Very few technologies have captured the popular imagination like Artificial Intelligence (AI).

It has become a key feature in news stories about technology and how businesses are transforming for the future of work. Organisations from across all sectors are assessing how AI can be applied for operational efficiency, transform their business models and deliver new and resilient services to customers. 

As with many technologies that offer huge potential for transformation across business lines, it can often seem daunting to know where to begin.  This is particularly true given the jargon and the hype that surround AI. 

Microsoft and UK Finance have worked together on a paper to provide a set of tools to help organisations begin this journey. 

To root things in practical terms we have:

• acknowledged some of the core challenges that organisations face in adopting AI including culture, capability and skills, and governance.
• provided case studies of AI applications in financial services. These case studies represent several different business areas. They are not meant to be a complete list, but to help as a starting point. 
• highlighted ways to assess the ?AI maturity? of your organisation, and the governance approaches firms are implementing to best position themselves to take advantage of AI. AI is often left to technology teams, but the most compelling implementations are where business teams have worked with technology teams collaboratively to meet a clear need. 
• highlighted how to how pick use cases with a clear return on investment to demonstrate the value of AI, and what things to consider when developing business cases in this context. In many cases firms wish to develop big AI solutions, but without first winning the case internally. Scaling smaller solutions to enterprise scale helps with implementation, winning support and delivering return on investment. 

Customer expectations of how their data is managed and used are also changing. Coupled with this is a greater governmental and regulatory focus. Firms must always ask ?just because we can do something, should we??  Ethical governance is therefore a key consideration, and something discussed in the paper. 

This is an evolving area, so this paper doesn't have all the answers. What it is though is a starting point, providing clear examples and actions to begin a journey. ?

You can read the paper here.