The Machine Learning Paradigm Shift – Plan Now or Prepare to be Left Behind

Machine Learning can be a powerful tool for your business – forward-thinking, innovative, and groundbreaking in its possibilities. But what are the organizational considerations for Machine Learning? What should your business be thinking about in terms of internal readiness ahead of its application? And how can you ensure your business isn’t left in the dust when your competitors employ Machine Learning applications before you do?

Many tools can elevate your business, but Machine Learning opens up a new paradigm of productivity and opportunity. This isn’t a futurist possibility. It’s the present-day reality, and your business needs to put everything into place to seize this moment on the brink of technological revolution. If you don’t, someone else will – which could result in grave consequences for those who don’t keep up. Those who keep pace and apply Machine Learning tools will be the game-changers. It’s up to you to decide which lane you’re in.

Harnessing Data Starts with Having Data

Machine Learning (ML) is based upon the application of data, so first things first, data must be available and ready for use. How can numbers be crunched, analyzed, and harnessed if the numbers aren’t even being collected? Or how can this data be utilized if it’s organized in different ways by different departments or teams? Systems must be in place to consistently accumulate the information that will drive your business forward. If they aren’t, you aren’t quite ready for Machine Learning.

Beyond consistency and availability, the data in question must also be up-to-date and accurate, and the more granularity to this data, the more effectual it can be.

For example, when a sports organization collects data, it could simply record scores and leaders, but it could also go further. It could analyze ball position, field data, and play-by-play analytics. With all of this robust information at its fingertips, a major sports organization is enabled not only to reengage and empower its players but also fans and major media partners.

It all comes down to accurate, available data. The greater your data, the greater your possibilities.

Connecting Data With Powerful Possibilities

If the data is available, the next essential piece to have in place is the ability to access and analyze this data. Manual procedures can be long and cumbersome. Storage can be a hassle. However, algorithms can be built to streamline and expedite processes, and storage in the cloud enables the data to live in a secure, easy-to-access place, available whenever its needed, well beyond business hours and your IT department’s sometimes hard-to-pin-down availability. The connection between the data and how it will be used is often one of the biggest speed-bumps – if not roadblocks – to the possibilities of Machine Learning.

When all the relationships and synchronizations are in place, though, rapid analysis and administration of data can revolutionize a customer experience. Many industry leaders, including those in the automotive sector, have witnessed the speed of personalization and customization enabled by Machine Learning first-hand.

Yet customers aren’t the only ones who can experience the power of these connections between data and custom-built algorithms. Internal processes can also be transformed. Companies can be empowered with proactive decision-marking and dramatically streamlined processes by Machine Learning tools as well.

The Machine Learning & Business Development Skillsets to Bring it Together

Having the people within your organization who can not only build the algorithms to make machine learning goals come to life but also to understand the possibilities of this technology is the last hurdle in the way of a robust application of machine learning technology. A mix of data science, information technology, and business operations knowledge is essential to fully realize the potential of this AI-based business tool.

If your organization doesn’t have these combined skillsets, that’s where partners like CapTech come in.

Machine Learning empowers you to make predictions, reimagine your possibilities, and put your data to work for you, and every single part of your business could take advantage of this. If you want to continue as a successful business in this era of digital transformation, you need to consider every possible tool available to you. Your competitors are making the same considerations.

Think about how Uber and Lyft transformed the taxi business. Machine Learning can do the same for your industry. Chances are that it will, if it isn’t already. Don’t let your competition to be the first to get ahead.