Millions of big and small companies use artificial intelligence (AI) to do things faster and better, stay at the forefront of innovation, and gain a competitive edge. This technology can streamline repetitive tasks and reduce manual errors, leading to higher performance. Over time, it can drive productivity and efficiency across the entire organization.
According to consulting firm Accenture, AI could boost work productivity by up to 40% by 2035. For example, U.S. companies using AI-powered tools can expect a 35% increase in productivity over the next 12 years.
But that’s not all. By 2035, this technology could double economic growth in 12 developed countries and boost profitability by 38%. The question is, what can you do to leverage its full potential and drive business growth?
For starters, you could use AI to streamline business processes and workflows. This step alone can lead to higher productivity, increased revenue, and improved team morale.
Here’s what you should know about it.
How AI Can Increase Business Productivity
AI is an integral part of today’s digital landscape. Our smartphones, cars, computers, and other everyday items all use this technology to make life easier.
For example, Waze and Google Maps leverage artificial intelligence to analyze traffic patterns and recommend the best routes. Robot vacuums utilize AI to find their way around your home and learn what, where, and when to clean.
Artificial intelligence can also improve work performance and efficiency. In one study, AI-powered chatbots increased employee productivity by a whopping 14%. At the same time, it enhanced the customer experience and reduced employee turnover.
Organizations worldwide use AI to automate manual tasks, freeing up employees’ time. Some rely on AI-powered chatbots to answer common queries and assist their customers around the clock. This technology can also help companies analyze data and patterns, leading to better decision-making.
The truth is any business can leverage AI to drive productivity and innovation.
Let’s see a few examples.
Collect and Analyze Data
AI can collect, process, and analyze large datasets in minutes. Moreover, it can identify patterns in consumer behavior, customer churn, supply and demand, security threats, and other aspects that can impact your business.
Streamline Hiring and Recruitment
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) and other AI solutions can streamline hiring and recruitment. HR managers use these tools to automate resume screening, predict employee turnover, and find top talent.
AI can also streamline employee onboarding/offboarding, workforce planning, talent development, and other related activities, improving operational efficiency.
In the quest to leverage AI for business innovation and productivity, one often overlooked area is recruitment. Utilizing AI-powered recruitment tools can significantly enhance the efficiency of the hiring process. Specifically, these tools can aid HR managers in crafting compelling job descriptions and evaluating candidates more effectively. Moreover, they grant applicants the opportunity to build a captivating resume, ensuring their skills and experiences are accurately reflected and easily identifiable by prospective employers.
Simplify Project Management
ProofHub, Ayanza, Trello, and similar tools can automate routine tasks, allowing your staff to focus on high-value activities. Some apps and software programs can analyze project data to predict potential issues, delays, or cost overruns.
Project managers can also leverage AI to optimize resource allocation and cut costs. Additionally, the latest tools support workflow automation, real-time reporting, advanced analytics, and more.
Automate Business Processes and Tasks
As mentioned, AI can automate routine tasks like data entry, market research, inventory management, and lead generation. For example, a staggering 86% of accounting tasks hold potential for automation.
Let’s say you’re not sure how to write a professional email. In this case, you could use ChatGPT, Jasper.ai, or similar tools to generate an email based on your requirements. Read it aloud, add a personal touch, and click Send.
Similarly, you can turn to AI to create article outlines, structure your blog posts, generate catchy headlines, and even write content for social media.
Improve Team Collaboration
You may already use Notion, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or other collaboration tools. What you may not know is that AI powers these platforms.
For example, Zoom AI Companion can generate meeting summaries, chat responses, emails, and other types of content. Microsoft Teams uses AI to detect music, suppress background noise, create live captions, and more.
These AI-powered tools and others can streamline team collaboration and boost productivity. Users can generate reports, automate workflows, translate audio content, and eliminate filler words in recordings.
The challenge lies in choosing the right tool stack to leverage AI’s full potential. Knowing how and when to use this technology can be tricky, too, especially for professionals in creative fields.
How to Supercharge Your Productivity with AI
Whether a freelancer or business owner, AI can help you get things done faster and better. Leverage this technology to save time, grow your income, brainstorm ideas, find sales leads, and much more.
Here’s how to get started.
Manage Your Time More Efficiently
Work productivity and time management go hand in hand. You can’t expect to be productive if your schedule is all over the place.
With that said, consider using AI to manage your time more efficiently. Time Doctor, Notion AI, Trevor, Motion, and other AI solutions can streamline your to-do list and automate repetitive tasks.
Depending on your needs, choose a tool with some or all of the following features:
- Automated scheduling
- Task management
- Personalized reminders
- Time tracking
- Built-in website blocking
- Goal setting
For instance, Time Doctor can automatically track the time spent working on projects. This app monitors remote teams, identifies your most productive employees, and automates admin tasks.
Other time management apps can automatically schedule your projects and tasks.
For example, Motion will analyze your meetings and to-do lists to create a custom work schedule. On top of that, you can schedule recurring tasks, set personalized reminders, and track the time spent in meetings.
Brainstorm Ideas and Potential Solutions
ChatGPT and other AI tools could replace Google shortly. What makes them so efficient is their ability to pull out and summarize information from different sources. Let’s say you want to learn more about the platforms powering revenue intelligence. While some websites cover this topic in-depth, they can only address some related aspects.
However, ChatGPT or Bard AI will give you deeper insights into the topic. Plus, this information can be a good starting point for further research. Similarly, business professionals can leverage AI to brainstorm ideas and potential solutions.
For example, Notion AI can help you develop new product or service features, streamline note-taking, generate lists, and answer quick questions. You can even use it to write code and solve math equations.
Other tools like SideKick and SigmaOS enable users to browse more productively. These tools can organize web pages, tabs, and projects, allowing you to get things done faster.
Have More Productive Meetings
AI productivity tools can also help you get the most out of your meetings.
Let’s take a quick look at their key features:
- Record and transcribe video calls
- Generate meeting notes and turn them into to-do lists
- Summarize video conferences and phone calls
- Translate conversations in real-time
- Share meeting agendas and snippets with your team members
- Add notes and comments to meeting transcriptions
- Generate follow-up emails based on your meetings
- Search through meeting notes, recordings, and transcriptions
Some AI tools can create meeting agendas based on predefined templates. Others can transcribe spoken words into text in real-time, generate and assign follow-up tasks, or analyze meeting data to identify trends, such as which topics your team discusses most frequently.
Take Jamie, for example. This AI-powered app can summarize your meetings within seconds by identifying relevant topics and key points. Plus, it supports over 15 languages.
Another great choice is Chorus, a productivity app designed for sales teams. Once installed, it will analyze your sales calls and meetings and provide actionable insights. You can see your sales team’s performance, why you won or lost deals, what your prospects expect, and more.
Diversify Your Revenue Streams
Content creators, investors, and business owners can use AI to build new income streams.
The best alternative investment platforms use AI algorithms to analyze data, identify patterns, and predict trends. For example, Coinbase leverages this technology to protect your money and prevent fraud. Other platforms use it for sentiment analysis, risk management, or portfolio optimization, taking some of the guesswork out of investment decisions.
AI can also help entrepreneurs build passive income. For instance, Chat GPT and similar tools can generate blog posts, images, eBooks, online courses, and other types of content. After that, you can monetize your blog with affiliate marketing, sell eBooks or courses, set up a paid membership site, etc.
Let’s say you’re a digital marketing consultant looking for new opportunities. One way to grow your income is to provide additional services, such as website creation or graphic design. You could use AI-powered tools like Airtable, Mendix, BitoAI, or MindStudio to create websites, graphics, and apps without writing code.
Imagica, for example, has many cool features that allow you to build apps by describing your idea or concept. Waibsites, on the other hand, can create landing pages based on your requirements.
Not only will these tools skyrocket your productivity, but they’ll also help you build alternative income streams. As a result, you can expand your services and provide more value to customers.
Fine-Tune Your Writing
Many startup founders and freelancers spend hours writing emails, memos, and website content. They also have to edit and proofread their work, which can take another few hours. These tasks are relatively simple but time-consuming, keeping you from doing more important work. So, why not use AI to make things easier?
Grammarly, QuillBot, HyperWrite, Sapling, and other AI-powered apps can spot and fix typos, rewrite your content, and make personalized recommendations.
Some tools can even analyze your articles, emails, or documents to ensure you use the right tone. Others will check your content for plagiarism, translate documents into multiple languages, or provide feedback as you type.
Create Slide Decks and Presentations
By now, you already know that AI can generate content for presentations and slide decks. But you also need to create the actual slides, which can take hours of work.
Your best bet is to use Canva’s Magic Design function, SlidesAI, Plus AI, Tome, Synthesia, or other tools. These AI-powered apps feature customizable fonts, ready-made templates, drag-and-drop editors, and other capabilities.
For example, Synthesia allows you to create personalized AI avatars that can speak to the target audience. This feature allows anyone to make training videos and presentations without appearing on camera. The app supports over 120 languages and features over 65 ready-made video templates. It can also create video scripts, captions, and animations for a more interactive viewing experience.
Another good choice is Beautiful.ai, which offers dozens of templates for slides and presentations. Simply pick one, customize it with your brand colors, add text, and make edits as needed.
The platform also features an AI image generator, advanced analytics, and other tools. Plus, users can choose from hundreds of free photos and videos.
Optimize Your Website for Search Engines
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for business success. If you don’t optimize your site or blog for SEO, customers won’t be able to find it online. The problem is keyword research, competitor analysis, and other SEO tasks require ongoing work. They’re tedious, repetitive, and time-consuming.
Luckily, you can automate most of these tasks with AI.
For example, Surfer can generate content briefs and headlines optimized for Google. Another option is Semji, a platform that can automate competitor analysis, content creation, and analytics reporting.
These AI apps can analyze the intent behind search queries and generate relevant content. Others can monitor keyword rankings, predict future SEO trends, and address technical SEO issues, such as 404 pages and broken links.
Most of these tools involve a learning curve and require technical know-how, so don’t expect them to work by magic. However, they can free up your time and make achieving higher search engine rankings easier without hiring an SEO team.
Harness the Power of AI to Grow Your Business
Amazon, Tesla, Netflix, and other top brands have invested billions in AI, and their efforts have paid off. But you don’t have to be a big corporation to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence. Small businesses can capitalize on this trend to work smarter, innovate faster, and remain competitive.
AI-powered tools can streamline your workflows, resulting in time and cost savings. For example, virtual assistants can record and transcribe video calls, take notes, answer questions, and manage your to-do lists. Other AI apps can help with brainstorming, remote work, marketing, or SEO.
Think of AI as an extension of your team. While it cannot replace humans, it has the power to make your staff more efficient and improve work-life balance.
You just need to give it a try.
Also, note that some of the best AI tools are free or include a free trial. Start with those and see how they work before committing to a premium membership plan.