Innovation | Voices tasks, like writing job descriptions or improving artwork processes. Microsoft will soon launch Copilot, which will likely create some efficiencies for most users of Office. But the most impactful improvements are yet to come, as new tools become available to solve problems specific to your business. The most value from AI will be unlocked in the years ahead by those who are prepared to take advantage of the AI tools that are yet to be developed. The secret to unlocking the value of artificial intelligence is data. AI needs quality data, and businesses of every size need to prioritize data management if you want results beyond the tasks that are available today. You can use AI without your own data and still have gains, but you won’t have an advantage. AI with general data is useful, but AI with your own structured data is powerful. Data is the true intelligence behind AI. There are numerous insights that AI can give you, but unless you have good data, the insights will be limited. The more data you have, the more likely AI will give you a better answer. If you only have one year of data, your AI potential is more limited than if you have 10 years of data. This mirrors the typical learning curve with humans, except AI doesn’t forget like we humans do. Further, the more your data is structured, the more context you are giving AI to understand how to use the data. The data you have in your order management system is likely to have some structure that will help AI. However, the way most distributors create orders will limit the ability to use standard AI tools, and unfortunately these old-fashioned practices create a lot of other challenges for the industry today. Consider that the typical line on a purchase order description contains item details such as the color of the item, the size(s) and often imprint information, including imprint color. This creates challenges for suppliers to use automation to bring this information into their system and for distributors to be able to run basic reports. More importantly, this lack of context for data will make it more difficult for AI to know with certainty whether a color is the product or the imprint. There is so much data we are losing because we are not capturing it. AI may figure this out PPAI • JULY 2023 • 37
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