Artificial intelligence is a rapidly growing industry, expected to rise from $58.3 billion in 2021 to $309.6 billion by 2026. That makes sense given the rise of the Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT, and the increasing demand for big data solutions, such as AI and machine learning. These data solutions manage an overwhelming amount of raw information collected constantly across multiple industries.
Companies that effectively implement AI gain a huge competitive advantage but like any significant organizational change, businesses should undertake the transition thoughtfully. Below are some questions you should answer before your IT operations adopt artificial intelligence.
What is Machine Learning and Why Does It Matter to AI?
Machine learning is what gives artificial intelligence the ability to predict what is likely to happen next and improve predictions over time by continuously “learning” from each new piece of time series data collected. This is important to understand when looking at what benefits your company could gain by using AI because machine learning means the ability to increase efficiencies and understand capacity like never before.
See how this large federal defense agency utilized capacity planning for a real-time resource utilization solution.
What Do You Want AI to Do for You?
It’s not wise to dive into a big change, like adopting big data solutions, without understanding how it fits into the strategic vision for your organization. Some examples of what AI can do for your IT operation include:
• Better cybersecurity for systems
• Automating processes
• Quality assurance
• Automated capacity planning and server optimization
• Monitoring the efficiency of a piece of equipment or IT infrastructure connected to the Industrial Internet of Things
• Reduced downtime
There are a wide range of applications for artificial intelligence but the ones that are often most beneficial are those that require a large amount of staff time or that require processing huge amounts of data.
Do You Have the Right Tools?
Artificial intelligence requires more than just a desire to become more efficient. Since it is an Industry 4.0 Technology, it needs huge amounts of data. To get there, you’ll need the right IT infrastructure that enables you to collect the necessary IIoT data. Once you collect the right real-time data to meet your goal, you’ll also need a big data solution to help you store, process, and analyze it to provide insights into your operation.
Do You Have the Right Team?
The right software-based big data solution can go a long way toward harnessing the power of AI, but the world isn’t anywhere near ready to hand over operations entirely to the machines. Make sure you have the right team of people who can help you understand how AI fits into your business and IT infrastructure and how to get the most out of its adoption.
Does Your Team Have the Right Skills?
Even if you’ve built a solid team to help with implementing Industry 4.0 technology, artificial intelligence requires some specific skill sets. If you choose to build your own AI system, you’ll need to make sure that your team includes members that are data analysts and scientists. If that’s not something you’re interested in taking on in-house, then you’ll need to spend time assessing outside support to ensure they are going to be the right fit to help you achieve your strategic artificial intelligence objectives.
Is Your Data Ready?
Data drives AI and if you are feeding bad, incomplete, or simply the wrong data to the algorithms that run AI, then you’ll get bad, incomplete, or wrong insights out of it. Leveraging artificial intelligence means understanding where your IIoT data came from, and ensuring it’s current, complete, consistently formatted, and stored in a standardized format.
Sightline Solutions for Adopting Artificial Intelligence
If this list made you doubt your organization’s readiness to adopt AI, then there’s good news. Sightline’s data scientists and analysts can provide your team with the expertise needed to navigate this journey.
EDM, Sightline’s big data solution, unifies all of your data intelligence into a single platform, automating data storage, data processing, and data analysis for vast quantities of IIoT data. It provides real-time OT and IT intelligence with easy scalability, pre-built integrations across systems. All of this comes with the visibility into top-level data with drill-down capability and data visualization so that all members of your team can easily gain a whole-picture view of your IT infrastructure.
Most importantly, Sightline EDM is powered by AI technology to make your transition to more efficient processes and higher ROI as smooth as possible.
Book a conversation with an EDM expert today to learn how Sightline Systems can help you leverage artificial intelligence in your business.
FAQ’s
Why is AI important to my business?
AI is Industry 4.0 technology that helps leverage insights in Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT data.
What is machine learning and how does it impact AI?
Machine learning boosts AI by having a system learn from new pieces of data, ultimately increasing efficiency.
How do I know if my organization is ready to adopt AI?
Determine what you want to accomplish with this Industry 4.0 technology, make sure you have the right IIoT data analysis tools and IT infrastructure, gather the right team with the right skills, and make sure your data is ready.
What big data solutions can ease my transition to AI?
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