Tech Insights

8 Practical Ways Generative AI Can Transform Your Business

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) are rapidly moving beyond hype into practical applications that deliver real value. For businesses looking to enhance efficiency, reduce operational costs, and improve overall performance without massive initial overhauls, integrating specific AI solutions can be transformative. This post explores eight key areas where intermediate-level businesses can leverage Gen AI today, backed by examples of companies already reaping the benefits.

1. Enhance Customer Service with AI Chatbots
Customer service is critical, but scaling support can be costly. AI-powered chatbots offer immediate, 24/7 responses to common inquiries, handle high volumes, and even provide multilingual support. This frees up human agents for complex issues, improving customer satisfaction and reducing staffing costs.

Real-World Example: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Banc Sabadell faced a surge in customer inquiries. They successfully implemented an AI chat system that handled a significant portion of these requests through self-service, maintaining service levels efficiently.

2. Accelerate Marketing Content Creation
Creating engaging marketing content (emails, blog posts, social media updates, simple visuals) is time-consuming. Gen AI tools can draft text, suggest ideas, and even generate basic images or video scripts rapidly, significantly boosting marketing output without a proportional increase in budget.

Real-World Example: Using Pictory's AI video generation, Lucid Dream Network saw a remarkable 350% boost in productivity and a 500% increase in social media reach, demonstrating how AI can overcome content bottlenecks.

3. Automate Accounts Payable (AP) and Invoice Processing
Manual invoice processing is tedious, error-prone, and slow. AI can automate the extraction of data from invoices, match them with purchase orders, and route them for approval, reducing manual labor, minimizing errors, and speeding up payment cycles.

Real-World Example: While specific case study data wasn't detailed in the initial report, solutions like ReadSoft (Kofax) exemplify how AI is used in finance departments to automate document and invoice processing, leading to significant efficiency gains.

4. Boost Internal Efficiency with General Task Automation
Empowering employees with access to general-purpose LLMs (like those powering ChatGPT) can automate numerous routine tasks across departments – drafting emails, summarizing reports, generating meeting minutes, brainstorming ideas, or even basic code checking.

Real-World Example: Banking group BBVA provided thousands of employees with ChatGPT Enterprise licenses. A remarkable 80% of users reported saving over two hours per week by leveraging custom GPTs for various tasks, showcasing broad productivity improvements.

5. Streamline Hiring with AI-Powered Resume Screening
Sifting through hundreds of resumes is a major bottleneck in recruitment. AI tools can quickly scan and rank resumes based on job requirements, identifying the most relevant candidates far faster than manual review, saving valuable HR time and potentially improving the quality of hires.

Real-World Example: DataToBiz developed an AI-powered resume filter using LLMs and semantic search, which significantly improved their candidate selection process and talent acquisition efficiency.

6. Simplify Job Description Generation
Writing clear, comprehensive, and consistent job descriptions is a frequent HR task. AI can generate well-structured drafts based on role requirements, required skills, and company culture points, ensuring quality and saving time for hiring managers and HR personnel.

Real-World Example: While the source highlighted broader HR improvements (like HireVue reducing time-to-hire at Great Southern Bank), the underlying AI capability makes generating tailored JDs a straightforward and efficient application for many businesses.

7. Personalize Marketing Communications
Generic marketing messages often fall flat. AI can analyze customer data (purchase history, browsing behavior) to generate personalized email campaigns, product recommendations, or website content, leading to higher engagement, better conversion rates, and improved marketing ROI.

Real-World Example: Using Jasper's AI capabilities, Turkish bank Akbank reduced content creation time by 40% and saw campaign click-through rates improve by up to 70% through more personalized communication.

8. Provide Instant Employee Support via Internal Chatbots
Similar to customer service, internal chatbots can handle common employee questions regarding HR policies, benefits, payroll, IT troubleshooting, or onboarding processes. This provides instant answers and frees up HR and IT staff from repetitive queries.

Real-World Example: Companies like IBM leverage internal AI chatbots equipped with pre-built "skill-flows" to efficiently handle common HR tasks and employee inquiries, ensuring quick support and compliance.

Conclusion: Start Your AI Transformation

Generative AI offers tangible opportunities for businesses to become more efficient and reduce costs without needing a complete technological overhaul. By focusing on practical applications like enhanced customer service, automated content creation, streamlined HR and finance processes, and personalized marketing, companies can achieve significant improvements.
These eight areas provide a solid starting point for any intermediate-level business looking to harness the power of AI. The key is to identify the most pressing operational challenges and explore how these readily available AI solutions can address them effectively.