12 AI-Powered Tools for Streamlining Business Operations

Technology has reached a point where it can assist you and not just serve as a tool, thanks to innovation. In fact, now there are AI-powered tools for business operations available on the Internet.

We have seen a boom in this particular technology’s popularity. It has an extensive application for streamlining business processes with AI alone. We see it automating repetitive tasks, boosting your business’s bottom line, and improving customer satisfaction.

Without a doubt, it is truly a great tool!

With that in mind, chances are you are looking into how you can adopt this smart tool in your organisation. Well, you are in the right place. Here, we will explore the best AI-powered tools for business operations (free or paid) that you need to consider.

What is the role of AI in modern business operations? 

Basically, the role of AI-powered tools for business operations is to streamline and improve the overall process. 

There are many ways this can be achieved, for example: 

• Automate a wide range of tasks
• Provide 24/7 personalised support to your customers
• Analyse large amounts of data and provide insights to help in decision-making.

The bottom line, think of it as an assistant rather than a mere tool, given its wide application and smart capabilities.

What are the pros and cons of AI-powered tools for Business Operations?

The impacts of AI on your business operations are equally extensive as well. But, of course, it also has its own shortcomings that you need to be aware of.

Pros

Increase efficiency

Top of mind when you think of AI-powered tools, the first thing to pop up is efficiency. This smart tool is especially great when it comes to processing vast amounts of data since it is faster and works more accurately. 

Admittedly, we humans are prone to overlooking minute details. That is why we usually need to double-check everything. Thankfully, we can do that much more quickly, thanks to AI.

Improve customer service

Another aspect of AI-powered tools for business operations is that they can work in tandem with your customer service staff to improve the support you provide to your loyal patrons.

First, it saves your staff a lot of time. Usually, AI is the first line of inquiry where they answer your customers’ most frequently asked questions. Then, if they have specific queries or issues, it is escalated and will be supported by your staff.

Second, most AI-powered tools will provide you insights on how to provide a more personalised and intuitive service to your customers. In this case, they study your patrons’ behaviour and preferences. 

Save on costs

Lastly, the best AI tools for business will definitely help you save on costs. 

There is no doubt that it is an expensive investment. However, when you consider its long-term use, its upfront cost would be worth it. And, given how your business will benefit from it, it will essentially pay for itself in the long run.

Cons

Ethical concerns

Of course, there are things about AI that concern people. At the very top is the ethical concern around its potential to replace humans — which endangers people’s livelihood.

Recently, this concern exploded into an issue in Hollywood. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is negotiating with studios about actors having a say in using their synthetic counterparts made in their likeness.

Security risks

Aside from this, there are also security concerns. While AI-powered tools are smart and capable, they are not impervious to cyber attacks.

Moreover, given that some organisations opt to use free AI tools for business operations, this concern is further heightened. 

Lack of understanding

While it is good to keep up with the trends and look for ways to integrate them into your business, there are pitfalls to them as well. This rings even more true when you do not fully understand AI.

This will result in abating its potential. More importantly, on your end, you might fail to maximise your investment in AI-powered tools for business operations.

12 AI-powered Tools To Streamline Business Operations

With all that said, we want to help you make an informed decision concerning this technology. So, we made a list of AI-powered tools for business operations that you may want to consider carefully.

Chatbots and Virtual Assistants

Right at the top of the AI tools list that will help your organisation are chatbots and virtual assistants. These two are programs that simulate human-like conversations with people. 

For business, they are usually used for customer service. This is not surprising since these are text-based or voice-based, which helps you augment your staff in a couple of ways:

• Answer frequently asked questions 
• Assist customers with scheduling appointments
• Help process orders
• Provide 24/7 support
• Collect feedback from customers
• Get insights about customers

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA is a type of AI automation software that saves you a lot of hassle since it can perform repetitive tasks that mimic human actions, like the following: 

• Click Buttons
• Type Text
• Move Files

One of the AI-powered tools for business operations, this one frees up you and your staff from time-consuming tasks and enables you to focus on more important areas of the business. 

To be specific, here are a couple of ways RPA can be integrated into your organisation: 

• Data Entry
• Customer Service
• Order Processing
• Billing
• Reporting

Predictive Analytics Tools

Third in our list of AI-powered tools for business operations are predictive analytic tools.

This smart tool uses your historical data to make inferences, or predictions, about what comes next. It works by analysing and identifying the prevalent trends, patterns, and even the relationships between information.

With that said, here are a couple of ways that it can help streamline your business:

• Identify customers who are at risk of dropping your brand
• Identify patrons that need more support
• Pinpoint potential customers that are ready for conversion
• Spot areas where you can cut down on costs
• Predict potential demand for products and services
• Optimise inventory and staffing 
• Spot new sales opportunities and potential customers
• Identify existing customers that will be interested in your new product

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Much like chatbots and virtual assistants, CRM is a software platform that helps you manage your interactions with your potential and loyal patrons. To be specific, this system assists your customer support staff in some areas: 

• Track every interaction, like calls, emails, and meetings
• Store customer information, like their address and contact details
• Store and analyse customers’ purchase history and preferences

Of course, similar to the AI-powered tools for business operations we have mentioned here, it is designed to provide end users like you with a host of benefits: 

• Help in sending out follow-up emails to maintain a warm relationship with your customers
• Generate reports to identify areas of improvement and opportunities
• Provide a more personalised and consistently efficient service to your customers
• Get insights into customer needs and preferences to spot opportunities for sales and upsells.

Inventory Management Software (IMS)

As mentioned above, there are some of the AI-powered tools for business operations mentioned here so far that also help with your inventory in some way. On the other hand, inventory management software is a program specifically designed to assist you directly with this matter.

Inventory management software takes your dated Excel sheets and other tracking methods for inventory and combines them all into one tool that is capable of the following things:

• Track quantity of item stocks
• Track the location and movement of inventory

So, why do you need this smart tool? Here are a couple of ways that it can help your business: 

• Help you avoid overstocking on certain item stocks — which saves you money
• Enable you to focus on other aspects of the business
• Automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks like tracking, order processing, and shipping
• Ensure you always have the right stock available for your customers
• Expedite service that will also help in improving customer satisfaction

AI-powered HR Software

For your human resources department, there are also AI-powered tools available in the market that will assist them. 

Your HR staff does a lot of things for the company and your employees. A way to expedite their tasks is with the help of AI-powered HR software. It is a program that they can use to help them in a couple of ways:

• Assist in screening potential candidates, identify which ones meet your requirements, and schedule interviews.
• Help in onboarding new employees and provide a holistic training experience for them.
• Assisting in tracking every employee’s progress and productivity (for example, AI-driven productivity tools)
• Identify which member of the team needs more improvement and provide insightful feedback to help them
• Assist in managing employee compensation and benefits, like payroll, insurance, and retirement plans

Financial Management Software

On the other hand, your finance department can also be streamlined with the help of financial management software.

As its name suggests, this software is specifically designed to help you track and manage all of your finances. Here are a couple of ways this smart tool can help your finance department:

• Track income and expenses
• Create invoices
• Assist in managing payroll 
• Create periodically allocated funds and help you stay within budget 
• Provide future financial forecasts based on your income, expenses, and other factors
• Generate in-depth and insightful financial reports, like balance sheets, cash flow statements, and income statements

Cybersecurity Solutions

Today, cyber security is one of the top concerns of both private individuals and organisations since there are a host of threats online, such as: 

• Malware
• Ransomware
• Phishing Attacks
• Data Breaches

The reasons why cybersecurity solutions are considered one of the AI-powered tools for business operations are as follows: 

• Reduce and potentially avoid downtimes since cybersecurity solutions bolster your business’s cyber defence
• Boost your business’s reputation since you ensure that your customer’s data is protected at all times
• Save you the hassle of making sure your business complies with certain regulations since most cyber security solutions already comply with them

Natural Language Processing (NLP) Tools

NLP is a buzz that we have been hearing for quite a while now. As one of the  AI-powered tools for business operations, it enables you to improve your offerings and broaden your reach to customers outside of the country. 

Here is how: 

• Accurately analyse customer feedback and extract core insight to improve your business’s process, products, or services
• Translate your website and marketing collaterals to multiple languages that will help your global audience
• Boost customer service chatbot capabilities and improve its understanding of customers’ queries.

Sales and Marketing Automation

Of course, AI-powered tools for business operations also extend to sales and marketing. Specifically, certain automation tools available are designed to assist in a lot of aspects, such as: 

• Lead Generation and Qualification
• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• CRM
• Sales Pipeline Management
• Marketing Reporting

Here are a couple of ways your business can benefit from sales and marketing automation tools:

• Build and maintain good rapport with your potential and loyal customers
• Track customer interactions and pinpoint potential leads to help increase your conversion rate
• Help personalised marketing message to increase its efficacy and, ultimately, increase your sales revenue

Supply Chain Optimisation

Working in tandem with investment management software is a supply chain optimisation tool. This specific AI-powered tool is designed to help expedite your procurement process for raw materials and delivery of your final product to your customers.

In fact, here is how you can benefit from this smart tool: 

• Ensure that you are not overstocking as early as the procurement stage
• Pinpoint how you can further optimise your transportation route from suppliers up to your customers
• Identify aspects of the manufacturing process for optimisation and increase its overall efficiency

Data Analytics and Reporting Tools

Last but not least, data analytics and reporting tools are both software applications that help you effectively collect a wealth of data from multiple sources, analyse them, and then get in-depth reports that provide you with valuable insight into a lot of things.

With that said, here are a couple of ways these two tools can be used: 

• Pinpoint areas of your operations that need to be optimised
• Identify which of your products or services are underselling and get insight on how to amend this
• Provide you with insight into the quality of your operation and help you make an informed decision to either redirect you back to your initial goal or further improve your present efforts
• Generate periodical reports and identify areas where you can improve to boost your business’s processes

What does this mean down the line?

AI has been around for quite a while now, yet as we have witnessed, its applications just further broaden as innovations provide new opportunities.

With that said, you can expect the current capabilities of AI-powered tools for business operations will further expound as well. As it is, aside from streamlining your organisation’s processes, you can achieve a lot of things with shorter turnaround times and with more ease than what you experienced years prior.

Moreover, given the way we do business is also being fundamentally changed in today’s digital era, we will also see new and smarter ways to use AI beyond what we currently comprehend as of the moment.

This further drives home the point that being up-to-trend will greatly help your business. However, you should still do it with caution and do your due diligence because, at the end of the day, it is an investment that can either boost you up or flop in your face.

Ready to streamline your business operations with AI-powered tools? Discover how these cutting-edge technologies can transform your business.