Leveraging AI to bolster your business

12/2/24

By Jim Kisch
President & CEO
Passumpsic Bank

Artificial intelligence, more commonly referred to as “AI,” has probably passed through your ear canals on multiple occasions. Chances are, it’s going to become a regular in those parts, as AI is here to stay! If you’re a small business owner, you should be actively considering how it can be integrated into your operations, as it’s a powerful, versatile and accessible tool.

As you begin to wrap your brain around AI, it’s important to understand that this technology is not a one-size-fits-all solution or a magic bullet for all challenges. In its current state, there are specific AI tools for certain needs, so you have to identify how you want to use artificial intelligence at your workplace.

Get started close to home

The best place to start is to examine your current business practices to identify inefficiencies and inadequacies. What tasks are you or your employees spending an inordinate amount of time and effort doing? What are the tasks that you are not doing that you should be but do not have the resources to accomplish? Finally, is there anything that you are currently doing but feel like it could improve or just need a tool to double check your work?

I’ll give you a great example from here at Passumpsic Bank. We collect a lot of data at the bank and much of that data is housed in our legacy systems. These systems were architected at a time when computer processing was relatively expensive, which limited the scope and usability of the data we collected. We had no seamless method to conduct a deep dive into the data housed in these systems.

The data doesn’t lie

We wanted to change that lack of depth and understand more of our data’s insights. We are now actively incorporating AI into our information management to analyze and interpret our datasets more effectively. This allows us to uncover hidden patterns, predict customer needs, and personalize our services. Now, thanks to AI, we can identify small business trends and financing needs to enable us to tailor loan products and more relevant small business services.

This use case highlights the need of asking what you hope to accomplish with artificial intelligence and then to find the right solution for the task. 

If you don’t currently have a specific task for AI to help with, you are not alone. More and more, we are receiving questions from small business customers asking about AI. The small business owners we speak to are most excited about the technology’s ability to help their business improve productivity, relieve staffing shortages, and save money.

We have identified a few AI tools to help you get started with artificial intelligence and start to see the potential of this new technology:

  • Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that checks grammar, punctuation, tone, and style in real-time. The assistant enhances written communication, ensures professionalism, and reduces the need for extensive editing or proofreading.
  • ChatGPT assists with drafting emails, generating content, brainstorming ideas, and providing customer support through chatbots. This tool saves time on writing tasks, enhances creativity, and improves customer engagement without the need for additional staff.
  • Canva’s Magic Design offers AI-driven graphic design tools for creating marketing materials, social media posts, and presentations. This presentation tool allows businesses without a dedicated design team to produce professional-quality visuals quickly and easily.
  • Zoho CRM with Zia AI is an AI-powered customer relationship management system with predictive sales insights and automation features. The CRM helps manage customer interactions more effectively, automates routine tasks, and offers insights to drive sales growth.
  • QuickBooks automates accounting tasks such as expense categorization, invoicing, and financial reporting using its new AI algorithms. This accounting software saves time on bookkeeping, reduces errors, and provides financial insights without needing a full-time accountant.

Whatever your goals are with using AI for your small business, the business bankers at Passumpsic are ready to help answer your questions and give any guidance they can.

Please reach out to our business banking team with any questions!