Artificial intelligence (AI) has become top of mind for many business professionals, especially lately. From the curiosity of implementing AI to the trepidation of it becoming more mainstream, many people are interested in learning how AI can help their business.

The good news is that harnessing AI can help businesses streamline workflows, eliminate manual tasks and optimize task management. It doesn’t necessarily eliminate positions—it helps elevate employees. In other words, it helps boost productivity. Let’s discuss the ways you can leverage AI so your business can run at peak performance.

Customer service

No matter the size of your business, customer service is one area that can benefit from AI. Chatbots can be available for 24/7 support, and they can handle basic customer inquiries. They can also help with order tracking, answer product questions and resolve common issues. An AI chatbot helps businesses respond to customers more quickly, even outside regular business hours.

Repetitive tasks

How much time is spent setting up meetings, organizing emails, creating reports or entering data? Probably more time than you’d care to admit. This is where AI can help reduce the number of manual tasks your team performs to help free up time so your employees can focus on more critical aspects of their work. Incorporating AI helps increase your team’s efficiency, and it helps reduce the number of errors that can occur through manual processes.

Communication

AI can help enhance communication in various ways through the use of collaboration platforms and project management tools. These applications encourage real-time collaboration with employees (and customers, if you like), automatically assigning tasks, tracking progress on projects and securely sharing documents. AI tools help streamline communication and workflow and add time back to your day.

Data analysis

Whether you know it or not, your business has a ton of data at its fingertips. And this data can help you make decisions that improve your products, services, finances and customers. AI tools can help uncover stories that live in your data, such as customer patterns or product trends. Having this easily digestible information available, gleaned from the data you already have, helps you identify areas where you can grow your business, optimize processes and make informed strategic decisions.

Cybersecurity

You may be surprised to learn that just like corporations, small businesses are also at risk for cyberattacks. And AI is something that can help strengthen your business’s cybersecurity. AI can analyze network traffic, detect anomalies and identify potential security threats in real time. This can help you protect your sensitive data and prevent downtime from a cyberattack.

To AI or not to AI…

That is the eternal question for small business owners today. AI can revolutionize the way you do business and significantly boost productivity. AI tools empower your team to work smarter and more efficiently by streamlining communications, automating repetitive tasks, providing data insights and keeping your business secure.