The world has seen an amazingly accelerated adoption of AI since the start of Covid, and that makes sense - after all, what else was there to do but stay inside and work on the computer? But exactly how much has AI grown? And how can businesses stay relevant amidst this cosmic big bang of AI?

Not only has the adoption of AI by companies skyrocketed, but this trend will only continue through the next decade. According to a study conducted by PwC in October of 2020, 52% of companies surveyed accelerated their plans to adopt AI because of Covid. Regardless of whether they were speeding up their AI adoption or not, 86% of companies said that AI would become “mainstream technology” at their company in 2021. 

The future of AI is supernova-bright! The AI Journal conducted a survey, and 72% of leaders that responded had a positive outlook on the role AI would play in the future, and the number one expectation (according to 74% of respondents) is that AI will make business processes more efficient. 

Machine Learning is also up and coming; 70% of respondents to the AI Journal’s survey already use ML at their company, and 63% of the remaining have plans to use ML. Forbes mentions the pairing of ML and NLP as one of the things that will drive innovation, and the ML market is certainly growing fast. Worth $15.5 billion in 2021, the global ML market is predicted to grow to $152.24, according to Fortune Business Insights. 

As reported by the Harvard Business Review, Arnab Chakraborty, the global managing director at Accenture, says that “CEOs…want to start creating new business models powered by data. They know they need to build a data foundation [and want to] create more agility in business processes.” AI and ML are instrumental in the use of an Agile business model, as you need software that can adapt and change as quickly as people can, which is even more important in small teams like start-ups. 

Chakraborty continued on to say that AI presents “a tremendous opportunity for both startups and established companies. Startups cannot do AI standalone. They can only solve a part of the puzzle.” Here’s where we might disagree (especially as a startup). Because of how far AI has come in the last two years, AI is accessible, and startups often have some of the most innovative and fresh ideas (if we do say so ourselves). 

The Harvard Business Review wrote in a different article that AI-powered companies are colliding with traditional businesses, and advantage goes to the company that is able to shape and control digital networks, which includes “connecting businesses, aggregating the data that flows among them, and extracting [their] value through analytics.” In a world of technology, data is king. Data is a modern currency, and it's through partnerships between agile companies that they can stay ahead of the curve and come out on top.

Even as a startup, Virtuoso handles its AI and ML with expertise. We shoot for the stars in our AI endeavors, and we like to think we’ve made it there! If you want to see how our product is relevant in the age of AI, then check us out!