From fear to FOMO: integrating AI into your business
2-minute read
Discover how businesses can optimise their operations with help from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and fast services over the nbn® network.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly embracing AI solutions to help strengthen their day-to-day processes and keep ahead of the curve.
Solutions, like Microsoft Copilot, can be used to help streamline operations.
They can help SMBs to save time, boost productivity and inform data-driven decisions, while also improving customer experience and driving growth.
Generative AI and automation can provide SMBs with a kind of digital assistant that can give time back to businesses, helping them focus on the most important things.
Importantly, empowering these AI capabilities and harnessing their benefits requires a fast and reliable internet connection, like services over the nbn® network.
With a range of business solutions and phone and internet providers available, once your connectivity foundations are in place, get ready to explore how AI can help you work smarter, not harder.
What is 'generative AI'?
“Generative AI refers to a class of AI models that analyses large amounts of data and generates new content, including text, images, and code, that mirrors human expression.”
Microsoft
Boosting productivity
Ready to boost productivity at your business?
AI can manage and organise data, analyse patterns, simplify communication, and personalise itself to the business and customer’s needs.
For example:
Simplifying administrative work
AI capabilities include data entry and summarising meeting actions, files and expenses.
Improving communications
AI can improve writing and presentations, ensuring that key details are delivered in the most impactful way.
Use an AI solution, such as Microsoft Copilot, to co-draft on Word, PowerPoint and Outlook by asking it to suggest stylistic edits, proofread or summarise for you.
Developing professionally
AI can be a great teacher – use features like ‘Speaker Coach’ during a PowerPoint presentation to get suggestions to improve your next sales pitch, meeting or career planning conversation.
Strengthening customer experience
Providing customers with a unique and personalised experience was once difficult to achieve, especially for resource-constrained or time-poor SMBs.
Now, AI is making the process of getting to know customers easier and faster.
More dedicated AI services, like chatbots, can be trained to provide automated answers to the most frequently asked questions, enabling your people to improve customer experience by focusing on personalised engagement.
Optimising marketing
Not only can AI help streamline administrative processes, and provide more time and opportunity to personalise customer experiences, it can also optimise marketing.
For example:
Forecasting trends
By gathering data, such as consumer behaviours or your latest sales results, AI can drill down on the patterns that emerge and can help inform marketing strategies.
Targeted advertising
By analysing audience and customer data, AI can find the most relevant segments for a SMB to target, freeing up time to focus on more creative tasks.
Enhancing creativity
Despite common fears, AI and creativity can work hand in hand to help enhance a SMB’s profile with engaging and timely content key to the success of many businesses.
Using AI to assist in the brainstorming process is an excellent way to introduce AI into the workplace.
Developing creative ideas can often be stressful and overwhelming – AI tools can kickstart the process.
Microsoft Copilot is also a great tool for writing.
Use it to outline an idea and help tailor it to different customer segments. It's then up to you to add your creative flair to ensure the content stands out from the crowd.
Plus, ask AI research questions to source comprehensive answers quickly using internal and external sources.
You can prompt an AI agent to access internal data, like your business server, to source answers. This will help give you the most accurate and relevant response.
Getting started with AI
The benefits AI can deliver to SMBs across Australia is vast – and there's never been a better time to start building your skills.
Visit Microsoft’s AI Skills Navigator to build your AI understanding and help integrate these in-demand skills across your team.
Ensure your digital strategy and connectivity requirements are fit for purpose to help you get the most from AI and your business future-ready.
