Evaluating Business ROI for Generative AI: Steps to Consider

Generative AI, and in particular LLMs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, have been making waves in the corporate realm, with the business buzz echoing the undeniable potential of this technology. Business leaders are increasingly realizing the immense return on investment (ROI) that AI can deliver. As a testament to this, global spending on AI-driven solutions is expected to surge to $154 billion this year, a 27% increase over 2022.

The answer is nuanced. The potential ROI from integrating generative AI into your business hinges on a myriad of factors. These include your business model, the specific issues you aim to address, the nature and quality of your data, and the resources you’re willing to allocate. Before jumping on the bandwagon, organizations must objectively assess the potential impacts and risks, ensuring the technology aligns seamlessly with their objectives, rather than merely following the trend.

8-step guide: Here is a step-by-step guide to understanding if generative AI can provide a positive ROI for your business.

• Identify the Problem or Opportunity: Understand what business problem you’re trying to solve or what opportunity you are trying to leverage with generative AI. This could be anything from content generation (e.g., marketing copy or reports), improving customer service with AI chatbots, or automating repetitive tasks.

• Set Clear KPIs: Define clear and measurable KPIs that are directly tied to your business goals. These KPIs will help you assess the effectiveness of the generative AI solution in achieving the desired outcomes. Ensure that the KPIs are specific, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), enabling you to track progress accurately.

• Understand the Investment Needed: Estimate the costs associated with the implementation of the generative AI. This should include the cost of the AI itself (e.g., licensing or development costs), along with any necessary hardware, employee training, maintenance, and other potential costs.

• Evaluate Potential Returns: Consider the potential benefits and savings that could be generated from the use of the AI. For instance, it may free up employee time for more valuable tasks, enhance productivity, reduce errors, improve customer satisfaction, or generate new revenue streams.

• Conduct a Pilot Project: Before fully committing, it may be wise to conduct a small-scale pilot project to test the effectiveness of the generative AI in achieving your set objectives. This can give you a better idea of the potential ROI.

• Analyze Results: After the pilot project, analyze the results and compare them with your objectives. Look for improvements in efficiency, cost savings, revenue increases, or other relevant metrics.

• Calculate ROI: Assess the return on investment by considering both the tangible and intangible benefits, which goes back to the performance indicators you set early on. Determine if the gains outweigh the costs, taking into account revenue increases, cost savings, improved customer satisfaction, brand reputation, and other relevant factors. Be cautious about attributing all revenue increases solely to generative AI.

• Review and Refine: Based on the ROI and feedback from the pilot project, you can decide whether it’s worthwhile to scale up the project, make refinements, or explore different AI solutions.

It’s important to note that, like all technologies, generative AI is not a magic solution for all problems. The success of the implementation will depend on many factors, including the quality of the AI, how well it is integrated into existing systems, the training and support provided to employees, and how well it aligns with your business strategy.