Photo from SonTech Research Team.
The rise of generative AI in Menlo Park, California, signifies a pivotal era in technological advancement, uniquely positioned to transform the landscape of business unlike past tech surges which primarily catered to consumer markets and the establishment of large tech corporations.
Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst, highlighted at the Wall Street Journal’s CIO Network Summit in Menlo Park, California, that the wave of innovation beginning around 2007 utilized social media and app stores as crucial tools for enabling startups to expand their reach within the consumer market.
Generative AI, while not optimized for rapidly cultivating large user bases like platforms do, excels in revolutionizing substantial enterprises by significantly enhancing both human efficiency and operational workflows.
Taneja emphasized that during the emergence of the social mobile cloud in 2007, mobile technology presented a significant distribution advantage, enabling companies to acquire customers and leverage the global supply chain to establish comprehensive businesses. However, AI lacks these direct distribution benefits, instead offering a distinct advantage in transformative capabilities.
He further elaborated that the primary value lies in understanding AI's role in driving transformation within specific industries and business functions. The focus predominantly revolves around exploring how AI can revolutionize sectors such as healthcare and functions like marketing and customer support, directing the majority of their efforts towards these inquiries.
Over a year following the initiation of the generative AI revolution by OpenAI through the introduction of ChatGPT to the public, businesses persist in discovering fresh avenues to leverage this technology across domains like customer service and software development. Furthermore, they are employing it to reshape roles within sectors such as sales and marketing.
Sathish Muthukrishnan, the Chief Information, Digital, and Data Officer at Ally Financial, described the creation of a generative AI tool designed to condense discussions between callers and customer service representatives, a task previously handled through manual note-taking. Muthukrishnan noted that while the company maintains human oversight, approximately 95% of the time they endorse the generated summary.
According to Cisco's CIO, Fletcher Previn, he is utilizing GitHub Copilot, a generative AI coding tool. Previn noted that initially, developers would only approve the generated code approximately 19% of the time. However, acceptance rates have been progressively rising since then. Despite still being below 50%, Previn attributed this partially to developers' skepticism, highlighting that it's an ongoing process, and they are still in the early stages of evolution.
Previn mentioned that their company employs generative AI in the hiring and recruitment procedures. For instance, in human resources, it aids in composing emails to prospective job candidates. Previn observed that emails generated by AI receive a more favorable response rate compared to those written by humans. He believes that AI likely excels in tailoring the communication to individual recipients, thus enhancing effectiveness.
Sesh Iyer, Managing Director and Senior Partner, who also co-chairs BCG X, the technology partnership arm of Boston Consulting Group, highlighted a trend towards industry-tailored applications. For instance, there's a growing emphasis on utilizing generative AI to enhance underwriting processes within the insurance sector.
Melanie Kalmar, the Chief Information and Chief Digital Officer at Dow, disclosed that the materials science company is directing its focus towards approximately 20 different areas for the implementation of generative AI. These areas include enhancing materials safety, optimizing margins, and exploring the potential patentability of new materials through research.
According to Kalmar, conducting such research previously demanded a significant time investment of six to eight months and involved hiring an external legal firm. However, Dow's adoption of a new AI-based application now empowers its scientists to undertake this task independently. Additionally, as noted by Previn from Cisco, AI serves as an enhancer of human capabilities, acting as a force multiplier.