff from gen AI investments will only materialize through significant organizational restructuring. This involves building robust organizational and technological frameworks that can support broad-scale innovation, deployment, and continuous improvement of AI-driven solutions.

One poignant example of this shift is seen in the journey of a Pacific region telecommunications company. Recognizing the imperative to harness data and AI for competitive advantage, the company appointed a chief data and AI officer. This role was charged with enabling the organization to derive tangible value from data and AI technologies. The strategic vision developed by the chief data and AI officer, in collaboration with business units, led to the prioritization of the home-servicing/maintenance domain for a gen AI pilot project.

This project aimed to develop a gen AI tool to assist dispatchers and service operators in accurately predicting call types and the necessary parts for home services. To achieve this, the company instituted cross-functional product teams with unified objectives and incentives. Furthermore, recognizing the importance of data literacy and AI skills, a data and AI academy was established to upskill employees, including dispatchers and service operators.

The selection of a suitable large language model (LLM) and cloud provider was critical. It ensured the technological backbone was in place to not only support the specific needs of the pilot project but also to serve broader enterprise requirements. Equally important was the implementation of a data architecture that guaranteed the availability of clean, reliable data for building the gen AI tool.

This comprehensive approach illustrates the depth of change required to fully leverage gen AI. Launching pilot projects is relatively straightforward, but scaling these initiatives to drive meaningful business value is a far more complex challenge. It demands a reimagining of how work is performed and necessitates a culture that embraces continuous learning and adaptation.

The lessons learned by early adopters in 2023 are shaping the agenda for 2024. Success in the gen AI era is not just about implementing new technologies; it's about rewiring the business to foster a culture of distributed digital and AI innovation. Companies willing to undertake the necessary organizational surgery—restructuring processes, investing in skills development, and building a solid technological and data foundation—will be better positioned to transform gen AI's potential into real, sustainable value.

As we move through 2024, the gen AI reset is a clarion call for businesses. It's an invitation to rethink not just their technology strategies, but their organizational structures, processes, and cultures. Only through such deep, systemic changes can companies hope to capture the transformative power of generative AI and secure a competitive edge in the digital age.