Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been helping transform the way businesses operate. For instance, the technology is helping businesses identify which customers are most likely to buy a product or service from them. It can also efficiently diagnose diseases and reduce errors that medical professionals make.
But did you know that AI can also help improve back office operations? Let’s take a look at some areas that can benefit from the technology:
1. Accounting
AI can automate repetitive accounting tasks to improve efficiency and accuracy, such as:
- Enforcing corporate policy. AI can reduce the amount of time it takes to uncover non-compliance issues in finance data. It can scan travel bookings, employee receipts, and credit card transactions to verify if any questionable purchases were made. This makes it possible for auditors to assess errors faster and ensure that employees are adhering to all company policies.
- Simplifying data entry. AI can help financial managers keep track of time-consuming and tedious transactions. For example, AI can extract information from scanned receipts and categorize these automatically based on the purchase items listed. It can also pull or consolidate data from various sources to create reports and analyses.
- Reducing the risk of fraud. Because AI can audit spending reports, it can predict patterns and detect a wide range of irregularities in financial data. This allows auditors to detect fraudulent expenses before employees can be reimbursed.
- Adjusting expenses with regard to cost increases. Thanks to AI, accountants will also be able to widen their predictive consultancy services beyond pure financial planning. For instance, if the manufacturing department sees a rise in supplier costs, an AI-equipped accountant can predict its potential impact on the business in the near future. If the accountant foresees a budget shortfall, they can advise managers on the best action to take before it becomes a huge problem.
2. IT services
It experts predict AI to become a key component of IT help desks in the years to come.
There are three main applications of AI in IT services. Let’s take a look at some of them:
- Knowledge curation
AI-assisted knowledge curation includes a search function that not just relies on specific keywords, but also understands context and meaning. It recommends solutions based on what has or hasn’t worked for knowledge seekers.This type of knowledge curation can also benefit IT support agents. Many IT support management (ITSM) tools utilize prior and current incidents, known errors, and knowledge bases to suggest potentially relevant data that can provide a solution to problems.
- Prioritization and routing of service requests and incident report tickets
AI is also automating the categorization, prioritization, and routing of service requests and incident report tickets. In fact, some ITSM tool vendors offer predictive analytics that can populate some of the form fields in a ticket. The tool suggests appropriate classification, incident priority, and teams to assign the ticket to. - Chatbots and virtual support agents (VSAs)
Chatbots are equipped with natural language processing technology that enables them to perform a targeted search of a knowledge base or other scripted actions. This can be used to solve simple and repetitive requests before escalating complex queries to a live agent.
VSAs, on the other hand, provide capabilities tailored specifically to IT support and assistance. They extend chatbot capabilities by doing things like deploy software, reset passwords, and escalate IT support requests.
3. Human resources
One of the biggest challenges businesses face is hiring the right people. Once a job listing is put up, many people from various backgrounds may apply. And because of the high volume of applications, HR managers may find it difficult to make the right decisions.
Fortunately, AI can automate the hiring process by examining applications, finding those that match the job requirements, and rejecting those who do not. AI can even serve as a knowledge base for a new hire should they have any questions about the company or job.
AI not only saves time, but it also eradicates discrimination or bias in the recruitment process.
While many of these AI tools and techniques are still new, more and more companies, products, and services are starting to incorporate these automation options. These features are likely to be added to many common business applications you might already use. Not seeing them? Perhaps it is time to look at newer tools that are available that incorporate some AI features.
Need more help optimizing your back office operations? Partner with Fidelis! We offer help desk and hardware and software services that will surely improve your employees’ productivity and efficiency. If your business is in Seattle, Tacoma, or Portland, we can help your business grow. Get in touch with us today.
