“Artificial Intelligence (AI in short) is becoming increasingly popular in the business world, as it helps companies automate tasks, gather and analyse data, and make decisions based on fixed or dynamic criteria with or without human supervision,” says Bernard Mallia, CEO at Equinox Advisory.

“Moreso, the advent of quantum computing, which is capable of processing calculations at previously unfathomable speeds, is expected to take AI to new heights. We are on the cusp of the future, and AI and quantum physics are taking us there,” Mr. Mallia declares.

Bernard Mallia is the CEO at Equinox Advisory. He is a Data Scientist and an Economist by profession. The company has traditionally specialised in the provision of compliance, economics and business advisory services, but has for the past 6 years increasingly pivoted towards data architecture, business intelligence, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation.

How does AI work, and how can businesses take advantage of this technology?

AI can use a variety of methods to carry out a task. Deep Learning is one such very popular method, which is based on artificial neural networks. This method can be used to automatically detect patterns of behaviour hidden within large quantities of data and can also be programmed to take decisions autonomously if that aligns well with business strategy and objectives.

“AI is complex and can be costly to implement but can bring several benefits to a business. AI may be thought of as a cyber-robot that can help with a company’s workload, and in fact, it is already being used to help with planning, decision-making, and controlling tasks. For example, in banking, it can be used to automatically approve or reject loan applications.

“In security services, it can automatically grant access to buildings or computer systems, but not only. It can also be used to identify and recommend the best course of action in complex situations where there are multiple options and outcomes. AI can assist with fraud detection, risk management, compliance, supply chain optimisation, and identification of opportunities for cost savings,” Mr. Mallia explains.

Organisations today are using data and analytics to make better-informed decisions. By doing this, they are able to improve their business operations and become more agile and responsive to change. The benefits of becoming a data-driven organisation lead to a better understanding of customers, as well as the ability to make decisions quickly.

“In the short run, AI adoption can be considered in terms of a four-stage onboarding process framework. These are: seeing AI as a productivity-augmenting personal assistant, then as a monitor, next considering AI as a coach, and finally as an autonomous colleague. This allows AI to take over the simple, menial tasks first, while the humans concentrate on higher-value work. As AI progressively works and learns its way through to higher value-added work, it can be relied on and entrusted with progressively more substantive judgments,” Mr. Mallia reassures.

He notes however, that organisations need to have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve through their AI programme in order for AI investments to make sense.

“Organisations need to decide on the best AI structures that will best support their strategy. These decisions must consider an organisation's culture, values, and employees' existing skillsets. AI offers leaders in every sector an opportunity to stand out and protect their companies,” Mr. Mallia notes.

In order to fully benefit from AI technology, organisations need to take into account their operating context. Furthermore, Mr. Mallia asserts that companies should start small and easy, but should do so already with a comprehensive awareness of their AI strategic roadmap.

“When picking a pilot project, businesses ought to look for a task which has a higher likelihood of success, and that can be completed relatively quickly. Naturally, it is equally important to pick a project which is of a certain significance, in order to make success evident to other decision makers,” Mr. Mallia suggests.

More companies around the world are using data and AI to create scalable solutions to their problems. While minimising human error that can lead to unwanted failures, AI may also create new risks that companies need to take into consideration and manage, such as reputational, regulatory, and legal risks, and perhaps more importantly sophisticated scams that involve deep fakes with bad actors leveraging the power of AI.

“Design choices can help mitigate risks associated with new technologies, such as AI, by protecting user privacy. For example, companies that collect user data must disclose what they do with it and should only collect aggregated versions of personally identifiable information. This way, users will know what information is being collected and how it is being used,” Mr. Mallia notes.

However, organisations need to be careful about the risk of bias when using big data and machine learning. “This is because the models are often trained using historical data, which may be biased, or because humans may create the algorithms with personal prejudices.”

“We believe that organisations should invest in AI, however at the same time, they need to be careful how they go about it. It's important to get things right at the very start, because if you don't, it will delay the adoption of a very important technology that has the potential of taking an organisation to unimaginable heights,” Mr. Mallia concludes.

Bernard Mallia is the author of a recently-published insight titled “The AI Imperative”, which synthesises the lessons that the Equinox Group has learnt from undertaking AI-related works and is available on https://equinoxgroup.eu/ai-imperative/ .

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