AI Revolution for Canadian Businesses in 2024
In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a catalyst for profound change across various sectors.
The transformative power of AI is reshaping how Canadian businesses operate, innovate, and stay competitive. According to the Google Canada Economic Report, generative AI could increase Canada’s economy by $210 billion, the equivalent of 8% of gross value added (GVA).
This means that, when used effectively, generative AI alone could improve the Canadian workforce and save the average Canadian worker over 100 hours a year.
In this blog post, we’ll explore how AI is reshaping the security, financial services, energy, and retail businesses in 2024.
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How will AI revolutionize the security sector?
According to IBM’s Cost of Data Breach report, from 2017 to 2023, the average data breach cost has consistently risen from $3.62 million, reaching a peak of $4.45 million in 2023. This marks a 15% increase in the average breach cost over the past three years.
On average, Canadian companies in 2023 incurred nearly CA$7 million in data breach costs. AI can help mitigate data breaches by identifying and preventing cyberattacks by analyzing large amounts of data and detecting patterns that are difficult for humans to identify.
Canadian companies leveraging AI and automation to strengthen their security operations are already witnessing breaches that are 33 days shorter and cost CA$1.74 million less on average.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ibm-cost-data-breach-report-dan-duran-b2krc/
AI can also learn from past attacks and predict future ones, which can help organizations take proactive measures to prevent them. Here are some of the ways Generative AI can help to improve the security sector;
Fraud Detection
AI can identify fraudulent activities in real time. For instance, it can analyze credit card transactions and pinpoint suspicious activities that may indicate fraud. Companies in the credit card industry should ensure that they comply with PCI DSS requirements.
Network Security
AI is capable of monitoring network traffic and identifying unusual activity. For instance, it can detect when a user tries to access a system from an atypical location or during an unusual time.
Threat Intelligence
AI can analyze threat intelligence data to identify potential threats, such as analyzing social media data to pinpoint potential cyberattacks.
Vulnerability Management
AI can be employed to detect vulnerabilities in both software and hardware systems. For instance, AI can analyze code to identify potential security flaws.
User Behavior Analytics
AI can analyze user behavior and identify anomalies, such as detecting when a user is accessing data they should not have access to.
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How will AI revolutionize the financial sector?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed the financial industry, offering innovative solutions to address customer needs for more intelligent, secure, and convenient avenues to manage, spend, save, and invest money.
Currently, slightly more than half of CEOs prioritize customer care, recognizing its paramount role in building trust and loyalty, accelerated by the digital transformation during the pandemic.
Here are some examples of how AI is advancing customer care in the financial industry:
AI Chatbots
AI assistants, such as chatbots, use AI to generate personalized financial advice and natural language processing to provide instant, self-help customer service.
For example, Capital One’s Eno is a natural language SMS text-based assistant that offers personalized financial advice to customers. Bank of America’s Erica is a chatbot that has helped more than 37 million Bank of America clients manage their finances, surpassing over 1.5 billion client transactions since its debut.
Fraud Detection
Artificial Intelligence is employed to identify fraudulent activities within the financial sector. For example, JPMorgan Chase utilizes an algorithm to spot patterns indicative of fraud.
Credit Decisions
AI solutions assist banks and credit providers in making more informed underwriting decisions by incorporating various factors that more precisely evaluate borrowers traditionally underserved in the credit decision-making process.
Companies like Enova and Ocrolus leverage AI and machine learning in their lending platforms to offer advanced financial analytics and credit assessments.
Personalized Investment Advice
Robo-advisors, powered by AI, deliver personalized investment guidance to clients, considering their financial objectives, risk tolerance, and investment timeline.
Betterment is an example of a robo-advisor employing AI to offer tailored investment advice to its customers.
Customer Segmentation
Artificial Intelligence categorizes customers according to their financial behaviors and preferences.
This enables financial institutions to provide personalized products and services. Wells Fargo, for example, utilizes AI to segment its customers and deliver tailored offerings.
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How will AI revolutionize the energy sector?
According to an IBM Study, Sustainability has become a top priority for half of Canadian CEOs; it now ranks higher than productivity and profitability.
The Canadian government’s proposal to cut emissions in the oil and gas sector by 2030, relying on technology, highlights AI’s potential role.
Here are some of the ways AI can revolutionize the energy sector in Canada;
Asset management
Utilizing AI tools to gather performance data allows for predicting asset health and risk of failure.
This practice extends the lifespan of assets, decreasing the amount of waste sent to landfills and mitigating the environmental impact associated with manufacturing replacements.
Inventory management
AI aids inventory optimization by integrating demand forecasting, last-mile delivery, and routing optimization. This contributes to reducing the carbon footprint linked to the transportation and storage of stock.
Schedule optimization
AI plays a crucial role in ensuring the proper alignment of talent. In the context of asset maintenance, AI addresses questions such as the availability and location of technicians and the optimal prioritization of their work.
This efficient approach allows AI to tackle challenges related to asset maintenance effectively.
Anomaly detection
Utilizing AI for monitoring enables the early detection of discrepancies at every manufacturing stage. This proactive approach aids in minimizing wasted materials and reduces the additional energy consumed during the reworking or remaking of parts.
Compute optimization
AI can analyze computing demand over time, optimizing the utilization of computing and cooling resources. This optimization contributes to a reduction in the electricity consumption of data centers.
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How will AI revolutionize the retail sector?
AI has revolutionized the retail industry by enhancing customer experiences in various ways. According to IBM, in a recent study of sector CEOs, business leaders are focusing on improving customer experience in line with the desire among shoppers for greater personalization.
For AI to increase the Canadian economy as predicted, Canadian retailers are expected to take advantage of AI tools to create more responsive and engaging shopping experiences.
Here are some examples of how AI is used in the retail industry to improve customer experiences:
Product and display design
Generative AI can craft innovative product designs by analyzing market trends, customer interactions, consumer preferences, and historical sales data.
This AI model can produce numerous variations, enabling companies to narrow down and select the most attractive options. This applies to various industries, including fashion, furniture, and electronics, where generating diverse designs becomes viable.
Moreover, retailers can leverage AI for automation when it comes to content creation. This includes generating product descriptions, promotional content for social media, blog posts, and other material that enhances search engine optimization (SEO) and fosters increased customer engagement.
Personalized marketing
AI can create tailored customer experiences by customizing marketing content, like emails or advertisements, for individual customers.
This customization is driven by customer data, considering past purchasing behavior and preferences. AI enhances the effectiveness of marketing campaigns by predicting the type of promotional content that would resonate most with each customer.
Product recommendations
By employing generative models, AI can recommend new or alternative products to customers based on their purchasing history and preferences.
Additionally, it can predict their future needs and preferences, ultimately enhancing the overall shopping experience.
Inventory management & supply chain optimization
Utilizing generative AI can aid in predicting product demand by generating forecasts derived from historical sales data, trends, seasonality, and various influencing factors.
This predictive capability contributes to more effective inventory management, minimizing occurrences of both overstock and stockouts.
Generative AI is valuable for numerous supply chain operations, encompassing demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and overall supply chain enhancement.
