Editorial
In the first article of our AI Revolution series, we examined the definition of the AI marketplace; now, we turn to the transformative opportunity AI presents for businesses.
This article is not focused on how AI can boost personal productivity or automate isolated tasks — it's about how AI can redefine business value chains, reshape competitive dynamics and unlock new business models. Based on current market analysis, AI is poised to become a foundational layer of enterprise strategy, influencing everything from go-to-market approaches to operational efficiency and customer engagement.
Vendors' perspectives on AI's potential — and what it takes to win — are deeply shaped by where they start. Just as early CD players mimicked record players or tape decks, today's AI strategies often mirror a company's original DNA. Whether a vendor comes from apps, workflows or data, their vision of the AI future is inevitably colored by their past.
How Will AI Change How Business Is Done?
AI will change how businesses operate across all business functions. This evolution will redefine the very mechanics of business — from how services are delivered to how organizations compete, innovate and grow.
The McKinsey authors of "Rewired" suggest that organizations focus their AI efforts across four critical areas:
- Enhancing customer experience
- Driving financial performance
- Accelerating speed to value
- Creating synergy across functions
These focal points reflect why AI is not just about augmenting processes but becoming a core enabler of business strategy.
AI in IT
Across IT organizations, AI is beginning to automate service management, intelligently routing incidents and detecting change management conflicts that elude human judgment — especially relevant as two-thirds of incidents are tied to poorly executed changes. AI is also streamlining employee onboarding, automating tasks that were once time-consuming and error prone.
“AI is revolutionizing how IT teams operate, enabling a fundamental shift from reactive problem-solving to strategic, data-driven leadership," said Jeff Hausman, chief product development officer at PagerDuty. "Through intelligent automation and predictive capabilities, AI – particularly autonomous AI agents – can identify potential issues, implement solutions and continuously enhance system performance using real-time analytics. This advanced level of automation goes far beyond just maintaining systems. It empowers IT departments to become true business accelerators, driving scalability and organizational agility.”
AI in Finance and Accounting
48% of surveyed finance and accounting firms leverage traditional AI and machine learning for risk management
In finance and accounting, traditional AI and machine learning for many years has been essential for risk management. A 2024 Dresner Advisory Services survey shows 48% of firms leveraging it in this domain. Meanwhile, GenAI is beginning to offer operational efficiency, revenue growth, productivity and decision-making. Deploying GenAI will not only cut costs but also enable smarter, faster financial operations.
John Hagerty, distinguished analyst, explained, "Our research indicates that interest is up and adoption is on the rise. Finance leaders see a burgeoning role for AI to increase productivity and efficiency, improve decision-making and provide a more natural user experience. With market disruption leading finance teams to be as cost-effective as possible, AI and agents are another set of tools in the arsenal to provide world-class service at a lower cost."
AI in Marketing
Marketing functions are also undergoing transformation. Traditional AI has been used for:
- Demand forecasting (60%)
- Customer segmentation (58%)
- Customer lifetime value analysis (53%)
- Price optimization (49%)
GenAI has the potential to add capabilities to deal with personalization, churn prevention and increasing opportunities for upsell and cross-sell, while also enhancing creative capabilities — pushing the boundaries of messaging, branding and campaign development.
Authors of the upcoming book "AI First," Adam Brotman and Andy Sack, said, "Over the next few years, a lot will change. The channels the consumers are using will likely change. The products being marketed might also change some. And even the marketing job titles and scopes are likely to change. But marketers will still need to perform research and analysis, come up with content strategy, create content and implement campaigns across a variety of channels.”
AI in Product Innovation
Beyond this, AI is enabling companies to extend the value of physical products. These approaches meld the tangible strengths of traditional industries with AI's data-driven insights.
A prime example, highlighted by Vijay Govindarajan and Venkat Venkatraman in their book "Fusion Strategy," is John Deere’s “See and Spray,” which uses AI to distinguish crops from weeds, dramatically reducing herbicide usage and creating a healthier people and planet. This approach not only boosts operational value but unlocks entirely new service-based business models.
John Deere See & Spray. You can see in the video where the soil gets darker because the sprayer picked up on a weed and applied a contact killer to control the targeted area. On this field there was a 70% savings on contact chemicals. @alliancetractr @JohnDeere pic.twitter.com/zxMU07bxhT
— Tyler Gillett (@tyler_gillett) May 5, 2023
Finally, AI is opening the door to new products and marketing framing by infusing creativity with data-driven precision. Authors Tom Davenport and Nitin Mittal in "All In on AI," along with McKinsey's ongoing State of AI reports, provide exhaustive insights into how leading organizations are rewiring themselves to harness AI.
In short, AI is not an enhancement. It's a rewrite. Business functions, strategies and value propositions are being rebuilt from the ground up — with AI at the core.
Related Article: The Reality of Generative AI: From Buzz to Business Transformation
Create New Business Opportunities
Leading organizations aren't just using AI to improve their existing business processes, they're using AI to create entirely new business opportunities. While many companies stop at industrializing their data and analytics or improving customer experience, forward-thinking firms go further.
According to research by MIT-CISR, businesses that optimize their foundational areas enjoy higher growth and gross margins. But true competitive advantage comes from reimagining what a business is and the value it provides.
These “future-ready” businesses re-conceive their entire value proposition. This transformation demands a unified organizational effort and AI-savvy leadership — leaders who can see beyond tools and technologies to envision a new kind of customer value. Without question, real digital transformation requires the intelligent integration of AI within human systems, creating environments where human-AI collaboration flourishes.
Sanat Joshi, EVP of product and solutions at Appian, said, “Empowering knowledge workers creates value, but AI’s greater role is driving enterprise process transformation — building future-ready businesses that can compete, seize new opportunities and create entirely new value propositions. In other words, AI is best inside processes."
To accomplish what Joshi suggests, the authors of "Rewired" argue that a powerful step is to build a digital factory — a dedicated hub where AI and digital tools are developed and tested in alignment with business goals. This enables companies to do what the authors of "Designed for Digital" labeled information-enriched solutions, often wrapped in seamless, intelligent customer experiences. It’s here that businesses move beyond marginal gains to bold innovation, sometimes abandoning the very value propositions that once made them successful.
The shift is strategic. As Geoffrey Moore noted in "Zone to Win," when incumbents fail to evolve, their ability to respond to AI-driven challengers is limited. Those who reimagine their offerings using AI — what some call “agentic AI thinking” — can leapfrog competitors by creating experiences and outcomes that were previously unimaginable. As outlined in "Designed for Digital," however, the potential of AI can only be realized when a company redesigns its systems, processes and roles around a fresh understanding of what customers truly value. The organizations that succeed won't just do business differently — they'll do different business.
Webinar
Sep
25
CMS Briefing: A Live Look at What’s Next in AI-Driven Platforms
Learn how leading organizations are using AI‑driven tools to publish faster, personalize smarter and stay secure.
Register
Webinar
Oct
15
Agentic AI Playbook Real-World Customer Service Use Cases You Can Deploy Now
Boost self-service by 30% and slash call volume by 63% with agentic AI.
Register
Webinar
On demand
Ready or Not: How Data-First Organizations Are Unlocking Agentforce Potential
Learn how to cut through the noise, activate Agentforce and build a Salesforce AI strategy that actually delivers.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
AI in Customer Service: Faster Resolutions, Happier Customers
Don’t let rising demand burn out your team. See how to build a smarter, more resilient support org.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
From Hype to High-Impact CX Strategies That Actually Scale
Turn buzzworthy AI and outsourcing trends into measurable CX wins with fresh 2025 data.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Insights to Action Rethinking the Contact Center for Real Business Impact
Join our exclusive webinar to hear CX executives share their innovative strategies for transforming service delivery.
Watch Now
AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Business
AI isn’t just a tool for optimization, it’s a catalyst for reinvention. From transforming IT, finance and marketing functions to creating entirely new value propositions, AI is becoming the engine of business evolution. The most successful organizations are not simply enhancing existing capabilities; they are re-conceiving what their businesses are, how they deliver value and how they engage customers in entirely new ways.
The key takeaways are clear:
- AI is strategic, not just operational. Its greatest value lies in redefining business models, not just streamlining them.
- Cross-functional transformation is essential. AI’s impact spans customer experience, finance, marketing and product innovation.
- Leadership and culture matter. Organizations need AI-savvy leaders and digitally fluent teams to fully unlock AI’s potential.
- New business creation is the true frontier. Those who embrace agentic thinking and fusion strategies will leap ahead, while others struggle to catch up.
AI offers more than a competitive edge — it offers a new canvas for business innovation. Those who rewire their organizations around its possibilities won’t just survive disruption, they’ll become disruptors.
Didn't catch Part 1 of the AI Revolution series? Check it out here.
Learn how you can join our contributor community.
