The ROI of AI

AI presents a tricky challenge for business leaders — it’s essential but doesn’t offer instant rewards. Your stakeholders want immediate results, but AI is not a gumball machine. You don’t put money in and immediately see a prize pop out. The good news? Every dollar has the potential to generate exponential returns, provided you approach AI the right way. 

Maximizing the ROI of AI depends on a strategic infrastructure and a smart approach that creates a self-sustaining growth engine. Here’s how:

1. Choose your use cases wisely

Your AI’s ROI depends on what you’re actually doing with it. Many enterprises dive in without a clear purpose just so they can say they’re “doing AI.” As a result, their efforts either stall out or fail to reach their full potential. The secret to success? Start your AI journey with a problem AI can solve, without being so complex that the initial expenses and learning curve eliminate any gains. 

Here at VirtuousAI, we approach every AI use case with a product development mindset:

• Is it valuable? Will solving this problem create meaningful benefits?
• Is it viable? Can we achieve ROI? 
• Is it feasible? Do we have the resources and technology to bring this solution to life?
• Is it usable? Will this solution be adopted by its target audience?

The sooner you answer these questions, the sooner you’ll experience multiple types of impact.

The earliest AI ROI shows up as efficiency gains. Examples include:

• How much faster are tasks being completed?
• How many tasks are fully automated by AI?
• Have operational expenses been lowered by eliminating freelancers or vendors?
• Has job satisfaction and employee turnover reduced because of a reduction in repetitive tasks?

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While these wins are encouraging, it’s the next set of gains — the strategic ones — where you begin to see a dramatic upswing in ROI. For ultimate impact, your AI efforts should focus on holistic data analysis and insights, leading to new growth opportunities. When you do so, the most common strategic gains include:

• The addition of AI-powered new services (for example, 24/7 AI-powered customer support)
• AI-driven recommendations for new products and services that differentiate your organization
• Faster time to market thanks to AI automation
• The ability to enter a new market
• AI efficiencies that minimize the time and cost needed to scale new products and services

2. Remember there’s a learning curve

A key part of the enterprise AI journey is learning on all sides — your team has to learn, and so does your AI model. The faster your team adapts and the more data your model processes, the sooner you’ll see breakthrough returns. 

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Think of it like signing up for Netflix. Initially, you see generic recommendations that are popular at the moment. But as you watch things, Netflix’s model learns your specific preferences and eventually provides recommendations that match them. However, if you only watch one show each month, it will take Netflix’s model far longer to learn than if you watch one show each week. Your organization’s AI model is no different. 

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Your model will learn in stages, so be patient at first. For example, imagine a restaurant chain using AI to determine which factors lead to a bigger check. AI will start with the first layer: analyzing purchases and discovering that tables that order alcohol or appetizers have bigger-than-average checks. This might seem like common sense, but it’s essential knowledge for your AI to gain. Once it understands the basics, it can tackle deeper layers — like determining if certain demographic factors or weather factors affect check size.

3. Minimize the “I” while creating an “R” engine

One of the smartest strategies for maximizing ROI from AI is to minimize your initial investment. That’s a big reason why we advocate for keeping that first use case simple. If you’re throwing money into a complicated use case, then devoting all of your team’s time to learning on the fly, that massive investment will make the path to ROI bumpier. This doesn’t mean ROI is impossible, but it will be harder and take longer. 

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Instead, start simple and scale as your AI infrastructure and team mature. Every successful use case sharpens your AI’s capabilities, which reduces future costs and creates a compounding ROI.

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The best way to accelerate your path to ROI is with proven tools, methods, and expertise. Here at VirtuousAI, we help enterprises quickly identify their first use case, then establish an infrastructure designed for exponential ROI. We go from idea to impact in just 90 days, then scale from there. 

Join the most modern enterprises on the cutting edge

AI is a powerful growth driver when it’s embedded into your core business strategies. How are the most modern enterprises maximizing their AI ROI? They’re shifting their focus from BI reporting tools to AI-powered decision-making engines. Learn how to take the next step in your data evolution by downloading our guide, From Raw to Relevant: How AI turns enterprise data into profitable action.

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