At this point, businesses have already collected a very large amount of data (Big Data). Importantly, this is a lot of data about business customers, their preferences, desires, and opportunities. In order to process a large amount of data, which is often poorly connected, very disparate and diverse, you need systems of intelligence.
Such systems of “artificial intelligence” already exist in a far from embryonic state – these are functioning systems for processing large amounts of data. In the future, such “Big data” systems will be introduced even more actively.
Companies that engage in data science (“intelligent scientific data processing”) will have an advantage. The fact is that artificial intelligence can respond to changes in consumer preferences much faster and more accurately than people, or even companies, marketing agencies and the like, offline structures.
Humans have already lost to computers in many games: chess, poker, and go. However, this does not mean that we are losing all of our positions. We will win if we cooperate with machines. Of course, computer programs can do many things better than we can.
Fortunately, there are some activities in which they will not be able to surpass us in the next 20-30 years. These are creativity, creating new businesses. People need to use machines where they do better than we do. And we must admit that programs are learning to communicate, to communicate online with companies’ clients better and better, gradually replacing humans in this, including sales and marketing professionals.
Automation will sooner or later make business more intelligent. In the relatively near future, all mechanical and functional (constant, routine, repetitive) work will be done by machines.
The process of mass involvement of IT in business will certainly not be able to pass without a trace. It will not be possible to avoid resistance from society. After all, the changes will involve a change in roles, including the emergence of robotic lines. This will make it necessary for many people to find new ways to fulfill themselves.
What is the importance of the cloud for business
One of the key components of IT business development is the improvement of the cloud. The new clouds will give us more capabilities than a cell phone or even a computer. If you use Amazon Alexa, you’ve noticed that this service doesn’t work without the Internet. Every request is processed in the cloud. After all, smart homes and smart cars will also be in the cloud.
Clouds allow you not to be tied to one specific IT device, to a specific server or data center. What you get is a truly mobile service, which does not depend on which device the customer is currently working on, making their choice, their order, or already paying for it.
Automation capabilities for business
New automation technologies will play an important role both today and in the future, namely
robotization,
artificial intelligence,
machine learning,
blockchain (blockchain, which was first fully utilized in the creation of cryptocurrencies).
In addition, new approaches to computing will be developed, which will be done without servers (graphics processors, quantum computing), something that seemed unthinkable a decade ago.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation are the quintessential intelligent systems. It is essentially an electronic reproduction of the brain. True, we are still a long way off from the real brain modeling.
In Switzerland a huge “park” of modern supercomputers is used just for modeling the work of several neurons of the human brain. However, this circumstance does not prevent the simulation of the brain of business clients on conventional servers and computers, no matter how offensive it may seem, in terms of choice of products and services, services required, and the like.
How can businesses already use the advances of IT? For example, you can replace operators (support, hotline, etc.) and service managers with chatbots. Large companies are already doing this, so customers can get proper advice and solve their problems without delay, without the notorious “human factor” that all offline entrepreneurs have to take into account.
Automation reduces the number of accountants a company needs. Previously, invoices and other documents had to be scanned or entered into the system manually. Now there are software packages that allow you to do many such accounting operations automatically.
