What if every time you used a knife it got sharper? What if it became more ergonomic? So that with every use it became a better knife. And what if every tool functioned like this? It would make a prosperous new world.

In information technology there exists a digital class divide.

The industry talks about the democratisation of software. Cloud computing enabled equal access to computing power. It removed the costly overhead of infrastructure and maintenance so that all businesses and people could access world-class applications. Today Cloud is the default option. It changed the face of enterprise technology.

Now the world has shifted again. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is creating a new class divide.

Those who have the data volume to fuel AI. Those who have the funds for data scientists and AI specialists. Those who have the capability and tools to put hooks and sensors on every customer channel to capture every interaction. Those who have the business scale to rapidly apply AI. And those who don’t.

Most businesses don’t comprehend the opportunity AI offers. It’s both out of reach, and out of focus — putting it out of mind.

But it shouldn’t be.

Every business is concerned with market disruption. What is their Uber? Who is their Netflix? And the answer is right under their nose …whoever grasps the value of AI first. AI is on the brink of revolutionising the business landscape. Organisations with access to AI will accelerate away from those who ignore it.

Here’s why.

Throughout history humans have used tools to increase production and improve capability. We invented language, the wheel, the compass. The iron age produced tools to benefit agriculture and weaponry. The industrial revolution brought the printing press and the steam engine, overcoming limits of distance and time. Then electricity, the transistor, and computing advanced calculation and information management, improving our ability to think and communicate.

But through all these inventions our tools have always suffered decay. The more we use them — the blunter, brittler and less effective they get. Every tool humans have ever invented wears out and breaks down over time. Eventually every tool needs repair or replacement.

Until now.

This is the first time in history humans have built a tool that gets better the more we use it.

Imagine you owned the knife that got sharper and more ergonomic every time you used it. Or better yet, imagine you jumped on a log and started floating downriver. With with every wobble the log gets more stable, with every ripple the log gets more streamlined, with every bump the log gets more durable, with every rapid the log gets better at navigating. Until, with nothing more than your use, you are sitting on the most advanced canoe conceivable — completely customised to ensure you travel down the river as fast and effortlessly as possible.

This is the significance of AI.

The physical world conditions our thinking. Entropy exists in the physical realm. Physical things are disposable, replaceable, recyclable. Nothing’s infinite. All physical things have a used by date.

But software lives in a virtual world. It’s digital. We copy, paste, download and share digital things with millions in an instant. In the digital world everything is infinite. It’s a modern miracle you’ve barely given a second thought.

Cloud computing removed the final barrier. Outsourcing to the cloud disconnected our digital dependence on the physical world. Yet the opportunity sat dormant. Our existing apps, software and digital tools haven’t capitalised. They are designed with a physical mindset, bound by non existent limits.

AI exploits its digital freedom.

Every business desires growth. Two things can drive organic growth. Increased capacity — adding more people or resources; or increased efficiency — making what you have work more effectively.

Every modern business uses apps and software to improve their efficiency. They treat these apps like physical assets, with depreciation. With a planned lifespan.

Every successful business evolves. Markets change, competitors change, requirements change. Yet existing apps are built on static code. Algorithms for the present requirements. Upgrades increase software’s lifespan, but technical debt accumulates. Flexibility diminishes. Eventually our apps aren’t fit for purpose. Our digital tools are discarded.

With AI, those tools are about to exponentially accelerate the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of your resources. AI evolves with your business. It gets better just by its use. It adapts to changing requirements. It’s an eternal business asset that promises to increase the speed of business while incessantly optimising business outcomes.

This is a Kodak moment for every industry. It’s a globalised Blockbuster vs Netflix. It will create an AI pandemic.

AI is already super-powering our capability. In April 2018 New Dehli police identified 3000 lost children in just four days using AI powered facial recognition. There are a number of in-ear translation headphones on the market today that allow us to converse across language barriers in real-time. This year at Boston Children’s Hospital a robot used AI to navigate autonomously inside a body to repair a leaky heart valve. AI is more accurate than doctors at detecting cancers. Farmers worldwide are improving crop yields by taking photos with their smartphones allowing AI to warn them about disease threats and tell them to apply fertilisers or water.

Businesses miss the significance because of the enormity of the opportunity. They look for the killer example of AI and don’t see the forest for the trees.

The value in AI is that it learns. The secret to continuous improvement is feedback. Just like in evolution a small head start can prove all the difference. Feedback compounds. The benefit of AI is exponential.

For businesses AI is the goose that lays the golden eggs. There is no one breakthrough. The secret is for organisations to apply AI to everything they already do. Small percentage improvements everywhere add up quickly. Business can use AI to win through eternal tiny advances.

But in reality organisations don’t change in response to external pressure. History shows market disruptions alone aren’t enough to inspire business transformation. Innovations aren’t adopted just because they exist.

Businesses need to build the capability to change.

And they have been preoccupied. AI was mystifying. AI was Sci-Fi. Standing on the precipice of the AI era. Its value now clear. They lack the capability to act. The barriers of entry are too high.

This is the new digital class divide, and it’s creating tension. It’s generating demand. The potential of AI is causing a seismic rumble. The barriers are coming down.

Industrial revolutions don’t begin with the invention of new technologies. They begin when the technology becomes accessible. The race is on. Enterprise IT vendors are competing to make AI obtainable for everyone.

Embedded AI platforms represent a new generation of business software. Democratising AI by removing the barriers of scale, resources, and expertise. They have unlocked the AI opportunity.

The flood gates are open. The tidal wave will expose who is swimming naked.

Salesforce, the pioneer of cloud computing, is leading the way.

For example the Salesforce Einstein platform can benefit any business by delivering smarter customer interactions. It’s an AI engine that can discover insights, predict outcomes, recommend actions and automate tasks using your data — without the need for a data scientist or AI knowledge.

Salesforce does the work for you, giving you enough flexibility to ask the platform for learnings relevant to your business. For instance Salesforce customers can already -

Accurately predict customer churn. For utilities, communications, media, gyms, and any other organisation that use an ongoing subscription based business model predicting churn (when a customer will cancel their service) is the holy grail. In addition Salesforce Einstein can recommend the best action to retain the customer, or anticipate customer actions based on their behaviour — like predicting late payments.

Increase the productivity of staff. Removing data input time by using voice recognition to capture updates. Conversationally chatting to your business software allows it to take notes and also update stages, progress and values of records automatically.

Identify new insights into where and who is using their products. Using image classification brands can recognise logos, objects, food, and scenes in social images — even if names or keywords aren’t mentioned. Salesforce Einstein Vision is also used for product and part recognition to assist technicians.

Grow up-sell revenues. Support staff, Sales reps and online purchases are all supercharged with knowing the next best offer to recommend to a customer. Salesforce Einstein always makes the offer that will maximise the probability of up-sell based on characteristics of the customer and the context.

Automatically translate customer queries. When customers interact in different languages, Salesforce Einstein can translate their requests into the language of responding employees — opening up new markets and accelerating globalisation.

The applications are endless. The benefits are clear. The improvements are relentless.

AI is propagating like wildfire. Its tools and use are everywhere. If you’re ignoring it. If you’re not watching closely. If you don’t understand the significance to your business. Here it is.

This is a change in the rules of the game.

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