Machine learning can help organizations in any industry improve their flexibility and become more responsive and adaptable. From real-time market trend predictions to simplified office technical assistance, there are many ways you can use machine learning in your organization.
Here’s a look at the top eight ways you can apply machine learning to improve flexibility.
1. Smart Training and Onboarding
Machine learning can transform the training and onboarding process. Your organization can use machine learning to optimize training and onboarding programs while also customizing them for each trainee’s personal needs.
For example, machine learning could be used to train an AI algorithm to customize new employee training based on daily performance. If trainees seem to be consistently getting stuck on certain topics or taking longer on certain tasks, machine learning could help the algorithm learn to review or test those topics more.
A good example of this you may already be familiar with is the language learning app Duolingo. This popular education app uses machine learning and AI to customize language courses based on student performance.
Machine learning in training and onboarding allows your organization to have greater flexibility in the way it teaches new employees. The result is often a more effective and personalized training experience.
2. Automated IT Assistance
IT, tech support and office support are vital to organizations today with everyone relying on technology to do their jobs. However, IT departments run the risk of spending large amounts of time answering a pool of similar technical questions. This limits how much IT personnel can get done on any given day and causes IT assistance to take longer for everyone.
Machine learning may eliminate this problem. Your organization can use machine learning to train AI algorithms to diagnose and respond to common technical problems. You can also use machine learning to create an AI tech help chatbot that employees can interact with instead of waiting for a tech help employee.
AI diagnostic tools allow tech problems to be fixed quickly rather than forcing employees to wait until IT personnel are available to help. Applying machine learning to automate IT assistance improves flexibility by giving everyone on your team more time to focus on the most important tasks.
“Machine learning in training and onboarding allows your organization to have greater flexibility in the way it teaches new employees. The result is often a more effective, personalized training experience”
3. Office and Task Automation
Part of building flexible workflows and a flexible organization overall is eliminating the amount of time your team spends on mundane tasks. Streamlining and simplifying everyday tasks is one of the best ways to improve productivity in the workplace as well as flexibility. By minimizing the number of repetitive tasks employees must do, you can give them more time to concentrate on emerging and real-time challenges.
Machine learning is great for automating tasks. For example, you could use machine learning to train an AI to complete a repetitive accounting task that you spend hours on every day. The algorithm can then automate that task so you no longer have to do it. This leaves those one or two hours open for you to respond to questions from co-workers or collaborate on challenges as they come up.
4. Market Trends Tracking
Machine learning can help your organization track and respond to market trends in real time, improving agility and flexibility. This boost in responsiveness can even help you connect better with your organization’s audience. Consumer preferences and trends can change rapidly in every industry, so keeping pace with them can often be a serious challenge.
AI machine learning algorithms can track and predict trends as they develop. Machine learning allows AI algorithms to gain a detailed understanding of specific demographics and types of consumers. This results in more accurate market trend predictions, allowing your organization to respond to new developments with greater agility and flexibility.
Plus, your organization’s marketing professionals at all levels can use the insights from the machine learning algorithm to improve their own understanding of your organization’s audience.
“Machine learning can help your organization track and respond to market trends in real-time, improving agility and flexibility. This boost in responsiveness can even help you connect better with your organization’s audience”
5. Logistics Simulation and Prediction
Machine learning can help your organization optimize and streamline your logistics strategy by predicting and simulating performance.
For example, you could train a machine learning algorithm to understand how activity around your organization’s warehouse works. IoT sensors could be used to collect real-time data on warehouse productivity, efficiency, waste, and any other factors of note.
With the machine learning algorithm trained on this data, you could use it to predict the success of new logistics models. Logistics simulations and models allow you to test out new strategies without disrupting operations. The AI algorithm could analyze these new logistics models and predict the gains they could offer in efficiency or waste reduction. A streamlined logistics strategy improves flexibility by building an efficient and productive foundation for the rest of your organization.
6. Proactive Cybersecurity
One of the best areas to apply machine learning in your organization is cybersecurity. Machine learning and AI are gaining popularity in cybersecurity because they can give organizations an edge over hackers. As cybersecurity experts note, “In short, machine learning can make cybersecurity simpler, more proactive, less expensive and far more effective.”
Machine learning takes static cybersecurity strategies and transforms them into proactive strategies that can respond to new threats as they emerge. For example, machine learning could be used to monitor your organization’s network for suspicious activity. If the AI monitoring algorithm detects anything out of the ordinary, such as repetitive failed login attempts, it can alert security personnel or lock out the compromised account.
“In short, machine learning can make cybersecurity simpler, more proactive, less expensive and far more effective.”
7. Accessible Customer Service
Virtually every organization today needs some kind of customer service. Customer expectations for service and responsiveness can be exceptionally high today. For instance, the internet may have helped you expand your organization’s customer base to other time zones. Unfortunately, this can also mean customer service isn’t always available when your new customers need it.
Machine learning can be used to build flexible, easily accessible customer service. AI chatbots have gotten much better over recent years thanks to natural language processing. Machine learning is used to teach the algorithm to communicate with and understand natural language rather than robotic, pre-programmed phrases. This enables more realistic and helpful AI customer service interactions.
8. Adaptive Customer Experience
You can create a more flexible and adaptable customer experience for your organization with the help of machine learning. A flexible customer experience is one where your website is able to adjust to a particular customer’s expressed needs and interests.
In fact, one of today’s most popular online shopping businesses, Etsy, uses a machine learning algorithm to customize the home page and product recommendations customers see on the site. This gives customers a fully personalized experience based on a website that is built for flexibility. Any organization can apply this tactic on its website.
The machine learning algorithm keeps track of the products or pages that site visitors favourite and spend time on. When they use the search feature or return to your organization’s home page, the algorithm will show recommended pages based on the visitor’s previous site activity. This site flexibility allows you to give customers a customized experience while also improving your own understanding of what your base is looking for.
Leveraging Machine Learning for Success
Machine learning can transform many different aspects of your organization, from customer service to office technical assistance. By applying machine learning, you can improve your organization’s flexibility, adaptability and productivity. AI and machine learning are the future of business, but you don’t have to wait to start enjoying the benefits of these cutting-edge technologies.
