Quick Study: Artificial Intelligence and the Bottom Line

An AI initiative holds the promise of cost savings and greater revenue, but that initiative comes with real and potential costs as well.

James M. Connolly, Contributing Editor and Writer

May 9, 2023

6 Min Read
Vector of a robot pulling up from a cliff a sack of money. Innovation and cost reduction in business concept
Feodora Chiosea via Alamy Stock

Artificial intelligence promises to impact the corporate bottom line by helping departments be more productive and more efficient, while also opening up opportunities for new revenue for a company. Awesome!

But AI also comes at a cost. Clearly, there are product and staff costs associated with any significant project. But a poorly executed AI strategy could mean the expense of writing off six months of work on a cancelled project, or, worse, a mistake such as using biased data or making an ethical error could lead to national headlines and major brand damage.

As you will see in this Quick Study, the facts highlighted in numerous InformationWeek articles show that AI is already helping companies to make more money and run more efficiently. But adopters also have to balance that third element, the built-in cost -- financial and risk -- that comes with this cure-all tech concept.

Table of Contents:

When AI Saves a Few Bucks

How to Select the Right AI Projects

Why isn’t AI delivering on all that IT promised it would? Here are three key questions that leaders should consider when they are approached with new ideas for artificial intelligence, per Gartner.

Cloud Financial Management: Getting a Little Help From AI/ML

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are opening opportunities for organizations to program how they want to scale up or down use of cloud resources depending upon current and anticipated future demand.

Sam's Club CTO Talks Infrastructure Modernization, AI

Sam's Club CTO Vinod Bidarkoppa talks about changing consumer behavior during the pandemic and his organization's tech infrastructure modernization, from mainframes to the cloud, and using AI for supply chain efficiencies.

The Future of HR Tech: How AI Is Transforming Human Resources

Organizations expect their business and HR leaders to balance functional duties with resource management -- which means stronger investments in AI, advanced analytics, and ML.

Grocery Giant Kroger's Data Side Hustle

Inside Kroger there's a data science insights organization called 84.51° that leverages the huge data assets of the grocery giant, providing help to consumer packaged goods companies during these volatile times.

Roadmap to RPA Implementation: Thinking Long Term

Key reasons for investing in RPA include streamlining organization-wide business process automation initiatives and addressing process inefficiencies and bottlenecks.

Next Wave of Digital Transformation and Its Impact on IT

From cybersecurity to metaverse, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in almost every industry sector, and it is the impacting IT group.

CIOs Must Make Call on AI-Based App Development

The clamor for development of AI-based applications to streamline or improve business processes is growing louder, but CIOs and other tech leaders must plan and allocate resources accordingly.

Can Artificial Intelligence Ever Become an IT Team Leader?

AI’s ability to make predictions and offer recommendations is advancing rapidly. Will it eventually gain the ability to lead IT teams?

4 AI Investment Areas That Drive Competitive Advantage

As the pace of AI innovation accelerates, focus on these four areas to maximize value.

When AI Brings in Big Bucks

AI Is Now Mature Enough to Drive Revenue Growth

Some companies have made a breakthrough in using artificial intelligence to spur innovation and growth, not just for cost savings. Their advanced AI maturity has five success factors, according to Accenture.

3 Ways the Cloud Will Shape AI in 2023

Cloud advances will enable AI breakthroughs, shape cybersecurity and compliance strategies, and provide opportunities for the financially savvy and nimble.

3 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Data

Companies feel that they aren't actualizing AI data like they want to. What can they do to better optimize this? Here are some steps that might help juice things up.

How CFOs Will Tackle Challenges Heading into 2023

Chief financial officers need to focus on several key areas, including where the business risks and opportunities lie, prioritizing talent recruitment and retention, and digitizing operations. They’re investing in RPA, AI, and other technologies to help.

The Need for Total Enterprise Reinvention Has Never Been Greater

As levels of disruption reach new heights and companies around the world face unprecedented change, a small group of leaders are adopting a ‘total enterprise reinvention’ strategy that puts digital at its core and embeds new ways of working across the entire organization.

Priorities of Highly Successful Chief Data Officers

Is your data organization focused on the right areas? A new survey of chief data officers looks at how these data executives can enable success in their organizations by the projects they choose to prioritize.

CIOs Face IT Spending Squeeze, Security Woes, Higher Expectations in 2023

CIOs are headed into a perfect storm in 2023 as top execs want to see accelerated time to value from tech investments. That's according to survey results presented at the recent Gartner IT Symposium.

But What Does AI Itself Cost?

Scaling AI Programs Means Playing the Long Game — and the Short Game

Across departments and functions, identifying the right short-term and long-term artificial intelligence use cases creates an ROI advantage, according to Capgemini.

Citing Risks to Humanity, AI & Tech Leaders Demand Pause on AI Research

While applauding the ethical intentions of the open letter -- signed by Steve Wozniak, Turing Prize winner Yoshua Bengio, Elon Musk, and over 1,000 other leaders -- some experts wonder if the approach is too little, too late.

The Cost of AI Bias: Lower Revenue, Lost Customers

A survey shows tech leadership's growing concern about AI bias, AI ethics, as negative events impact revenue, customer losses, and more.

Why Hiring More Data Scientists Won’t Unlock the ROI of Your AI

It's common to focus too much on building up models and data science teams rather than operationalizing the models to drive the bottom line. How do you strike the right balance?

Generative AI and Building a More Trustworthy Digital Space

In a world already flooded with misinformation, businesses eye ethical use guidelines to implement generative artificial intelligence technologies more responsibly.

Nvidia Places Bet on AI Enterprise Software On-Premises

Nvidia has introduced enterprise software for AI, speculating that more artificial intelligence workloads will be headed to on-premises data centers.

Deployment Risk: AutoML & Machine Learning Without Expertise

Learn exactly what AutoML is, the value data scientists bring, and best practices on how to use AutoML to kickstart projects within your business.

CIOs in 2023: Guiding Business Strategies Through Data-Driven Decisions

One of the main challenges for chief information officers is to operate in tune with the business goals, without falling down technology or strategic rabbit holes.

The Future of AI Is Tiny

Tiny AI reduces carbon footprints, brings deep learning at an affordable cost, creates context-aware consumer devices, cuts down data infrastructure, bolsters security, and more, according to Infosys.

What You Need to Know About Neuromorphic Computing

Concerned by recent AI news? Then get ready for computing that mimics the human brain.

About the Author

James M. Connolly

Contributing Editor and Writer

Jim Connolly is a versatile and experienced freelance technology journalist who has reported on IT trends for more than three decades. He was previously editorial director of InformationWeek and Network Computing, where he oversaw the day-to-day planning and editing on the sites. He has written about enterprise computing, data analytics, the PC revolution, the evolution of the Internet, networking, IT management, and the ongoing shift to cloud-based services and mobility. He has covered breaking industry news and has led teams focused on product reviews and technology trends. He has concentrated on serving the information needs of IT decision-makers in large organizations and has worked with those managers to help them learn from their peers and share their experiences in implementing leading-edge technologies through such publications as Computerworld. Jim also has helped to launch a technology-focused startup, as one of the founding editors at TechTarget, and has served as editor of an established news organization focused on technology startups at MassHighTech.

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