Background
Recently, one of our clients, a major player in home spa and wellness management, reached out to us to discuss the ever-growing challenge of customer service. Their (let’s call them Orion) journey began in a small room, and, like any young startup, they wanted to be omnipresent for their customers across various platforms—Instagram, Facebook, Web, WhatsApp, and emails. While this multichannel approach worked seamlessly in the early stages with a smaller customer base, the growth of their business brought new challenges. They often found themselves juggling messages across platforms, leading to a decline in response quality and time.
More hands on keyboards
The initial instinct was traditional—expand the customer support team. However, hiring more hands proved inefficient and strained their financial resources. With ChatGPT and generative AI solutions becoming mainstream, Wouter, one of the co-founders, embraced it, believing the solution was at hand. Yet, the quality of outgoing emails continued to decline. The AI inadvertently divided Orion’s team into two groups. The first blindly accepted AI suggestions without review, while the second, with a deeper understanding, collaborated with the AI to craft more accurate responses. Recognizing this disparity, Wouter sought our expertise at Daksha. As we delved into Orion’s story, it became evident that the challenge extended beyond technology to awareness and effective utilization of AI. We recommended a multifold approach (more on this in our next article), starting with a unified mailbox to manage multiple channels. The second step involved a generative AI-based response system, but we initiated a series of AI workshops for Orion’s team before implementation.
These workshops transformed their understanding of technology, navigating the nuances of helpful tools and uncovering the limitations and strengths of AI. The results surpassed expectations—beyond overcoming initial tech-related apprehension, the team embraced the new solution with positivity and excitement. They peaked the performance metrics and found joy in mastering the tech they now understood and enjoyed using.
Wouter reflected on this transformation, saying, “Training changed how we work. We do more, and more importantly, we enjoy it.”
It is all about people
Orion’s story goes beyond their unique journey; it underscores a crucial lesson often overlooked in AI integration—the significance of the people using it. Witnessing Orion’s evolution sparks curiosity about the potential for further exploration of AI training for employees. In the swiftly evolving AI landscape, the tale encourages teams to consider exploring this transformative technology sooner rather than later for sustained relevance.
The Challenges of Navigating AI Without Adequate Training: Lessons from Orion
The story of Orion offers a clear illustration of the potential pitfalls businesses might face when integrating AI without first ensuring their teams are adequately trained. While the AI landscape holds immense potential, diving in without preparation can lead to challenges:
- Operational Hiccups: Much like Wouter’s team at Orion initially experienced, without proper AI understanding, there’s a tendency either to over-utilize or under-utilize AI. This imbalance can lead to inefficiencies, as AI systems might not align with the company’s unique operational nuances or the distinct challenges it faces.
- Increased Operational Costs: Orion’s initial missteps with AI serve as a reminder that without a clear understanding, there’s potential for misaligned AI deployments. These can lead to unnecessary expenditures or even costly rectifications down the line.
- Missed Insights and Employee Turnover: At Orion, two distinct behaviors emerged among the employees post-AI integration. Those who didn’t fully grasp AI failed to learn from its suggestions, missing out on opportunities to refine their approach. Moreover, a lack of understanding can lead to frustration. When AI systems seem to take over tasks without employees comprehending the how and why, it can result in feelings of redundancy and even increase employee turnover.
- Without the proper training, even the most advanced AI tools might not only fail to deliver their promised benefits but rather can cause unintended problems. When failing to integrate AI, businesses risk missing out on the transformative power of this technology.
AI's Role in Addressing Business Challenges
While we discussed the drawbacks of a lack of AI training, what are the benefits? The benefits of AI are not limited to a specific industry, as AI’s footprint is growing across sectors ranging from manufacturing to healthcare. Reflecting on the initial challenges faced by Orion, we see that the applications of AI extend far beyond just handling emails. In diverse sectors, from production lines to digital shopping platforms, AI presents solutions to common business challenges. By streamlining operations and extracting insights from large datasets, AI can enhance a company’s adaptability, responsiveness, and focus on customer needs. Here’s how AI can be leveraged to address these challenges:
- Efficiency and Reducing Operational Bottlenecks: AI offers the capability to manage routine tasks promptly, allowing employees to focus on intricate, value-added projects. This adaptability ensures businesses remain agile, meeting customer demands efficiently, and minimizing operational inconsistencies.
- Gleaning Customer Insights to Prevent Missed Opportunities: AI systems, with their data analysis from diverse sources like social media, provide a nuanced understanding of customer behavior. This knowledge can guide personalized product offerings and superior customer interactions, ensuring businesses remain attuned to their customers’ needs and don’t miss out on potential insights.
- Cost Savings and Reducing Unnecessary Expenditures: With AI, tasks that once needed extensive human intervention, such as document reviews, can now be efficiently automated. This not only simplifies operations but also aids in optimizing costs and avoiding misaligned deployments.
- Informed Decision-making to Avoid Oversight: The analytical power of AI uncovers previously elusive insights, enabling businesses to make well-informed decisions and avoid potential oversights.
Empowering Employees with AI Training – Options of education
While AI skills suggest themselves to be a good new ability for every team and employee, how can they be acquired? The landscape of AI education is as diverse as the technology itself, catering to a range of learning styles and organizational needs. Here’s an exploration of the various avenues available:
- Online Resources and E-Learning Platforms: Digital platforms offer a vast array of courses, webinars, and tutorials, allowing learners to progress at their pace. These resources cater to varying proficiency levels, enabling a tailored learning journey. However, without a foundational understanding, there’s a risk of misinterpreting complex topics.
- Hands-on Experience and Sandbox Environments: Organizations often provide sandbox environments for practical AI immersion. These platforms allow employees to experiment with AI tools in a risk-free setting, bridging theory and application. But, lacking a baseline knowledge can limit the full utilization of these tools.
- Workshops and Courses: These structured sessions, either in-house or external, stand out for AI education. Direct interactions with AI specialists enable deep dives into topics and immediate feedback, laying a solid foundation for AI understanding. Given their expert-led content, workshops often emerge as the most effective way to ensure a comprehensive grasp of AI’s intricacies.
In essence, while multiple pathways lead to AI proficiency, workshops and courses provide a robust foundation, ensuring that subsequent learning, whether online or hands-on, is built on solid ground.
Conclusion
The evolution of AI in the business realm represents a transformative shift, offering promising avenues for growth and innovation. Orion’s experience serves as a testament to the tangible benefits that AI, when combined with the right education, can bring to a team. Their journey illustrates a team’s potential to hone sharper skills, gain a competitive edge, and boost overall productivity.
For businesses navigating the AI landscape, the emphasis shouldn’t just be on adopting AI, but on ensuring that their teams are well-equipped to leverage its capabilities. This is where tailored training options, from digital platforms to hands-on sandboxes and especially structured workshops, come into play. Daksha’s workshops, for instance, offer both depth and breadth in AI education. Drawing from our diverse collaborations across industries, we craft our workshops to resonate with the unique needs of each team.
In a world increasingly steered by AI, the right training isn’t just an asset—it’s a necessity. It positions businesses not just to adapt, but to lead and thrive in this dynamic era. Join Daksha AI workshops today and empower your team with the knowledge and skills they need. Click here to find out more and secure your spot.
By Marvin C. Kunz -Marvin’s primary role at Daksha is to merge the wisdom of psychology with the potential of AI and Prompt Engineering. When he is not busy with that, you can find him talking to strangers about virually anything under the sun!
