Three tips for adopting generative AI in business in a cost-effective and safe manner

Key strategies for adopting generative AI in business safely and cost-effectively

Three tips for adopting generative AI in business in a cost-effective and safe manner

 Generative AI and its transformative impact

01/27/25


November 30, 2022 will forever remain a day to remember in human history. It was on this date that the ChatGPT generative AI system was publicly launched, triggering a phenomenal media and popular buzz. In the early days, futurists who didn't really understand how this technology worked promised us the moon. AI would automate a multitude of mind-numbing tasks while putting millions of people out of work.  

Then we realized that AI was neither a logical nor a mathematical tool but rather a statistical technology and that it could hallucinate if we talked with it for too long. Having regained our senses, we finally realized that generative AI was a powerful tool, but with limitations, like so many others. In particular, generative AI can annotate, segment, correlate, and synthesize information faster than a human.  

We are currently at the stage of enterprise adoption. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of generative AI, what are the most important points that a business leader should consider when establishing an AI implementation strategy? I propose three: 

1. Making AI profitable 
 

Evaluating cost vs benefits for AI adoption 

Many of the enterprise digital solutions we use every day offer optional modules integrating generative AI. However, these options are often expensive. And as the companies that develop the AI engines at the heart of these modules are not yet generating a profit, it's quite possible that the prices of these modules will increase radically in the future, once the use of the technology is well-established with customers.  

Launching pilot projects to identify needs 

It is, therefore, important to clearly identify needs and ensure that the technology is actually used so that AI is profitable from day one. In our company, we have chosen to launch pilot projects.  

Focusing on high-value use cases 

We are helping each department to analyze their needs and identify applications where the use of AI would be profitable, and we lend them a license to try it out. If the trial is conclusive, we ask them to draw up a list of the people who will really need AI, so as to equip only those who will really exploit the technology. 
 

2. Assisting humans with generative AI 
 

Understanding AI’s statistical nature 

Although AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, there's really no intelligence in AI. Generative AI is, in fact, quite simply the most gigantic statistical engine ever devised by man. And statistics mean probability and uncertainty. Therefore, an answer provided by an AI system is never certain and is generally provided with a percentage of certainty.  

Leveraging AI for time-saving tasks 

On the other hand, I see AI as an extraordinary technology for assisting humans. AI can save employees a lot of time, for example by identifying elements in an image, transcribing recorded meetings, summarizing texts, or suggesting answers to an e-mail. This use of AI will succeed as long as a human checks and corrects the work done by the AI. So, in my opinion, the implementation of AI in business requires clear rules of use to ensure that there will always be a human in the loop. 
 

3. Protecting data confidentiality 
 

Using private AI solutions with secure sandboxes 

Before using generative AI technology, it's crucial to understand how the data supplied to the AI system will be managed, to ensure that confidential company data remains confidential. Some companies offer private AI solutions into which you can inject corporate data without fear, as it will be isolated in a sandbox that only your company can access.  

Educating teams on the risks of public generative AI and developing clear company-wide data usage policies 

In other cases, for example using generic generative AI on the Internet, it is highly likely that the AI will digest your data.  

There will then be a non-zero probability of your company's confidential information ending up with your competitor. To protect the confidentiality of your information, it is therefore important to use only AI tools that offer a private sandbox and to communicate clearly to the whole company that no generic AI should be used for business purposes if company data is to be provided. 

Strategic steps to AI success 

Today, we're surrounded by people who are very enthusiastic about AI technology and bombard us with requests to use it professionally. It's important to keep a cool head and make reasoned decisions to seek gains in efficiency while protecting our business from the abusive utilization of AI.  

By making sure AI is cost-effective, integrating it as a tool to assist humans, and protecting data confidentiality, you'll have the keys in hand to ensure a successful integration.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marc Soucy, PhD
President and co-founder of InnovMetric

After having invented several innovative point-cloud-processing technologies during his doctoral studies, Marc Soucy cofounded InnovMetric in 1994 to develop and commercialize the PolyWorks® point-cloud-processing software. As the president and global product development owner, he has led InnovMetric to become the leading provider of universal 3D metrology software solutions used by major automotive and aerospace OEMs worldwide, as well as their Tier 1 suppliers, for dimensional inspections related to product engineering, quality control, and manufacturing process optimization. Today, he focuses on expanding InnovMetric’s intelligent metrology solutions to empower manufacturing organizations to deploy digital collaborative processes that improve their 3D measurement efficiency by an order of magnitude. 

Choose your location and language

Choose your location

Afghanistan

Åland Islands

Albania

Algeria

American Samoa

Andorra

Angola

Anguilla

Antarctica

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Aruba

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bermuda

Bhutan

Bolivia, Plurinational State of

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Bouvet Island

Brazil

British Indian Ocean Territory

Brunei Darussalam

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Cayman Islands

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Christmas Island

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Colombia

Comoros

Congo

Congo, The Democratic Republic of the

Cook Islands

Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire

Croatia

Cuba

Curaçao

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Ethiopia

Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

Faroe Islands

Fiji

Finland

France

French Guiana

French Polynesia

French Southern Territories

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Gibraltar

Greece

Greenland

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Guam

Guatemala

Guernsey

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Holy See (Vatican City State)

Honduras

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran, Islamic Republic of

Iraq

Ireland

Isle of Man

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jersey

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

Korea, Republic of

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Lao People's Democratic Republic

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macao

Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Martinique

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mayotte

Mexico

Micronesia, Federated States of

Moldova, Republic of

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Montserrat

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

Netherlands Antilles

New Caledonia

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Niue

Norfolk Island

Northern Mariana Islands

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Palau

Palestine, State of

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Pitcairn

Poland

Portugal

Puerto Rico

Qatar

Réunion

Romania

Russian Federation

Rwanda

Saint Barthélemy

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Martin (French part)

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

São Tomé and Príncipe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Sint Maarten (Dutch part)

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

South Sudan

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Swaziland

Sweden

Switzerland

Syrian Arab Republic

Taiwan, Province of China

Tajikistan

Tanzania, United Republic of

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Togo

Tokelau

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Türkiye

Turkmenistan

Turks and Caicos Islands

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

United States Minor Outlying Islands

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of

Viet Nam

Virgin Islands, British

Virgin Islands, U.S.

Wallis and Futuna

Western Sahara

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Choose your language

Confirm