Overwhelmed by the opportunities of artificial Intelligence? Invite an innovative partner to the table!
These are challenging times for decision-makers. Each day, we at Crunch Analytics visit the board rooms where old recipes were drafted. We sit around the table and help the company in figuring out how to take advantage of artificial intelligence in their specific business environment.
The change is fundamental. Data & algorithms will radically change how strategic & everyday tactical decisions are taken with regard to - literally - every business challenge or opportunity. To draft the successful recipes of the future, time has come to invite an innovative partner to the table.
The End of Proven Recipes
A lot of clients experience a certain nervousness when we open up PCs, start up presentations and unfold indicative dashboards, data architecture or concepts. Several of their proven business recipes seemed to stop providing positive results.
In recent years, these clients went from conference to lunch event to find answers with regards to the impact of the digital transformation on those business recipes. The familiar external consultants were summoned to the head office and during strategic meetings, people ‘decided to innovate'.
New websites were launched, web shops were set up and apps were introduced. People pushed agenda’s and money was spent. Corporate consultants worked long and expensive hours as they carelessly copied team techniques from the software industry (agile, scrum, etc.) and big communication firms invoiced large-scale digital projects.
Dare to Intervene With the Support of an Innovative Player
This first wave of transformational processes was not often characterized by fundamental change. Existing processes and recipes were merely digitized, thus the expected growth was not achieved. And then the real storm, driven by data and the promise of artificial intelligence, still needed to hit, and hit hard.
That’s why we, as a young company, are so pleased with the collaboration that we’ve been able to set up with the Niko Group. The Niko Group is a traditional player that innovatively started working with bakelite almost a hundred years ago. But it didn’t stop there. Year after year, fundamental thought was given to the place that a Niko product occupies in the life of consumers. And the way we live has - well- changed these past hundred years.
Niko understands that their products should be at the center of each future home. A home that will evolve over time. A home, driven by convenience, anticipating our wishes and needs. A home that, driven by trained and self-learning algorithms, learns how we move around, how we use it and what risks it needs to mitigate.
To elaborate on this vision, Niko Group could have exclusively relied on well-established names. Big agencies that shift focus with every new hype, quickly acquiring talent with the sole aim of keeping their customers on board as long as possible. But Niko made a different choice. Or, in the words of Jan Verhulst (R&D Manager Niko Group):
"The choice for Crunch Analytics was very deliberate. Major players are often consultancy firms that work on many fronts and now have also taken on data, AI & analytics. Crunch Analytics solely focuses on that. They didn’t come up with traditional reports and didn’t try to “drop” their own people here either. Yet, they worked towards the end result quickly, in a structured and pragmatic way.”
The impact of data, Machine Learning & artificial intelligence will be profound. That’s not breaking news. Previous transformation processes often didn’t bring the leap forward people were hoping for. However, this next technological wave is going to be a big one. Traditional business models that previously received a minor punch, will now be wiped off the map.
And of course, the fear of making bad choices has a stronger effect in such a mindset. Doubt strikes at the meeting table and a costly solution provided by a large & established player seems the logical, safe choice. "Surely, no-one ever got fired for buying IBM." Fortunately, not everyone feels that way.
"The only stumbling block seemed credibility. I was convinced of their capacities, but some colleagues had their doubts. Because it’s a small player. In many sectors, technological evolution is going so fast that your own R&D department is no longer sufficient. Give young companies a chance to supplement that knowledge. They offer nice customization, while large players sometimes want to impose a standard approach.” - Jan Verhulst, R&D Manager Niko Group
Time for a New Culture
The time is right to throw that old meeting table out of the door ( have it recycled, properly) and bring in a new one. One that’s slightly smaller and where ‘a seat for the customer’ is always kept free. A table with new rules that allow the old business recipes to be redrawn smoothly and fundamentally.
Invite a player who ‘breathes’ new technology insights. Be it in advanced analytics, artificial intelligence or blockchain technology. Young enterprises with a passion and focus. Who try to perform groundbreaking work and are waiting at the sidelines, ready to take on a challenge.
We would like to thank the people of Niko Group for the opportunity we have been given and for the continued trust in our team.
Read more about this client case: click here.
Read the BNP Paribas Fortis Corporate Banking article: click here.
Pondering on the topic? Interested in a chat about the possibilities of data and smart algorithms in your company? Contact us.