Intelligent systems

From healthcare to logistics, AI is disrupting the way industries operate, writes Zainab Mansoor

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around in subtle forms for several years, powering activities such as web searches and online shopping. However, with growing data collection and emerging technologies, increase in computing power and new algorithms, the scope for AI has been expanding.

A continuous drive to foster technology integration has seen a surge in the adoption of advanced solutions across industries such as healthcare, finance and aviation. This has staged the ground for an unprecedented set of applications and platforms that have sprung up in recent years, for product and workforce optimisation, streamlining of processes as well as operational efficiency.

Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting social restrictions that enabled the world to convene and operate virtually, have reinforced the role of digital transformation and the technologies underpinning it. According to a report by IDC, worldwide revenues for the AI market are expected to total $156.5bn in 2020, an increase of 12.3 per cent over 2019.

That figure is anticipated to surpass $300bn in 2024 with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.1 per cent.

“AI is one of the major drivers of digital transformation. The pandemic has proved AI’s value, from repetitive task automation to workforce optimisation, as well as demand predictions and efficiency increase in the internal processes by allowing informed decision-making. The companies who adopted AI in late 2020 already started to see the tech payout with increased savings and revenues,” opines Melda Akin, CEO and founder of D14.AI, a UAE-based company for AI-driven workforce optimisation and predictive systems.

D14 provides an AI-driven software platform for healthcare clinics, gyms and logistics companies to optimise their workforce and manage business operations. D14.AI technology is flexible and can evaluate millions of combinations within minutes, the CEO says.

“Healthcare clinics lose high revenues because of no-shows, late cancellation, non-automated health record systems and non-personalised patient journey. D14’s platform helps clinics decrease the no-shows and late cancellation rate and reduce administrative work by automating business operations and optimising the workforce,” adds Akin.

Meanwhile, due to increased demand during the pandemic, logistics companies face dynamic scheduling problems. “Delivery and logistics companies benefit from D14’s technology to evaluate millions of possible combinations within minutes to shorten the delivery time and rebalance their fleet. D14 technology can schedule more than one million orders within minutes and 3,000 times faster than other solutions by obeying all the business requirements and regulations,” says Akin.

AI may prove to be the cynosure of the upcoming digital era with companies striving to make the technology more accessible. In the wake of the Covid19 pandemic, China’s Alibaba’s research institute Damo Academy reportedly developed an algorithm to detect coronavirus cases using CT scans, while Google Cloud launched its Rapid Response Virtual

Agent programme, helping government agencies, businesses and organisations respond rapidly to customer concerns regarding the virus.

Looking ahead, it’s clear that digital transformation technologies are paving the way to a more connected and intelligent future.