Beyond cost-cutting: why B2B must embrace AI for growth, not just efficiency
As part of The Drum’s B2B Focus, we hear from industry leaders who argue that AI is not just a tool for optimization but a catalyst for transformation.
‘we should be looking at AI from a slightly different lens – as a tool for growth’ / Adobe Stock
While most businesses are fixated on leveraging AI for cost reduction and operational efficiency, they may be missing out on its true transformative potential. “By and large, most people right now are looking at AI from a cost reduction and optimization efficiency perspective,” said Praj Gaudtala of BBN Insight at The Drum’s recent B2B World Fest. “But,” he added, “we should be looking at AI from a slightly different lens – as a tool for growth.”
In a lively discussion that also featured Cognizant director of AI Scott Harrison, CI&T head of global strategic growth Ross Sleight and Nibble founder Rosie Bailey, the panel delved into why and how B2B companies should lean into AI to revolutionize their industries.
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The limitations of efficiency-first thinking
“Efficiency and productivity gains are short-term benefits,” Harrison emphasized. “That’s just the same as what we did during digital transformation – we just digitized what we already had.” He argued that companies saw digital transformation falter when they failed to reorganize their business processes fundamentally.
Bailey, whose company Nibble offers an AI negotiation platform, illustrated how AI could revolutionize customer interactions. “Technology allows you to negotiate human-to-computer with anybody,” she said. “You can actually go back to the old process you always did because it’s a scalable negotiation.”
She recounted how a pharmaceutical client used Nibble to enable customers to negotiate prices directly through their e-commerce portal. “What’s really interesting is because we’ve been there for two years now,” Bailey shared. “They switch Nibble off at 8am when the sales team arrives and they switch Nibble back on at 6pm. But now, some customers are waiting until after 6pm to negotiate with Nibble instead of talking to sales reps.”
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Understanding AI’s true potential
Harrison broke down AI into three categories to simplify its understanding: data science AI, information science AI and video software AI. “Data science AI is about numbers and data,” he explained. “Information science AI is the general AI stuff – words, understanding information, producing words. And video software AI involves generating videos and images.”
He stressed the importance of integrating AI into existing processes to make tasks more efficient without disrupting the user experience. “It’s really about keeping people in their business,” he said. “They don’t have to jump out and go to something else.”
Sleight added that AI’s value lies in its ability to enhance human capabilities. “At the end of the day, the money needs to come in. Sales need to happen,” he noted. “AI can help us negotiate better, understand our customers more deeply, and make more informed decisions.”
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Overcoming barriers to adoption
One of the significant hurdles in AI adoption is the fear of data security and the so-called “hallucinations” in AI outputs. “Is it safe to put your work data into AI models?” an audience member asked.
“One of the big misunderstandings is how much data actually goes into the big models,” Harrison responded. “Most corporates set themselves up with their information separately. So don’t think your information is going in there at all.”
Bailey cautioned about the use of personal data. “If I’m using personal data and putting it through, I need to tell the person I’m doing that and how they’re processing it,” she said, highlighting the ethical considerations surrounding AI.
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Embracing AI as a growth tool
The panelists agreed that the key to leveraging AI is to experiment and integrate it thoughtfully into business processes. “Find something that makes your job better because you don’t hate doing that task any more,” Sleight advised. “And if you add that up across a business, you’ve got the ability to re-engineer processes.”
Bailey concurred, emphasizing the importance of human oversight. “AI is not a search engine,” she said. “We’re using the search engine a lot of the time, and in doing so, AI is a predictive generational side of things. Hallucinations do happen.”
Harrison summed it up succinctly: “AI is helping the person, not replacing the person. Treat it as a coach. If you’re going to learn to get better outputs, you’ll learn to write better prompts.”
A memorable insight
As the session wrapped up, the message was clear: AI is here to stay and businesses must learn to leverage it effectively. “This is not stopping,” Harrison warned. “If we want to be in a position where we are better at leveraging AI in our work, we need to embrace it now.”
Bailey left the audience with a compelling thought: “Technology is not the thing to get excited about. It’s the way we use it to solve real problems. AI isn’t just about automating tasks; it’s about transforming the way we think, work and grow.”
In an industry poised for transformation, leaning into AI isn’t just an option – it’s a necessity for those who want to lead rather than lag.