A Pathway to Using GenAI for Service-Based Businesses

It seems small business owners are hearing a lot about Generative AI (GenAI), and some have dabbled in it for entertainment. Yet, statistically, few are leaning into the time and cost-savings that are possible with proper use.

At a recent CEO roundtable called “AI at Work,” expert panelists shared these seven tips for creating your own pathway to leveraging GenAI.

1. Don’t start by saying “how can we use AI?” Start by defining potential use cases, then explore how GenAI might be a tool that can be used to improve them.

Examples include drafting marketing content, grant requests, RFP responses, press releases, job descriptions, 90-day success plans, standard operating procedures, video scripts, social media posts, meeting summaries, and many others.

2. Develop your policy for how GenAI can be used and what to avoid.

Common sense limits need to be spelled out for the use of personal, private, and proprietary info. Unless the AI tool is hosted on your own servers, you shouldn’t upload or share anything with it that is sensitive in nature.

Look to the recent European Union AI Act for a breadth of examples.

3. Train users on the three main steps in GenAI:

• • Creating good prompts
  • Shaping responses to make them better
  • Editing outputs to make them great

Being able to show how you and the AI arrived at an answer will be an important part of the audit trail. It also helps others build on your work, since they can see what you tried and what the outcomes were. 

4. Always include Subject Matter Experts in step #3.

Experts are the only ones who will know the difference between quality outputs and spectacular hallucinations. You need to include experienced people in the process or you are likely to get very average (or downright bad) results.

5. Put your best, vetted, and tested prompt protocols in a GPT library.

Building a library of tested GenA prompts is akin to creating your employee manual and SOPs. The vetted and validated prompts are now specific to your business needs, brand voice, and expectations. Share these internally to lift everyone’s productivity.

6. Consider forming a GenAI Steering Committee to champion and guide all of the above.

In a small business, a GenAI Steering Committee, comprised of members from various departments such as IT, legal, and customer relations, ensures a holistic approach to integrating AI within your company. The committee can prioritize projects, allocate resources effectively, and spearhead adoption across the organization.

7. Consider working with an #AIEnablement Consultant to get this off the ground.

An AI Enablement Consultant can provide the specialized knowledge and experience needed to navigate the complexities of AI implementation.