Business System Consultation Center - Our Business System ColumnVol.137 2023.03.01 Takahashi Minoru

Accepting inefficiency, accepting irrationality, continuing to rely on individuals

Thank you for your interest and continued support.
This is Takahashi from the Marketing Plan Research Laboratory.


This time,
“How to Use AI for Business Improvement?”
I’d like to share my personal insights and real-world examples I’ve observed.


In conclusion, at this stage,
it’s perfectly fine to take a wait-and-see approach to AI adoption.
It’s perfectly fine to remain unconcerned even if a salesperson comes pitching AI.


There’s no need to waste your employees’ valuable time testing AI.
However, AI can be useful for streamlining a very limited range of tasks.
(e.g., processing and analyzing audio, images, or documents)
Therefore, there is no need to prohibit employees from using AI.
If there are employees who wish to try out AI,
you could let them try it out as they see fit, provided you set a deadline, budget, and performance goals.


Eventually, I expect that skilled contractors who are proficient in using AI
will likely flourish, particularly overseas.


Japan faces certain language and cultural barriers,
making it difficult for a large influx of overseas IT providers at this time,
eventually, Japanese professionals will bring large numbers of Indian AI experts
and flood the IT industry, triggering a price war in the AI sector.


Once we enter such an era,
the need for companies to develop their own AI technology will become increasingly unnecessary.
By soliciting quotes from numerous AI providers and selecting the best one,
your company will be all set to handle AI.


Even if requesting quotes from AI providers
even you feel ready to proceed,
you should feel free to do so without hesitation and with virtually no limits.


The AI providers’ own operational processes
(sales administrative tasks such as accepting inquiries, calculating costs, credit assessments, and generating quotes)
are already handled by AI,
no matter how many requests we make,
the AI provider can handle it at minimal cost,
which is why there’s no need to hold back.


To put it another way,
AI providers who are reluctant to provide quotes for what they perceive as a "troll" request
are likely not very efficient in their own internal operations
and are not utilizing AI effectively within their own company,
which means
I think you can conclude that they are trying to sell that subpar AI (which isn’t even particularly useful within their own company)
I think we can conclude that they are a dishonest company.


This applies not only to AI but to any new technology—
there are several stages of waiting to see how things play out.
1. A very small number of large companies adopt it
　　*RPA, which was a boom in the past, stalled and declined at this stage
2. It becomes widespread among large corporations
3. The feature is incorporated into software developed by large corporations
4. A wide range of free products becomes available
5. We begin to hear sporadic reports of actual implementations at similarly sized competitors
6. The number of calls from salespeople increases


Furthermore, due to the nature of software itself,
there is always a “latecomer’s advantage.”
If you rush in, you risk paying a high price for a product with rudimentary features.
I expect that waiting until around point 5 above to see how things develop, and then considering the purchase
would be a sound decision regarding the purchase of software.


That's all, Thank you for reading.

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