There’s no two ways about it. AI is the current darling of Silicon Valley and beyond. And it seems that this will be the case for the foreseeable future.
For many though, that future is now. We are being constantly bombarded with everything AI. Each week there seems to be new AI startups sprouting up left, right and center. That in itself is not a bad thing, it’s so exciting to see a host of new, exciting possibilities opening up. We live in truly amazing times.
But, in my honest and humble opinion, there is no such thing as an AI startup. At least not in the strict sense. The very concept of the “AI startup” is fundamentally wrong. Or, to be more precise, while true AI startups will be very rare, numerous others will make extensive use of the new “platform”.
And this is how I see the course of AI going. The sum of its parts is much bigger than many contemporary entrepreneurs think.
So…
Not AI Startups, but a new “platform”
So why am I insisting on an AI platform rather than simply AI startups, as driving the future of the industry. For one reason. AI offers what “the web” did back in say the year 2000. Companies either embraced it, or went out of business. And so what happened? Every company became a “web company”
Need more evidence? Think back just a few years to 2010. At this point came the next “platform” in the form of “the cloud”. Again, most companies either embraced it or, more often than not, disappeared from the market. And so we have a repeat of the same process as that of the web. Eventually, every company became a cloud company. And those that still have not, are trying to become a cloud company.
So, what comes next? AI of course. My prediction for 2020 is that as far as AI goes, companies will once again either embrace it or, very likely, will go out of business. So, as the cycle goes, eventually, every company will become an AI company. There will not simply be AI startups or AI companies.
Early investment disappointment
From what I have seen so far, we have seen a surge in investments into AI startups and companies, but then with many seeing “slow progress” in terms of practical use and value, the feeling as that this early investment will flatten out. I predict that this will last for a while, maybe even 18 months or so.
Then a new round of investment will come into play when we start seeing applications and services which bring real, money-spinning value to the table. So it’s a case of being patient and hanging in there as far as I can see from an investors’ angle.
Most top executives out there know that AI undoubtedly has the power to change almost everything about the way we work and do business. And according to a recent report by PWC, it could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Now, that is some number.
We are already witnessing some of today’s top blue chip companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook already dabbling in AI and furthering its implementation for their commercial purposes.
Still early days
Despite this involvement of the “big guns”, it’s still early days. The main reason is because what many business leaders don’t know precisely is how to deploy AI. And make it more mainstream than a snazzy gadget here, or a pilot scheme there. They want to take it company-wide, where it can reap maximum value.
And the question of “how”, as the PWC report is at pains to point out, is where things are at a bottleneck right now. Let’s face it, however much you dress it up, AI is still an emerging technology.
The questions that come to mind are how do you put together your company’s AI strategy? Where and how can you find AI-literate workers? Or educate and train existing talent. How can you get your data AI-ready? And perhaps the most important, how can you make sure that you can trust your AI. Not only do you have all these questions, but the answers can be different depending on the nature of the company and market they operate in. For a deep dive into the matter, check out PWC’s report.
The platform is taking shape…
Having said all of that, as I mentioned at the start, the key thing that business leaders, investors and founders need to realize is that there are, or there should not be any straightforward AI startups. AI is a new platform, just as the web and the cloud were and are. How we manage to harness this new platform, and dare I say, “tame it” is the key to making a successful venture out of it.
Here’s to us all becoming AI companies.
