Three AI/automation benefits for technology consulting firms

AI and automation are disrupting businesses worldwide. Many firms are considering AI or automation as these new technologies evolve. Narrative Science found that the number of firms using AI increased from 38% to 61% in one year. 22% of these organisations utilise AI for machine learning and 25% for predictive analytics.  Understanding the differences between AI and automation is crucial when choosing between them. AI and automation often overlap, making this difficult. Thus, the average person may struggle to distinguish these technologies. Machine learning uses artificial intelligence to enhance algorithms by "learning" from data. 

How can AI and automation help consultancies?
AI and automation have impacted manufacturing, customer service, and consultancy organisations. AI and automation can improve consultancy firms' operations and services if used properly.

• Data gathering

AI can process, analyze, and analyse large volumes of data far faster than humans. It can improve sales, operations, supply chain, and other company insights. Such information can help consultants improve client ROIs by expanding their services. Sales channels, customer journeys, and customer behaviour can assist sales marketers and consultants find new opportunities and improve advertising efforts. AI can streamline project delivery for partners by improving resourcing and priority.

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• Streamline admin tasks

Consultants find basic paperwork burdensome. Creating client invoices, payroll, and progress reports manually can slow down a consulting business. Sage found that the average small business, including smaller consultancies, spends 120 days per year on admin.

Robots perform administrative duties faster than humans. Robotic process automation (RPA) devices can help firms with many administrative chores, including preparing and sending invoices, matching incoming payments to the relevant invoice, record-keeping, and more. High-end AI gadgets can help decision-makers make more logical and consistent business decisions or fill regulatory forms to avoid fines. 

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• Productivity boost

Consultants can boost productivity by automating administrative procedures. Financial software and Zoom.ai can let consultants organise meetings, record conversations, and make meal reservations. Junior personnel can focus on more lucrative work without these tasks, increasing engagement and productivity across the consulting organisation.

Consultants can utilise many tools and technologies to automate their processes and improve performance. Professionals may automate practically any task with If This Then That (ITTT), including time monitoring and storing email attachments to Google Drive. GoogleDocs and GSuite, as well as MailChimp, automate document sharing and emailing to contacts and personnel.