How to 10x Your Corporate Growth Using AI
AI is rapidly reshaping the business landscape, particularly in how it enables organisations to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently. From streamlining workflows to generating content at scale, AI has proven to be a game-changer in unlocking productivity gains and helping big brands grow.
But with such rapid advancements, it’s crucial to understand both the potential and the challenges that come with AI adoption – especially in terms of human collaboration with it.
As a forward-looking digital marketplace with industry disruption constantly on our minds, AI is something we’re keen to work alongside and engage with. We’re exceptionally lucky to be surrounded by subject-matter experts in this field, all working through our platform.
We recently heard from a number of these talented agency founders and tech-trailblazers on how to utilise AI to power-up your corporate growth and business strategy tenfold.
Setting the Scene: AI’s Impact on Corporate Productivity
Over the past few years, AI has transformed the way companies approach tasks—from automating repetitive processes to driving data-led decision-making. In fact, studies show that businesses that effectively integrate AI into their operations can see productivity increases of up to 40%.
But AI is more than just a productivity tool; it’s changing how we think about work itself. We’re focusing on how companies can harness AI to not only boost output but also ensure that the human workforce is empowered to work alongside these tools, maximising both human creativity and AI-driven efficiency.
The Fundamentals of AI and Growth
Empowering Your Team with AI
A lot of the hesitation when it comes to AI revolves around a concern that it is going to replace human intelligence and human jobs. As such, when introducing AI into a business strategy, it’s important to ensure that employees are empowered and equipped to work alongside it, rather than feeling that they’re simply competing with it.
Joe Burke, co-founder of OhMy Agency, a digital-first design studio that builds brands, websites, and apps for ambitious businesses, emphasised that businesses must focus on equipping their employees early on to adapt to AI.
“When it comes to new graduates and career starters, it can often feel as though everything they’ve spent years studying for has suddenly changed. When we talk about empowerment, it’s about getting people equipped as early as possible to deal with the change. The more knowledge and information we have about it, the less scary it might feel.”
Joe’s point speaks to the importance of early education and strategic introduction. By embracing AI sooner, businesses can create a culture of empowerment where employees see AI as a tool to improve their jobs, not replace them.
“We need to be really careful about how we introduce it because it is going to replace jobs, and for some people, it will help them to do their jobs better, whilst for others it is going to replace them,” he added.
One of the keys to successful AI integration is making sure that your team feels confident using these tools. Jessica Mullen, Chief Innovation and Design Officer at CreateFuture, shared how their trials in engineering processes not only cut down time on feature building by 20%, but also improved overall team satisfaction:
“We’re not rolling out AI so that we can cut jobs; it’s to help people with their jobs. Where we’ve done training with AI and helped people become more comfortable with it, we’ve seen around a 60% decrease in time spent on tasks.”
By integrating AI into their training modules, CreateFuture is committed to upskilling employees across the board:
“AI is now part of our training, like the Amplify LinkedIn Learning module we’re rolling out across the business. From the basics to more advanced levels, our goal is that by February 2025, almost 100% of the business will have completed this module.”
This approach ensures that everyone has the same level of confidence and understanding before developing more specialised AI skill sets.
Real-World Examples of AI-Driven Productivity
Smarter Market Research with AI
In market research, AI is fundamentally changing the way insights are gathered and analysed. ImpactSense, a market research consultancy, has used AI to transform processes, creating deeper insights at a fraction of the cost. Stuart Whyte, Chief Product Officer, shared:
“AI allows us to get qualitative-level insights at scale without the ludicrous cost. This is a seismic disruption to an industry that’s typically been left alone.”
Stuart also highlighted how AI tools are combating fraud in market research, where up to 40% of incoming traffic can be bots:
“We’ve used a lot of AI to get through fraudulent data. Incorporating things like facial identification (without it being intrusive) has allowed us to match participants to their demographics and ensure they haven’t been part of the research before. This saves us a lot of time on the data cleaning stage, and the confidence we have in the data is much higher.”
AI in Creative Industries
OhMy has also seen AI revolutionise content production, particularly when navigating tight budgets for creative projects. In one instance, a photoshoot for a rebrand was scrapped due to budget constraints, but AI offered a solution:
“Sometimes when technology jumps in the middle of a 2-month project, suddenly there’s a better way to do what you’re already working on. We changed the artistic approach and started again using AI. It wasn’t a quicker process, but it was a cheaper process, which is what we prioritised at the time.”
Hyper-Personalised Customer Experiences
AI has also been key in providing hyper-personalised customer experiences. CreateFuture recently partnered with MoneySavingExpert to create an AI-powered solution that brought Martin Lewis’s advice to users’ pockets:
“We were already working with Martin Lewis on the website, but we realised that it would be so much more efficient if we could put Martin Lewis ‘in their pocket.’ With the help of AI, we created a proof-of-concept in a short period of time and began working on the system immediately after.”
The AI-driven tool helps users navigate the platform more intuitively, offering a more personalised and human-centred experience:
“You can’t lose sight of what you would typically do in the design process, like taking a user-centric approach. AI should still meet the needs of users and be something they want to come back to.”
Challenges and Considerations When Integrating AI
While the benefits of AI are clear, businesses must also navigate certain challenges. One of the biggest obstacles is ensuring the transparency of AI outputs. Stuart noted how early AI models like ChatGPT sometimes produced unreliable data:
“Back then, the amount of hallucinations it was giving you was horrific—it was very much in an infantile stage. You shouldn’t take all the AI data at face value; you should still be sense-checking stuff. AI has come a long way, but like with humans, you need to validate what it produces.”
Some big businesses may not need help integrating AI into their business as they already have in-house specialists. But many companies lack this internal experience and need external AI specialists to help them navigate the challenges of AI integration.
Who’s Doing AI Right?
Which brands are leading the way in AI adoption? According to Jessica, the key to success is combining AI with a user-centric approach. Her agency’s work with MoneySavingExpert is a prime example of this, offering users a hyper-personalised experience through AI while ensuring their data privacy and security.
On the flip side, Stuart warns against a “carpet-bombing” approach to AI, where companies invest heavily in licenses without thinking through the cultural adoption:
“For big businesses, it’s really easy to throw money at AI, which is a mistake. You just end up with a heavy license bill and no cultural adoption. It’s not just about being educated and equipped; it’s also about not being overwhelmed, which can happen easily.”
Conclusion
AI offers an unprecedented opportunity to drive efficiency, creativity, and growth, but it needs to be adopted thoughtfully. Ensure your workforce feels empowered, train them to work alongside AI, and introduce the technology strategically.
AI is not just about reducing costs or speeding up processes; it’s about doing things smarter. By focusing on empowering your people and using AI to unlock new efficiencies, your business can stay ahead of the curve in this new digital era.
