Agile AI: Crunching Time to Market with Moumita Sarker

In a thought-provoking session at Cypher 2023, Moumita Sarker from Deloitte discussed the importance of agile AI and how organizations can significantly reduce their time to market. The talk was a deep dive into the challenges and solutions for making AI real, valuable, and quickly implementable in various organizational settings.

The Lego Block Analogy

Moumita started her talk with a relatable analogy involving Lego blocks. She explained how her 10-year-old son efficiently uses pre-built Lego structures to speed up the creation of new designs. This concept, she argued, can be applied to AI solutions as well. By creating pre-built, modular AI components, organizations can significantly reduce the time it takes to implement and scale AI solutions.

The Need for Pre-Built Structures

The speaker emphasized that organizations often face challenges in implementing AI solutions due to the lack of standardization and modular components. She proposed that organizations should focus on creating ‘pre-built structures’ or ‘Lego blocks’ for AI solutions. These structures can be plug-and-play components that can be easily customized and scaled, thereby reducing the time to market.

Standardization vs. Customization

Moumita touched upon the delicate balance between standardization and customization. She argued that while standardization is essential for scalability, customization is crucial for meeting specific organizational needs. The key is to create modular, pluggable components that can be easily customized without having to start from scratch.

Real-World Examples

She provided real-world examples to illustrate her points, such as commodity price prediction and trade promotion optimization. In these cases, having pre-built AI components can cut down the time to implement the solution by up to 50%. For instance, if an organization has already developed a forecasting model, it can quickly plug that into a broader commodity price prediction framework, thereby saving time and resources.

User Empowerment

One of the most compelling parts of her talk was about user empowerment. Moumita stressed that the end-users of AI solutions should be involved in the co-creation process. This not only speeds up the adoption rate but also ensures that the AI solutions are tailored to meet the specific needs of the organization.

Conclusion

Moumita Sarker’s session at Cypher 2023 was a wake-up call for organizations to rethink their approach to AI implementation. By adopting a modular, agile approach and involving end-users in the co-creation process, organizations can significantly reduce their time to market and make AI a real, valuable asset.